I've only found one other set out there like this, held in the collection of Brandeis University. A.H Andrews & Co, which made it, was founded in 1865, primarily as a furniture company making school and office furniture, but they also produced slates, erasers, maps and charts, drawing instruction books and related materials, including geometric solids and this set of blocks, which I found featured in an 1881 catalogue. The company went bankrupt in the 1890s, so these certainly date to the 1880s or so. This set was designed to illustrate the concept of the cube root (a cube root of a number x is a number y such that y³ = x) by breaking the cube into fractional segments. For me part of the fun is that it is also a sort of a puzzle, with all sorts of different ways one can configure the blocks to form the cube.

Box measures 3" x 3" x 3" The blocks themselves are in truly excellent condition. Light wear to the label on the box but it is firmly attached and the box is in great shape. Really a lovely set. On the bottom of the box, in beautiful ink handwriting, is the name J.A. Glaspell.