Solar Compass

Date: 1840s
Maker: Henry Ware
Place: United States: Ohio, Cincinnati
Dimensions: overall: 15 in x 8 in; 38.1 cm x 20.32 cm; overall: 16 in x 9 in; 40.64 cm x 22.86 cm
Museum: National Museum of American History

Patent model for Ralph Reeder, "Mariner's Time Compass," U.S. Patent #4,964 (1847). The inscription reads "Ralph Reeder Patentee, Cincinnati, Ohio. HENRY WARE, MAKER, CINCINNATI, O." Henry Ware (1810-1885) was a leading instrument maker in Cincinnati.

Scientific American reported that this instrument combines "three important uses." It shows "the local variation of the magnetic needle with unerring certainty," "the altitude of the sun, and thus enables the mariner readily to compute latitude." and "the true time" and thus "by the aid of the chronometer, shows the longitude." Despite journal's opinion that Reeder’s instrument "appears to be a practically useful invention," the Mariner’s Time-Compass was not a commercial success.

Ref: "Improved Nautical Instrument," Scientific American 12 (1856): 4.

The museum's own record (Smithsonian, National Museum of American History)