Measuring & Mapping

Where, how far, and how much? People have invented an astonishing array of devices to answer seemingly simple questions like these. Measuring and mapping objects in the Museum's collections include the instruments of the famous—Thomas Jefferson's thermometer and a pocket compass used by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on their expedition across the American West. A timing device was part of the pioneering motion studies of Eadweard Muybridge in the late 1800s. Time measurement is represented in clocks from simple sundials to precise chronometers for mapping, surveying, and finding longitude. Everyday objects tell part of the story, too, from tape measures and electrical meters to more than 300 scales to measure food and drink. Maps of many kinds fill out the collections, from railroad surveys to star charts.

Like many instruments of the sort made in London, this American one could be used as an orrery (Sun and planets out to Saturn) or a tellurian (Sun, Earth and Moon), with the mechanisms moved by a crank with an ivory handle.
Description
Like many instruments of the sort made in London, this American one could be used as an orrery (Sun and planets out to Saturn) or a tellurian (Sun, Earth and Moon), with the mechanisms moved by a crank with an ivory handle. Four elegant brass legs support a mahogany horizon circle. The printed paper label covering this circle is marked “MADE-BY / Aaron Willard Jr. / BOSTON.” The one brass Sun can be used with either form. The planets are ivory. The plate of the tellurian mechanism is marked “A. WILLARD JR. BOSTON.”
Aaron Willard Jr. (1783-1864) was a productive and prosperous clockmaker in Boston who apprenticed with his father and took over the business in 1823. He probably made this instrument in collaboration with John Locke (1792-1856), a graduate of the Yale Medical School who settled in Cincinnati. Locke also established a school for young ladies, developed an electro-chronograph for the U.S. Naval Observatory, and made important contributions to American geology.
Ref: William Ball Jr., “Another American Orrery,” Antiques 4 (October 1938): 184-185.
“Willard’s Portable Orrery,” The Weekly Recorder (Jan. 17, 1821): 166, from Boston Centinel.
Location
Currently not on view (orrery)
date made
ca 1820
maker
Willard, Jr., Aaron
ID Number
1986.0466.01
catalog number
86.466.1
accession number
1986.0466
catalog number
1986.0466.01
Orrery with a mahogany base and and three short legs. The top is painted light blue. The inscription on a brass disc in the center reads “GEORGE PHILIP & SON LTD 32 FLEET ST LONDON E.C. MADE IN ENGLAND.” The Sun and the planets are represented by painted wooden spheres.
Description
Orrery with a mahogany base and and three short legs. The top is painted light blue. The inscription on a brass disc in the center reads “GEORGE PHILIP & SON LTD 32 FLEET ST LONDON E.C. MADE IN ENGLAND.” The Sun and the planets are represented by painted wooden spheres. Earth is covered by paper map gores. Mercury, Venus and Earth, are driven by an open-geared mechanism mounted on top of the center spindle column. The five distant planets have support arms from this center spindle. The drive mechanism is below the table. All moons have wire supports and are moved by hand.
George Philip (1800-1882) was a cartographer and mapmaker who began in business in Liverpool in 1834. His son George (1823-1902) joined the firm in 1848. George Philip & Son, Ltd., later moved to London.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850-1900
maker
George Philip & Son
ID Number
1985.0386.01
accession number
1985.0386
catalog number
1985.0386.01
This unsigned instrument closely resembles the orrery that Edward S. Ritchie offered in 1860.
Description
This unsigned instrument closely resembles the orrery that Edward S. Ritchie offered in 1860. It is a simple crank-operated model showing the relative positions of the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Moon, Mars and its two moons, Jupiter (missing) and its moons, Saturn with rings and several moons, and Uranus. The stand is wood. The arms holding the planets are brass.
Ref: Ritchie’s Illustrated Catalogue of Philosophical Instruments, and School Apparatus (Boston, 1860), p. 75.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
PH.322462
accession number
250508
catalog number
322462
This crank-operated device shows the orbital motions of Mercury, Venus, and the Earth around the Sun, and the Moon around Earth. The circular wooded base rests on three short feet, and is covered with an ornately engraved paper plate.
Description
This crank-operated device shows the orbital motions of Mercury, Venus, and the Earth around the Sun, and the Moon around Earth. The circular wooded base rests on three short feet, and is covered with an ornately engraved paper plate. One cherub on this plate holds a sign that reads “Designed for the / NEW PORTABLE / ORRERIES / by W. Jones.” Another cherub holds a sign that reads “and made and sold by / W. & S. JONES / 135 Holborn / London.” There is also “A TABLE of the principal AFFECTIONS of the / PLANETS / Jan’y 1st 1794 / Published as the Act directs by / W. & S. Jones”
William S. Disbrow, a physician in Newark, N.J., who attained fame as a collector of art, books and scientific specimens, gave this instrument to the Smithsonian in 1902.
William Jones (1763-1831) and his brother Samuel (d. 1859) made and sold mathematical, optical and philosophical instruments. They began in business at 135 Holborn in 1792, and moved to 30 Holborn in 1800.
Ref: William Jones, The Description and Use of a New Portable Orrery on a Simple Construction (London, 1784).
Henry C. King and John R. Millburn, Geared to the Stars. The Evolution of Planetariums, Orreries, and Astronomical Clocks (Toronto, 1978), pp. 207-210.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1790s
maker
W. & S. Jones
ID Number
PH.215538
catalog number
215538
accession number
40279
Here an astronomical mechanism on an octagonal wooden base is moved by a clock within. One part of the mechanism is an orrery with wire arms holding simple planets (some of which are missing) with a curious assortment of moons.
Description
Here an astronomical mechanism on an octagonal wooden base is moved by a clock within. One part of the mechanism is an orrery with wire arms holding simple planets (some of which are missing) with a curious assortment of moons. Another part is a tellurian showing the relative positions of the Earth and Moon. There is a clock face on one side of the base. The only readable inscription is “Paris.”
Location
Currently not on view
date made
late 19th century
ID Number
PH.321326
catalog number
321326
accession number
242903
This clockwork mechanism shows Mercury, Venus, Earth and Moon orbiting the Sun. There is a dial for the Moon’s Age and another for Solar Time. The “JAMES GILES, Master of GRAVESEND / FREE-SCHOOL, Invt et Fecit.” inscription probably refers to the James Giles Jr.
Description
This clockwork mechanism shows Mercury, Venus, Earth and Moon orbiting the Sun. There is a dial for the Moon’s Age and another for Solar Time. The “JAMES GILES, Master of GRAVESEND / FREE-SCHOOL, Invt et Fecit.” inscription probably refers to the James Giles Jr. who built a curious sundial at Milton Church, and wrote a text on English grammar.
Ref: Henry C. King and John R. Millburn, Geared to the Stars. The Evolution of Planetariums, Orreries, and Astronomical Clocks (Toronto, 1978), pp. 166-167.
Robert Pockock, The History of the Incorporated Town and Parishes of Gravesend and Milton (Gravesend, 1797), p. 117.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1800
maker
James Giles
ID Number
PH.322330
catalog number
322330
accession number
247833
This is a vertical mechanical model of the inner solar system (Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Moon). The inscription reads: “. . . Patentee. . . ber 24th., 1867 and October 27th . . .” The Earth is marked “J.
Description
This is a vertical mechanical model of the inner solar system (Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Moon). The inscription reads: “. . . Patentee. . . ber 24th., 1867 and October 27th . . .” The Earth is marked “J. DAVIS GLOBE.”
John Davis (1821-1903) of Pittsburgh obtained several patents for railroad car brakes, tanning apparatus, and other devices. He was also interested in science education, serving as professor of mathematics and astronomy at Allegheny City College, principal of the Academy of Science, and president of the Polytechnic Institute of Western Pennsylvania. Around 1867 he introduced three astronomical demonstration devices: the Planetellus (sun with planets and moons out to Neptune), the Heliotellus (Sun with planets and moons out to Earth), and the Lunatellus (Sun, Earth, and Moon). The Heliotellus won a first prize at the American Institute fair of 1869.
Ref.: John Davis Guide for Using Davis’ New Geographical and Astronomical Apparatus (Pittsburgh, 1870).
D. J. Warner, “The Geography of Heaven and Earth,” Rittenhouse 2 (1988): 58-59.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1870
maker
Davis, John
ID Number
PH.322610
catalog number
322610
accession number
249272
This simple device made of brass, steel, and wood shows the relative positions of the Sun and five planets (two are missing). The “N. B. & D. Chamberlain Boston” inscription is that of Nathan B.
Description
This simple device made of brass, steel, and wood shows the relative positions of the Sun and five planets (two are missing). The “N. B. & D. Chamberlain Boston” inscription is that of Nathan B. Chamberlain (1809-1878) and his brother Daniel who worked in partnership during the period 1842-1844.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1840s
maker
N. B. & D. Chamberlain
ID Number
PH.321892
accession number
245902
catalog number
321892
This cardboard instrument looks like an armillary sphere but functions as an orrery. The Sun is at the center, and there are concentric rings representing the orbits of Mercury, Venus, Earth and Moon, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.The “à Paris Chez Delamarche Géog.
Description
This cardboard instrument looks like an armillary sphere but functions as an orrery. The Sun is at the center, and there are concentric rings representing the orbits of Mercury, Venus, Earth and Moon, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.
The “à Paris Chez Delamarche Géog. / Rue du Foin Saint-Jacques / au College de Mtre Gervais” inscription on the ecliptic band refers to Charles François Delamarche (1740-1817), proprietor of a cartographic shop in the Latin quarter of Paris. His successors continued the business well into the 19th century.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1800
maker
Delamarche, Charles Francois
ID Number
PH.322759
accession number
250509
catalog number
322759
This simple demonstration device is based on a patent (#88,187) issued in 1869 to Marshall Long, a teacher in New York.
Description
This simple demonstration device is based on a patent (#88,187) issued in 1869 to Marshall Long, a teacher in New York. An example manufactured by the American School Apparatus Co., a firm that was in business in New York from about 1865 to 1875, won a first prize at the American Institute fair of 1869, and an honorable mention in 1870.
This example sits on a circular walnut base. The Sun is missing. The Earth is marked “American School Apparatus Co. New York” and shows Alaska (1867), the pre-1867 boundary of the Dakota Territory, and such details as shipping routes and the “Submarine Cable” across the Atlantic.
Ref: D. J. Warner, “The Geography of Heaven and Earth,” Rittenhouse 2 (1988): 23 and 110.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1870
maker
American School Apparatus Co.
Long, Marshall
ID Number
PH.326957
accession number
264801
catalog number
326957

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