Sextant

Description

Ten inch double frame or pillar frame sextant of brass with platinum scale, in a fitted case, by Edward Troughton, Fleet Street, London, c. 1820

Museum reference

T.1987.137

Collection

History of Science

Object name

Sextant, Double-frame sextant, Case

Production information

Troughton, Edward, 1753 - 1835, Scientific instrument maker
London, England, Northern Europe

Date

c. 1820

Materials

Brass, Wood, Platinum, Mahogany

Physical description

Brass; platinum scale, glass, wood

Associations

Leith Nautical College Collection

Exhibitions

• Earth in Space (29 Jul 2011)
  National Museum of Scotland

References

Chaldecott, John A., 'Platinum and Palladium in Astronomy and Navigation: The Pioneer Work of Edward Troughton and William Hyde Wollaston' in Platinum Metals Review 31 (1987), pp 91-100

McConnell, Anita, Instrument Makers to the World: A History of Cooke, Troughton & Simms, York, 1992, esp. pp 14-24

On display

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