OCTAGONAL EQUINOCTIAL BRASS DIAL AND COMPASS

Brass equinoctial dial with hinged latitude arc, hour scale, gnomon and integral compass. Signed on the base Andreas Vogler. Octagonal brass engraved plate, glazed insert silvered compass with engraved compass rose, blued needle with brass cap, shaped hour ring with Roman chapters and gnomon, latitude arc 0o-90o, glazed cover. The whole brass cover engraved with a pattern of waves over bricks, the hour ring engraved with the Roman numerals I - IX and III - XII, with a brass pointer, the folding latitude engraved for 15-83 degrees, the back engraved "Elev. Poli. Augsburg..." and signed "And. Vogler". The dial 2 inches (5cm) in width. Contained within the original leather and card, silk-lined fitted case and accompanied by the single text leaf of Vogel's instructions on how to use the compass written in both German and French and with the co-ordinates of 160 European cities listed verso. The dial and compass remain in excellent condition. The case, with a little cosmetic wear is otherwise very good; the instruction leaf with slight staining and small holes along fold lines, but without loss. A beautiful example.

A fine eighteenth-century navigator's instrument from the golden age of European exploration and commerce. André Vogler was a prominent maker of such instruments during the period, with several examples of his equinoctial dials and compasses held in the collection of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.