Brass surveying compass consisting of a circular plate whose circumference carries a 360-degree scale divided into four quadrants engraved names of the winds in Italian. At the centre is the compass complete with glass but lacking the magnetic needle engraved with hour scales from 10-23, around a pin gnomon. The compass rotates with a pin-hole sight vane mounted opposite a half-square frame with three sight vanes mounted 90° apart (one vane missing) and rotated over the circular plate. Diameter: 20x20cm ca. Origin: possibly mid-Adriatic coast of Italy. Literature: (ed) Giorgio Strano, Stephen Johnston, Mara Miniati and Alison D. Morrison-Low (2009) European Collections of Scientific Instruments, 1550-1750, Vol. 10. Mara Miniati (1990) Museo di Storia Della Scienza - Firenze Catalogo For a similar surveyors compass see the Medici Collection of Mathematical Instruments, Florence, inventory no. 3371