c1785 antique SURVEYING CYPHER BOOK Jos REX LAND COMPASS VARIATION INTERSECTIONS For Sale

c1785 antique SURVEYING CYPHER BOOK Jos REX LAND COMPASS VARIATION INTERSECTIONS
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AI Disclosure: AI assistance was used to help organize and describe the names, dates and historical content visible in this original manuscript.

DESCRIPTION:

Circa 1785-1803 antique handwritten surveying and mathematics cypher manuscript, found together with the previous Rex family cypher book. The name REX appears on one surviving torn manuscript page.

Measures approximately 7.5 x 13 inches and contains approximately 24 handwritten pages.

The manuscript is devoted largely to practical surveying, land measurement, geometry, compass work, and mathematical calculations. The pages are carefully written in period penmanship with especially large decorative headings and numerous hand-drawn surveying and geometric diagrams.

Visible subjects and headings include Of the Compass, Of the Variation, Of Intersections, and Dividing of Land. The manuscript explains methods for establishing a true meridian line, working with magnetic meridians, determining easterly and westerly compass variation, tracing maps, calculating differences between earlier and later surveys, finding distances and bearings, and determining the contents or acreage of fields.

The Intersections section includes extensive calculations and a particularly attractive hand-drawn field/survey diagram showing an irregular tract with surveying lines and measurements. Other pages contain tables of calculations and worked surveying examples.

A substantial portion is headed Dividing of Land, with a series of numbered propositions explaining geometric methods for dividing fields and lines in various proportions. These pages include numerous carefully drawn triangles, proportional lines, arcs, semicircles, dotted construction lines, acreage divisions, and accompanying arithmetic.

The compass and variation material contains worked examples involving true and magnetic azimuths, amplitude, latitude, declination, bearings, and compass variation. One example specifically gives the date May 2, 1785, providing a useful period reference within the manuscript. Another passage discusses historical changes in compass variation at London, referencing observations from the 16th through 18th centuries.

This is an appealing early American manuscript relating directly to the practical mathematics used by surveyors in laying out and dividing land during the late 18th century. The Rex name and its association with the accompanying Rex family cypher manuscript may warrant additional genealogical research.

Authentic period piece related to family, historyor local heritage - well-suited for historical collections, genealogical /genealogy research, or museum acquisition.Vintage or Antique.

CONDITION: Very worn and fragile as shown. Pages have substantial edge wear, tears, losses, staining, toning, creasing, splitting, and other age-related deterioration. Some pages and portions are detached or incomplete, and several areas have old paper repairs or attached manuscript fragments. Despite the condition, a considerable amount of the handwritten surveying material, calculations, diagrams, and decorative headings remains legible. Please review all photographs carefully for exact condition and completeness. See listing description and photos.































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LOC2: PAPERBOXTALL17-TMKTK-F260815BDS260G