Spring Sale 2025
Rare Maps
Rare Atlases
Rare Books
Rare Prints
Rare Pocket Sextant
Brass Box Sextant.
London,
Cary,
[c.1860].
Brass box sextant, signed by John Cary, brass body with sliding shutter sight and dark lens, wheeled rack drive to index arm reading from 0 to 150 degrees on the silvered scale, with magnifying lens to vernier, with separate telescope, the lid engraved Royal Military College, with engraved dedication.
22088
notes:
A fine brass box sextant by the renowned scientific instrument maker John Cary.
The instrument was presented to William S. Cooke, whose name is engraved on the instruments lid:
"Royal Military College. Presented to Gentleman Cadet William S. Cooke for Attention to and Progress in Military Surveying, June, 1860."
According to the 3rd July 1860 edition of The London Gazette, Gentleman Cadet William Smith Cooke from the Royal Military College was appointed to the 2nd Regiment of Life Guards in the Summer of that year. This Cary box sextant would likely have been a presentation gift to commemorate this occasion.
The instrument was presented to William S. Cooke, whose name is engraved on the instruments lid:
"Royal Military College. Presented to Gentleman Cadet William S. Cooke for Attention to and Progress in Military Surveying, June, 1860."
According to the 3rd July 1860 edition of The London Gazette, Gentleman Cadet William Smith Cooke from the Royal Military College was appointed to the 2nd Regiment of Life Guards in the Summer of that year. This Cary box sextant would likely have been a presentation gift to commemorate this occasion.
