This sextant has an ebony frame and reinforced brass index arm. The ivory
scale is graduated every 20 minutes from -5o to +140o and
read by vernier with tangent screw to 30 seconds of arc. It belonged to the
University of Alabama, and probably dates from the middle decades of the
nineteenth century. A trade card in the box reads: "CASA FUNDADA EN 1837
PRECIO FIJO GRAN ESTABLECIMIENTO DE Instrumentos de D. JOSÉ
ROSELL BARCELONA Plaza de Palacio, Numero, 13."
José Rosell began in business in
Barcelona in 1837, offering a wide variety of mathematical, optical, and
philosophical instruments. In 1905 the shop was known as Antigua Casa Rosell.
Ref: José Rosell, Prospecto del Nuevo
y Grandioso Establecimento de Instrumentos Científicos
(Barcelona, n.d.).
