Keuffel & Esser
Polar Explorer R.E. Byrd's Sextant Type AERO-1928-USN. No. 7-30 (SEXT13)
This unique collectible resides in The Fulford Collection and is on auction on eBay April 22-25, 2021 with bidding some items extended thru May 1. Please visit our eBay Store to place a bid.
This 1928 sextant and separate display stand was once possessed by the famous polar explorer Admiral Richard E. Byrd. It comes with a custom stand for display.
According to George Fulford's notes:
A very dear friend, Giles Healy, then President of the Institute of Navigation, gave this interesting sextant to me in 1973. He told me it had belonged to Admiral Byrd, the famed aviation polar explorer. The Admiral thought it might work better than the nautical sextant he had been using and Giles showed me a news clipping of the Admiral using this through an aircraft window, but I can find no evidence he further used it on any of his exploration flights. I failed to ask Giles how he came to be in possession of it, but I’m assuming Byrd didn’t care for it and gave it to Giles, who was also a member with Byrd of the Explorers Club. The early serial number suggests this to be true, though I never doubted Giles’ word, as he was a gentleman to the core.