Single Vernier Surveyor's Transit in RARE Gun Barrel Blue Finish

This is a wonderful instrument, and belongs on display. Barely used - most of the marks on the instrument come from taking it out of the case. The bright brass knobs set off perfectly from the Gun Barrel Blue Finish and the green vials. Each time you look at this instrument you will say "WOW".

The long-time owner of this fine instrument originally acquired the transit from Saul Moskowitz (Historical Technology), who was the leading dealer in scientific instruments in the 1970s and 1980s. As you can see from the circa 1985 advertisement, the longtime owner paid $1495 plus $75 for a tripod for the transit roughly 34 years ago. The advertisement does a great job describing the instrument.

(The ad states that the transit is circa 1875. Based on Brian Aregood's book on dating Gurley Transits, this transit has a couple of features that Gurley started using in 1876, so I'm calling the instrument circa 1880 instead of 1875.)

As stated in the Moskowitz description, the transit has a 5 inch needle and an 11 inch telescope with a twist focus eyepiece. Accessories consisted of a lens cap, sunshade, plumb bob, and several tools. Comes with the original mahogany box and a very nice tripod that is correct for the instrument but likely not original to the transit.

The silver on the 3.5 inch vertical circle has a bit of tarnish on it. I thought about cleaning this, but decided to let the next owner clean it or not. I personally would clean the circle so that it POPS just like the rest of the instrument.

The Single Vernier Surveyor's Transit with a 5 inch needle was one of Gurley's most popular transits. Lighter and cheaper than the more robust Engineer's transit, the single vernier Surveyor's transit apparently found the sweet spot from a price and feature perspective. Sales of the single vernier Surveyor's transit diminished when Gurley rolled out its Light Mountain Transit line starting in 1880. In the pics below, I've included pics of a single vernier surveyor's transit from the 1874 Gurley manual and the accompanying description.

Finding a pre-1900 instrument in this condition doesn't happen often. When new, the instrument cost about $175, which was a lot of money circa 1880 - about 3 months wages for a skilled craftsman. Surveyors could not afford to let such expensive instruments go unused, which is why so few instruments in this condition exist.

This is truly a beautiful instrument.

Price: SOLD
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