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Photo, Print, Drawing The Magnetic Observatory at the Girard College.

About this Item

Title

  • The Magnetic Observatory at the Girard College.

Summary

  • This 1847 lithograph was used as a plate in a volume about magnetic and meteorological observations; it illustrates an oblique elevation and floor plan of the magnetic observatory building at Girard College in Philadelphia. This was the first magnetic observatory in the United States, constructed on the west grounds of the school in 1839 after designs by architect Thomas Ustick Walter. Labels for instruments are included in the floor plan and include a transit; clock; dew point instrument; telescope declinometer; anemometer and rain gauge; barometer; telescope and horizontal force magnetometer; telescope and vertical force magnetometer; and thermometers. The brainchild of scientist Alexander D. Bache, the observatory was moved to the western ends of the college grounds by master carpenter James O. Sawyer sometime after 1845, and was later used as a carpentry shop. This lithograph was created by artist Rufus S. Mason and was printed by Peter S. Duval, one of the most prominent lithographers and printers of his day.

Names

  • Mason, S. Rufus Artist.

Created / Published

  • Philadelphia : P.S. Duval Lithography, 1847.

Headings

  • -  United States of America--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia
  • -  1847
  • -  Architectural drawings
  • -  Astronomical instruments
  • -  Astronomical observatories
  • -  Chronology
  • -  Designs and plans
  • -  Geomagnetism
  • -  Girard College
  • -  Lithographs
  • -  Meteorology
  • -  Universities and colleges

Notes

  • -  Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
  • -  "Digital catalog number: POS 448"--Note extracted from World Digital Library.
  • -  Original resource extent: 1 print : lithograph ; 19 x 34 centimeters.
  • -  Original resource at: The Library Company of Philadelphia.
  • -  Content in English.
  • -  Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.

Medium

  • 1 online resource.

Source Collection

  • Philadelphia on Stone

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2021670267

Online Format

  • compressed data
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

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Credit Line: [Original Source citation], World Digital Library

More about Copyright and other Restrictions

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Mason, S. Rufus Artist. The Magnetic Observatory at the Girard College. Pennsylvania United States of America Philadelphia, 1847. Philadelphia: P.S. Duval Lithography. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021670267/.

APA citation style:

Mason, S. R. A. (1847) The Magnetic Observatory at the Girard College. Pennsylvania United States of America Philadelphia, 1847. Philadelphia: P.S. Duval Lithography. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021670267/.

MLA citation style:

Mason, S. Rufus Artist. The Magnetic Observatory at the Girard College. Philadelphia: P.S. Duval Lithography. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2021670267/>.