Victorian Cased Aneroid Barometer to Ts & Jd Negus of New York

For sale a mid-Victorian Aneroid barometer engraved to TS & JD Negus, Navigation Warehouse, 140 Water Street, New York and manufactured by PNHB in its original case.

Comprised of a five-inch silvered dial divided with a 360-degree scale measuring 25 to 31 inches of barometric pressure and with weather indications engraved to the upper half. The lower half is engraved with the words Holosteric Barometer with manufacturer’s logo for the prolific French barometer making firm of Pertuis, Naudet, Hulot & Bourgeois (PNHB).

The retailer’s name is engraved in a circular design to match the scale stating the famous US marine instrument making firm of, TS & JD Negus, Navigation Warehouse, 140 Water Street, New York. It is completed with blue steel pointer and brass set hand operated through the glass by means of a brass knurled adjusting knob.

The dial and movement are contained behind a brass spun bezel with graduated brass case stamped to PHNB to the reverse and with integrated hanging ring to the top.

The outer case is covered in leather throughout, with a lovely fitted purple velvet interior which retains the gilt embossed lettering to the inner lid stating the retailers name and address. It is extraordinarily rare to find these barometers with their original cases and even rarer to find a PNHB barometer dedicated to a US firm.

A very interesting example which represents how closely European and US trade links had developed during the Nineteenth Century largely I suspect through the various groundbreaking Trade Exhibitions which began in 1850.

The brothers Thomas Stanford & John Davidson Negus were born in the early 1830’s to British immigrant parents. Their Father Thomas was obviously a man of means since both brothers were educated in England with the elder brother Thomas returning to New York ahead of John in 1848.

Little is known of the boys’ educations, but it is likely that they undertook London apprenticeships since Thomas immediately opened a workshop in Wall Street, where he manufactured and sold marine chronometers. It is suggested that Negus initially used European chronometer movements within his instruments suggesting that business contacts were already established prior to his return.

John Davidson Negus also returned from England in 1853 and joined his brother in partnership. The company was renamed, TS & JD Negus and moved to 140 Water Street which was named, “the Navigation Warehouse”. The title is an interesting one since a Navigation Warehouse and Naval Academy also existed in Leadenhall Street in London at the time and was home to makers such as the Gilberts and to Norie & Wilson. I have been unable to prove a definitive link, but it is likely that the brothers would have been familiar with this establishment during their time in the UK.

The company became the most renowned US maker of chronometers during its long history, at one point becoming the sole supplier to the US Navy. Their instruments are also noted to have been used for various Polar expeditions however their catalogues of the period bear testament to the wide range of other instruments that could be purchased at The Navigation Warehouse.

Both Negus brothers died in the early 1890’s with John Stewart Negus (son of John Davidson) taking over the running of the organisation. His son, John Clement Negus joined the company in 1931 and it moved premises to 69 Pearl Street. Both Father and Son had died by 1961, and John Stewart Negus II took over the company until his untimely death in 1963 ending over one hundred years of continuous family trade.

In their heyday, the original brother partnership obviously maintained healthy trade links with European instrument makers since this barometer is marked to the manufacturer Pertuis, Naudet, Hulot & Bourgeois (PNHB) who were prolific makers of these Vidi style barometers during the l