A SCOTTISH BRASS ABNEY LEVEL, BY JAMES WHITE, GLASGOW
LATE 19TH CENTURY
Auction: Day 1: Wednesday 20 August - Lots 1 - 296
Description
the square sighting tube signed ‘James White, Glasgow’, mounted with a protractor set with a spirit level and rotated by a rack and pinion knob
Dimensions
12cm wide, 5cm high
Footnote
James White (1824-1884) founded his firm initially to make optical instruments in Glasgow. It was his relationship with William Thomson, who would become Lord Kelvin, that enabled White to supply the mending apparatus for the University laboratory. Through various iterations, by 1900 the company became Kelvin and James White.
An Abney level is a handheld surveying instrument used to measure angles of elevation and depression, slopes, and heights of objects. It is essentially a miniature theodolite, common uses include forestry for measuring tree heights and in topographical surveys.