48-hour marine chronometer
Date: 1830-1840
Inventory Number: 1998-1-1321
Classification: Chronometer
Subject:
Maker: Arnold & Dent (1830 - 1840)
Owner: William Cranch Bond (1789 - 1859)
User: Harvard College Observatory (founded 1839)
Cultural Region:
Place of Origin:
Dimensions:
with lid up: 28 x 15.5 x 17 cm (11 x 6 1/8 x 6 11/16 in.)
closed: 16 x 16 x 15 cm (6 5/16 x 6 5/16 x 5 7/8 in.)
Accessories: winding (tipsy)
Description:
Arnold and Dent chronometer no. 958, in mahogany box, 48 hour duration.
The hinges on the second "lid" are not attached because only one screw of four remains, and the hole is now too big to hold the screw. No glass plate in this lid.
The hinges on the second "lid" are not attached because only one screw of four remains, and the hole is now too big to hold the screw. No glass plate in this lid.
In Collection(s)
Signedon dial: ARNOLD & DENT, / 84 Strand, London No: 958
Historical AttributesWilliam Cranch Bond, the first director of the Harvard College Observatory purchased this chronometer in London between 1830 and 1840. It may have first been for his astronomical research at his private observatory in Dorchester, Massachusetts, or it could have been acquired for the fledgling Harvard College Observatory, which was established in 1839. (Records with the instrument suggest the latter.) In either case, it was used by Bond and others at Harvard College Observatory.
ProvenanceWilliam Cranch Bond, Dorchester and Cambridge, MA, purchased in London betwee 1830 and 1840, on a trip to acquire astronomical apparatus for his own observatory or the Harvard College Observatory; Harvard College Observatory, circa 1839-; ...; Edward P. Hamilton, Milton, MA; gift to CHSI, 4 December 1962. He stipulated that it was never to be returned to the Harvard College Observatory, which had lost it in the first place.
