Accession No
6779
Brief Description
trade card advertisement for George Adams' New Sea Quadrant, English, 1748
Origin
England; London; Fleet Street; Tycho Brahe's Head
Maker
Adams, George
Class
ephemera; prints
Earliest Date
1748
Latest Date
1748
Inscription Date
30-09-1748
Material
paper
Dimensions
26mm (w), 353mm (h)
Special Collection
Provenance
Purchased from Daniel Crouch Rare Books in 2022.
Inscription
A NEW SEA QUADRANT. Invented, Made & Sold by GEO. ADAMS, Mathematical Instrument Maker, to his Majesty's Office of Ordnance. At Tycho Brahe's Head, Fleet Street LONDON.
At the above said place are Also MADE and SOLD. Hadley's, Smith's and Davis's Quadrants. Telescopes either Refracting or Reflecting. Azimuth-Compases. Cases of Drawing Instruments. and all other sorts of MATHEMATICAL, PHILOSOPHICAL and OPTICAL Instruments.
Description Notes
Print, advert for George Adams's New Sea Quadrant, English, 30th September 1748.
The print bears an illustration of a man using George Adams's New Sea Quadrant, labelled "Fig. 1". Figs. 2-5 are details of the various scales on the quadrant.
To the left of the man, an inscription reads "A NEW SEA QUADRANT. Invented, Made & Sold by GEO. ADAMS, Mathematical Instrument Maker, to his Majesty's Office of Ordnance. At Tycho Brahe's Head, Fleet Street LONDON."
And at the bottom of the page "At the above said place are Also MADE and SOLD. Hadley's, Smith's and Davis's Quadrants. Telescopes either Refracting or Reflecting. Azimuth-Compases. Cases of Drawing Instruments. and all other sorts of MATHEMATICAL, PHILOSOPHICAL and OPTICAL Instruments."
On the reverse are three paste-down slips bearing the numbers "No. 159", "5103" and "4930" together with a further slip with the letterpress text "Baker and Leigh" and the letters "c.o.b." in manuscript iron gall ink. It is likely that these represent lot numbers from an auction, presumably "Baker and Leigh - C[lose] o[f] B[usiness]".
Possibly the earliest example of a lot tag (number) from Sotheby's Auction House. The reverse of the print bears three paste-down slips bearing the numbers "No. 159", "5103" and "4930" together with a further slip with the letterpress text "Baker and Leigh" and the letters "c.o.b." in manuscript iron gall ink. It is likely that these represent lot numbers from an auction, presumably "Baker and Leigh - C[lose] o[f] B[usiness]".
References
Events
Description
George Adams (c.1704-1773) was one of the leading scientific instrument makers of his day. Apprenticed in 1718, he is recorded as setting up his business in 1735 on Fleet Street at the sign of Tycho Brahe's Head, where he is recorded as having been active between 1738 and 1757.
Samuel Baker (d. 1778) was a bookseller. He founded his business in 1744 and took his friend, George Leigh, into partnership in 1767 (Baker & Leigh). Baker died in 1778 and his nephew, one John Sotheby, inherited his share of the firm. The partnership was dissolved in 1804, and the remaining inventory, presumably including the present print, sold at auction before reforming under John's son, Samuel Sotheby. It is worth noting that when Sotheby's claim that they have been in business since 1778, they are technically incorrect - they have really only been carrying on since 1804. The present advertisement may, therefore, be one of the earliest, if not the earliest, recorded example of a lot tag from the auction house that would become Sotheby's.
21/03/2023
Created by: Ewan Wilson on 21/03/2023
FM:47595
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