THE INSTRUMENT COLLECTION
(SOLD April 2006)
My dad assembled an incredible instrument collection. The collection was amazingly broad, with many different types of instruments and artifacts. But the collection also included some items of exceptional rarity and value. I suspect my dad's collection was one of the finest collections of surveying instruments and artifacts in the country. The collection included, for example:
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Early 1840's Burt Solar Compass - Made by Young
1 of 2 Known |
A Mountain Solar Transit
Young & Sons - Circa 1909 |
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This instruments reflects the very first production design of the Burt Solar Compass - Note the latitude and declination arcs have no slow-motion adjustment screws (tangent screws). There are only two known early solar compasses still reflecting the first production design. This is one - the other example resides in the Smithsonian. This very early and original solar compass will be the defining instrument in any collection.
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A beautiful Mountain Solar Transit made of aluminum and brass - fitted with a Smith Telescopic Solar Attachment. A counterweight sits on the standard opposite the solar unit. Complete with case and tripod.
360 Degree View |
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A Circa 1845 Pike Compass
Owned by Capt Ord, USA |
A Circa 1848 Burt Solar Compass with Scope - Made by Young
1 of 8 Known Pre-1852 Solar Compasses |
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This is an ordinary Pike Compass owned by an extraordinary American surveyor. The Ord name is famous in American history and early California surveying - Ord made the first survey of the City of Los Angeles. Based on available evidence (as described in Chaining the Land, Second Edition), this appears to be the instrument Ord used for much of his Los Angeles survey work.
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There are 8 known pre-1852 Burt Solar Compasses made by Young, who was the first manufacturer of Burt's solar compasses. My dad owned two of the eight. The Smithsonian owns two, and the other four are in private hands. Thus, this example is an extraordinarily rare instrument, made even more rare because it includes the telescope setup.
360 Degree View (with Scope) 360 Without Scope |
My dad featured many of his nicer instruments in his recently published book - Chaining the Land (Second Editon). The First Production Design Burt Solar Compass appears on the Title Page (see Title Page Proof), for example.
Ten Special Attention Items:
1. Burt Solar Transit (360 View)
2. Beautiful Berger Solar Transit (360 View)
3. Huge variety of Chains (Gunter, Vara, Metric, etc)
4. First Design Transit by Schmolz (360 View)
5. A Unique Mid-Size Gurley Compass (360 View)
6. Berge Theodolite (360 View)
7. Blunt Circumferentor (360 View)
8. Beautiful Early Buff Alidade - Serial #24 (360 View)
9. Berger Wet Mining Transit (360 View) (360 with Side Scope)
10. Lietz Mountain & Mining Solar Transit
COMPLETE INVENTORY
An inventory reflecting the items offered for sale is contained below (each link is a PDF file containing descriptions and small pictures of the items). These can be very BIG files (10mb) :
ESTIMATE OF VALUE
My dad watched the market value of antique surveying instruments and books like a hawk for more than 25 years. He authored the Illustrated Price Guide to Antique Surveying Instruments and Books (1980), and then developed the MarketWatch listings found on this website. (I have not updated MarketWatch for about 18 months - my dad nonetheless continued to record all transactions right up until February 2006). My dad was addicted to Ebay, and built a huge database of Ebay surveying related transactions.
(SOLD TO A COLLECTOR - April 2006)
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Russ Uzes
Mill Valley CA
Russ Email
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