Vintage compass on a vintage map.
My husband got me this lovely, palm-sized vintage compass at a ship salvage shop and antique dealer in Bangladesh.
The walnut-toned wood box has a metal label reading "Negretti & Zambra, as does the compass itself, both on the cover, and under the glass on the rose's face. The outside of the compass lid reads "Edward VII Compass King & Emporer 1908". The date, 1908, and the word, "London" is inscribed on the compass rose under the glass. The compass has a fob, as well as a sliding knob to lock the floating needle in place when not in use.
The poem, Robert Frost's "The Road Less Taken" has been engraved on brass-toned metal and appears to have been attached to the inside cover. This poem dates to 1915 and was not really considered a classic until the mid-1920s. I'm assuming that the inscription was added later, particularly because the font-styles are more modern.
My husband isn't sure if the compass actually dates to 1908. Negretti & Zambra manufactured compasses, telescopes, monocules, barameters and other scientific items during this time period, but I was unable to find a similar compass style during a fairly comprehensive Internet search.
If you know anything about vintage compasses, please leave a comment. No matter whether this is a reproduction or an actual antique, it is still a wonderful addition to my collection of cartography and geographic ephemera.
Picture Books, Miguel Vera, and 46 other people added this photo to their favorites.

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Calsidyrose 27 months ago | reply
Thanks for the notice, Kyelikins! I've enjoyed seeing this photo used in so many different ways. I love compass images!
Trishia Jacobs 26 months ago | reply
Calsidyrose, I used your pic in a collage I made of my daughter that I posted on Facebook. I don't know how to link it here,but I did give you credit as the source of the awesome compass photo. I'll also be posting it in my flickr album.
thanks!!!
trishia
danielmoyle 24 months ago | reply
Your image inspired a free eBook cover. Thanks for sharing! www.amerifirst.com/images/cover-amerifirst-homepath-buyer...
MattBrown839 23 months ago | reply
I've adapted your image for use on the "useful links" section of our study website. Link: psc.medgen.medschl.cam.ac.uk/ Thanks for sharing!
thewritingreader 22 months ago | reply
Thank you for this lovely image. I used it in my blog here: www.thewritingreader.com/blog/2011/08/16/prompt-64-where-...
darklord381 22 months ago | reply
I would like to use your image for a game I am making and would like to know how you would like to be attributed?
crushday 22 months ago | reply
thank you for this great image. i've used it in a presentation about losing our way in a corporation and need to taking a new path. so the compass and the poem are perfect.
dudley.storey 19 months ago | reply
Thank you very much for licensing your photographs under Creative Commons! I used this image as the background to an illustration for an article on stroking text in CSS3 on my web development blog.
sean1e100 18 months ago | reply
Hi, thanks so much for lisencing this photo. You can see it being used at muchclearer.com/about-us/index with a proper credit to you giving respect where its due :-) Great image. Sean
lotuseaterphotography 18 months ago | reply
Thanks for providing such a great photo under the Creative Commons license. I have used the photo to illustrate a website about how to promote personal websites found here:
promote.simdif.com/google_places.html
Calsidyrose 18 months ago | reply
Thanks to all who have left links and given credit for this photo! It is exciting to see how many creative ways the photo has been used! As always, I appreciate the courtesies extended by Flickr members!
dana keene 17 months ago | reply
i love this so much its so cool :)!
PatarNoster 17 months ago | reply
Real Nice love it !
Patar Nosters Art
DavidHart 15 months ago | reply
Hi. Thanks so much for allowing this photo to be part of the Creative Commons. We've used it on our most recent blog post. I really appreciate you sharing your work.
magforwomen 14 months ago | reply
We have used this nice photo on our post here How to Make a Life Plan? Thanks a lot.
AdamLeggottCIW 12 months ago | reply
Great image - used on www.nickitealmakeupartist.co.uk homepage - slightly modified. Credited at foot of page.
Cheri Sundra: Guerrilla Historian 10 months ago | reply
Fantastic! I've linked my blog post to your picture:
fortunecookieideology.wordpress.com/2012/08/13/direction/
RTaminato 10 months ago | reply
Bonita foto ... gostei :)
Gina @MoneywiseMoms 5 months ago | reply
Thank you for sharing this photo. I used it on this blog post:
www.moneywisemoms.com/2013/01/2013-financial-goals
CharleneChronicles 8 days ago | reply
I just used it in a post as well: metrowestmamas.charlenechronicles.com/east-west-north-and...