Accession No
0250
Brief Description
nocturnal, English, 4/4 18th C
Origin
England
Maker
Class
navigation; dials
Earliest Date
1775
Latest Date
1800
Inscription Date
Material
wood (boxwood); metal (brass)
Dimensions
Special Collection
Robert Whipple collection
Provenance
Purchased by Robert Stewart Whipple from T. H. Court on 22/12/1925.
Inscription
Description Notes
Boxwood nocturnal. Handle has a 3-lobed pendant and is pierced with a heart shaped. Marked on the handle ‘FOR BOTH BEARS’ and stamped with a Tudor rose (twice) and a fleur-de-lys (3 times).
Main disc has date scale divided to named month, numbered by 10 days, subdivided to 1 day; Feb 16 at tip. Hour scale divided 1 - 12, 1 - 12, numbered by 1, subdivided to 15 minutes.
Rotatable disc: two indexes marked ‘GB’ and ‘LB’. Hour scale divided 1 - 12, 1 - 12, numbered by 1, subdivided to 15 minutes. Lunar age scale divided 1 - 29[1/2], numbered by 1. [Great Bear index at 12; Little Bear index at 4]
Index arm and volvelle disc held by brass fitting with central orifice and concavely cusped octagonal nut, square nut on back.
Back of main disc has 8-point compass rose and 32 points of declination of Pole Star above and below the pole, for both Bears.
fair condition, a few tiny cracks
References
Events
Description
In November 1944, R.S. Whipple’s donation to the University of Cambridge was put on show in the East Rooms of the Old Schools. The University accepted the donation on the condition that they found a new institution within which to house the collection.
Whipple himself wrote a guidebook to this exhibition, describing some of the more important objects and books on show. The front cover includes the following declaration: “The Exhibits are drawn from the Collection which Mr R.S. Whipple is presenting to the University and will form a nucleus for a History of Science Museum and Library in Cambridge.”
Whipple's own explanatory text for this nocturnal (along with Wh.1129) is:
"By means of which time is determined from the Pointers of the Great Bear or the 'Bright' star of the Little Bear."
17/10/2025
Created by: Hannah Price on 17/10/2025
FM:39652
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