Compasses

A collection of dividers and compasses in the Division of Medicine and Science's Mathematics collection.

One characteristic of the compasses in the collection is the variety of ornamentation molded into their metal parts. More often than the instruments on the other pages, compasses were manufactured in the United States, and Americans received patents for adding innovations to the instrument. Several of the objects below were used in schools, and some were even designed to prevent schoolchildren from poking themselves and each other. This page also contains spare parts for compasses.

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Pen Point for Drawing Compass

This leg for a drawing compass has a brass top, which is jointed, and German silver pen points with an adjusting screw. Loosening the screw increases the width of the pen line to be drawn.
Description
This leg for a drawing compass has a brass top, which is jointed, and German silver pen points with an adjusting screw. Loosening the screw increases the width of the pen line to be drawn. At the turn of the 20th century, compasses frequently came with interchangeable legs, one for drawing with pencil lead and one for drawing with ink. The compass to which this pen point belonged may have been part of a set of drawing instruments. Due to its different shape and materials, it is probably not from the same compass as MA.335336.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1900
ID Number
MA.335338
accession number
305958
catalog number
335338

Pen Point for Drawing Compass

This leg for a drawing compass has a brass top, which is jointed, and steel pen points with a brass screw for adjusting the width of the pen line to be drawn.
Description
This leg for a drawing compass has a brass top, which is jointed, and steel pen points with a brass screw for adjusting the width of the pen line to be drawn. At the turn of the 20th century, compasses frequently came with interchangeable legs, one for drawing with pencil lead and one for drawing with ink. This part does not resemble any of the compasses advertised in Keuffel & Esser, Dietzgen, or Gurley catalogs from this time period.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1900
ID Number
MA.335339
accession number
305958
catalog number
335339

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