Description: 1. Gunter rule- hand scribed on boxwood and inked to contrast the lines. An early 19th century or late 18th century piece. Scale reads right to left 11-24"2. 12" rule with approximate weight of sheet copper according to the Imperial Standard Wire Gauge also marked James Dale, Coppersmith and Engineer, Emerson St, Bankside, S. E., London, Contractors to H. M. Government, The War Office. Early 20th century3. Navigation Scale- by W. & S. Jones, 30 Holborn, London, c. 1830.

History: 1. At first glance we have here a simple wooden ruler, with many scales of unclear purpose. Don’t be deceived, though: this is a key development in the history of computing devices. Known as Gunter’s Rule, or simply a “Gunter”, this is the invention of Edmund Gunter (1581-1626), a London scholar and contemporary of John Napier, the Scottish inventor of Logarithms. Napier published Gunter's rule, with a pair of dividers. The first table of logarithms in 1614, and armed with it one could replace multiplication and division with addition and subtraction of the equivalent logarithms -- a clear benefit if you have to calculate by hand, as they certainly did in the 17th century. Still, it was one boring and laborious task, which Gunter did away with. 2. The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defense. The name "War Office" is also given to the former home of the department, the War Office building located at the junction of Horse Guards Avenue and Whitehall in central London. In August 2013 it was announced that the War Office building would be sold on the open market.3. W & S Jones Nationality: British

Provenance: N/A

Dimensions: Weight (Pounds & Ounces) = 0.5 | Height(in) = 1 | Width(in) = 24 | Depth(in) = 2.25

Size of Artwork(in): Largest 24"

Artist Name: W&S Jones, James Dale, ?

Medium: Boxwood

Circa: c.1800-early 20th c.

1. Tight age checks. 2. Wear to corner edges. 3. Wear to corner edges and age split about 4" long.