Lot Essay
A similar compendium by Schissler, also made in 1557, is in the British Museum (see Ward, op. cit.).
.jpg?w=1)
signed and dated 'MAGISTER CHRISTOPHORVS SCHISSLER ME FECIT AVGVSTAE VINDELICORVM ANNO DOMINI 1557'
Details
A MID-16TH CENTURY GERMAN GILT-BRASS ASTRONOMICAL COMPENDIUM
signed and dated 'MAGISTER CHRISTOPHORVS SCHISSLER ME FECIT AVGVSTAE VINDELICORVM ANNO DOMINI 1557'
The instrument is octagonal in shape, and has top and bottom leaves hinged to the middle section. All surfaces are provided with astronomical information. On the top is a simple astrolabe rete, with no stars, that rotates over a polar projection with the North Pole at the centre. This is copied from Peter Apian, Cosmographia Liber (1540). The ecliptic circle is divided into the Zodiac, and at the edge of the plate is a circle divided into twice twelve hours. On the inside of this upper section is a map of Germany, with a rule in which runs a pointer in a slot. A windvane could be located in a hole at the centre of this plate.
The central section of the instrument comprises a horizontal sundial with a hinged post for a string gnomon that is adjustable for latitude, and a chapter ring in five parts corresponding to the latitudes from 42 to 54. In the middle is a magnetic compass. On the underside of this section is a sprung tensioning device for the string gnomon, and a table of the latitudes of forty-two towns in Germany, Austria or Switzerland.
The bottom leaf has on the inside two volvelles forming a Moon clock for finding the time at night from a sundial, the length of day or night, and the rising and setting of the sun. the innermost volvelle as a lunar phase aperture, and the surface is marked with planetary aspects. The outer side, forming the bottom of the instruments, has an organum Ptolemei on a rotating disc, with a rule. This is to find the time from the Sun's altitude.
3 in. (7.2 cm.) wide; in. (1.8 cm.) thick
signed and dated 'MAGISTER CHRISTOPHORVS SCHISSLER ME FECIT AVGVSTAE VINDELICORVM ANNO DOMINI 1557'
The instrument is octagonal in shape, and has top and bottom leaves hinged to the middle section. All surfaces are provided with astronomical information. On the top is a simple astrolabe rete, with no stars, that rotates over a polar projection with the North Pole at the centre. This is copied from Peter Apian, Cosmographia Liber (1540). The ecliptic circle is divided into the Zodiac, and at the edge of the plate is a circle divided into twice twelve hours. On the inside of this upper section is a map of Germany, with a rule in which runs a pointer in a slot. A windvane could be located in a hole at the centre of this plate.
The central section of the instrument comprises a horizontal sundial with a hinged post for a string gnomon that is adjustable for latitude, and a chapter ring in five parts corresponding to the latitudes from 42 to 54. In the middle is a magnetic compass. On the underside of this section is a sprung tensioning device for the string gnomon, and a table of the latitudes of forty-two towns in Germany, Austria or Switzerland.
The bottom leaf has on the inside two volvelles forming a Moon clock for finding the time at night from a sundial, the length of day or night, and the rising and setting of the sun. the innermost volvelle as a lunar phase aperture, and the surface is marked with planetary aspects. The outer side, forming the bottom of the instruments, has an organum Ptolemei on a rotating disc, with a rule. This is to find the time from the Sun's altitude.
3 in. (7.2 cm.) wide; in. (1.8 cm.) thick
Provenance
Rothschild inv. no. AR2639.
Literature
1903 Theresianumgasse Inventory, p. 89, no. 209.
1905 Theresianumgasse Inventory, p. 40, no. 163.
E. Zinner, Deutsche und niederlndische astronomische Instrumente des 11.-18. Jahrhunderts, Munich, 1956, p. 506. M. Bobinger,
COPARATIVE LITERATURE:
Alt-Augsburger Kompassmacher, Augsburg, 1966, pp. 337-8.
F.A.B. Ward, A Catalogue of Scientific Instruments in the Department of Medieval and Later Antiquities of the British Museum, London, 1981, pp. 120-1, no. 348.
1905 Theresianumgasse Inventory, p. 40, no. 163.
E. Zinner, Deutsche und niederlndische astronomische Instrumente des 11.-18. Jahrhunderts, Munich, 1956, p. 506. M. Bobinger,
COPARATIVE LITERATURE:
Alt-Augsburger Kompassmacher, Augsburg, 1966, pp. 337-8.
F.A.B. Ward, A Catalogue of Scientific Instruments in the Department of Medieval and Later Antiquities of the British Museum, London, 1981, pp. 120-1, no. 348.
