Round Sextant 10"

With the 1777 invention of the perfect dividing engine, an instrument that allowed for brass sextant engraving that was efficient, accurate, and inexpensive, the nautical world was changed dramatically. This advancement in industrialization allowed smaller and more affordable instruments to be manufactured and utilized by the common sailor.  While this was being implemented in Europe, the legendary sailor and explorer James Cook was putting the celestial navigation sextant to use on a series of three expeditions to create detailed maps of the Pacific. Using the solid brass sextant on an expedition to Tahiti in 1769, Cook was able to track the transit of Venus across the sun. Also tasked with exploring the South Pacific further, first in New Zealand, and later Australia, the celestial navigation sextant was vital to Cook’s tasks. The bubble sextant was also utilized on shore, where stationary readings were used to verify the accuracy of those taken at sea. A few decades later, in early America, the celestial navigation sextant became an important tool for the explorers Lewis and Clark. Making their way from present day Illinois to the Pacific Coast, these intrepid explorers used compasses, chronometers, and sextants to create the first detailed maps of the new country. With these tools Lewis and Clark were also able to detail areas of commercial interest to the United States.