Compasses of 16-th – 18-th Centuries in M.V. Lomonosov’s Museum MAE (Kunstkamera) RAS

Abstract

The theoretic base for the research of compasses from M.V. Lomonosov’s museum (the department of Peter the Great’s Museum for anthropology and ethnography (Kunstkamera)) is the concept of R. Harre about the magical power of material objects, that get sense only in definite context; the sense changes and sometimes is even lost with narrative-shifts. The sources for the research are the museum objects and print artillery manuals of the 17^th – early 18^th century. Compasses, though known for a long time, got in the 16–18^th centuries high military significance, not typical for them in other periods. Compasses were necessary for making cannons and balls, defect discover and correction, leveling barrel before the shot, solving calculating tasks by graphical methods, as a part of set with Hartmann’s scale rulers or some other analogue instruments. Early examples are elegant objects made if not as the only unique ones, that not in big number.  Later compasses are comparatively simple and broadcast.