Signedengraved on arm: STANLEY, GREAT TURNSTILE, HOLBORN, LONDON.
on trade card inside lid of case: MADE BY / W. F. STANLEY, / Optical, Philosophical & Mathematical / INSTRUMENT MANUFACTURER, / ENGINE DIVIDER, &c. / MATHEMATICAL DEPARTMENT, GREAT TURNSTILE, HOLBORN, W.C.
Inscribedengraved on arm: BURLOW'S PATENT / No. 9
note of royal appointment on trade card attached inside the lid of the stroage box: To H. M. Government Science & Art Depnt. Council of India, Admirality, &c. / [a Lion and Unicorn seal] /
FunctionThe ellipsograph is used for mechanically drawing ellipses. Turning the crank indirectly imparts the necessary horizontal and rotational motion to the end of the adjustable drawing extension for it to produce ellipses. By varying the lengths of the beams, ellipses of different profiles are drawn.
Historical AttributesThis particular form of ellipsograph (or elliptograph, as its maker, W. F. Stanley, called it) was invented by an architect, Edward Burslow of Horsham, England. Stanley, however, calls him Burstow in his book of 1873 and later editions.
Primary SourcesWilliam Ford Stanley, A descriptive treatise on mathematical instruments:
their construction, uses, qualities, selection, preservation, and suggestions for improvements, with hints upon drawing and colouring, 4th ed. (London, 1873), 71-73; available from Google books here.