364: A FINE AND RARE 17TH C. ENGRAVED BRASS GUNTER'S SECTOR

The unsigned brass instrument with short, fold-out strut attributed to Elias Allen is elaborately engraved exactly as Edmund Gunter (1581-1626) laid out in De Sectore et Radio (On the Description and Use of the Sector and the Cross-Staff) of 1623. The engraving is crisp and beautiful.

Elias Allen is listed as the maker of a sector pictured in Gunter's Description and Use of the Sector.

A small early 18th century mathematical sector is included. See the images here.

The sector is essentially an early manual computer, forerunner to the slide rule.
Measures 10 x 5 and 2 x 5 inches.
Very good condition throughout, no damage, repair or heavy wear, there are minor surface scratches.
Provenance: The estate of a collector active in Historical Re-enactment, Surveying the Frontier, Scientific Instruments. Lewis and Clark.
$1,500 - $2,000