This surveyor's compass, with a face reading clockwise, reflects a British rather than an American design. In Britain it would have been referred to as a “circumferentor.” The "W. & S. JONES 30 Holborn London" inscription refers to an instrument firm that was in business from 1791 to 1859, and at this address from 1800 to 1859.
Ref: Gloria Clifton, Directory of British Scientific Instrument Makers 1550-1851 (London, 1995), p. 155.
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