Hale’s elliptical compass
While hunting around for more background on Taguel's mould-breaking elliptical compass, I came across a long and detailed paper entitled "Elliptographs, and the Application of Elliptical Curves" by Frank J.…
A mysterious elliptical compass
There are some drawing instruments that seem almost designed to stand out from the crowd, be it aesthetically or as the result of a radical departure from established archetypes. One…
Mystery beam instrument
It is not unusual to come across drawing sets that lack any clue to their maker, but this recent find is also short on clues to its purpose. I have…
An unusual Napier compass
The Napier compass is a particularly compact form of multifunctional drawing instrument that became popular during the second half of the nineteenth century. It is commonly said to have been…