Accession No

2316

Brief Description

pair of aide-memoires for assisting with problems of spherical trigonometry, two brass discs with volvelles, tentatively attributed to John Seller, English, c. 1700

Origin

England; London; Wapping [based on tentative attribution]

Maker

Seller, John (AKA Sellar, John) [tentative attribution]

Class

mathematics; navigation

Earliest Date

1677

Latest Date

1800

Inscription Date

Material

metal (brass)

Dimensions

(a) diameter 49 mm; (b) diameter 49 mm

Special Collection

Provenance

Purchased from Sotheby’s, London; lot 100, 9/6/1977. Purchased with the assistance of a grant from Preservation Fund administered by the Science Museum.

Inscription

Description Notes

Pair of aide-memoires for assisting with problems of spherical trigonometry, in the form of brass discs, each with a volvelle, possibly made by John Seller, c. 1700. Both are of more-or-less the same size, shape, construction, and carry the same text, but appear to have been engraved by different hands. Both instruments match a plate with volvelle in John Seller's [1677] book, A pocket book : Containing severall choice collections in arithmetick, astronomy, geometry, surveying, dialling, navigation, astrology, geography, measuring, gageing, and the manuscript engraving style on one of the two aide-memoires appears to match quite closely with that on many of the engraved plates included in Seller's book, suggesting Seller might be the artist responsible for at least one of these two instruments.

2316.1: Darker brass, smaller font. Volvelle also easily rotates. In good condition, but with damage from sticker on the side of rotating volvelle.

2316.2:Brass discoloured on side with engrave triangles; also shows damage from sticker on this side. Volvelle seems to be fixed in place.

References

Events