George Atwood, a mathematics tutor at Trinity College, Cambridge, described this type of instrument in 1784, explaining its use for verifying the laws of motion with constant acceleration. The Atwood machine soon became a common piece of classroom apparatus, suitable for teaching classical mechanics.
This example was probably one of the instruments bought by Frederick Hall, a Dartmouth graduate who became a tutor at Middlebury College in 1805, and then spent two years abroad, attending universities and scientific lectures, and purchasing apparatus for the school. It was probably made by Harris & Co. in London.
Ref: George Atwood, <i>A Treatise on the Rectilinear Motion and Rotation of Bodies, with a Description of Original Experiments Relative to the Subject</i> (Cambridge, 1784).