Cannon scribe

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Cannon scribes were used for checking and marking the position on artillery cannon for the altitude quadrant. This brass example was made around 1800, probably by Matthew Berge of London.

The cannon scribe has a blue steel movable point and steel tips and a horizontal spirit level. Stamped on the handle is 'BERGE/LONDON'.

Matthew Berge had been foreman in the workshop of the pre-eminent London instrument maker, Jesse Ramsden. He was in business on his own account between 1802 and 1817. He died in 1819.

Record details

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• Online ID: 000-100-102-805-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: National Museums Scotland
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  T.1983.27
• Date: Around 1800
  c. 1800
  
• Material:
• Dimensions:
• What:
• Subject:
• Who: Berge
  Cannon
  Matthew Berge, London (Maker)
  
• Where: England, London
  
• Event:
• Description: Brass cannon scribe, with a blue steel movable point and steel tips and a horizontal spirit level, stamped on the handle is 'Berge/London', probably by Matthew Berge, London, c. 1800
  
• References:
  • For this type of instrument and its use, see J.R. Millburn, 'The Office of Ordinance and the Instrument-making trade in the mid-eighteenth century', Annals of Science 45 (1988), pp 221-93 
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