Astrolabe Catalogue

 

Front of astrolabe without rete or plates. Click to enlarge
Date 1492
Maker Hans Herghamer
Place Germany
Material Paper
Inventory no. 91897
Acquisition Acquired by exchange from Ernst Weil in 1954


Mater

The mater and limb are of other construction. The mater is a piece of vellum that has been pasted to a piece of paper. The paper extends below the vellum and bears a short inscription. Scales on the limb:
Type Range & Units Numbered Geometry Location
Equal hours 1 - 12 Times of day Every hour in red ink hours Circular, concentric outer

The limb is inscribed:
Content Translation Notes Type
Meridies North Written in red ink Direction
Occidens West Written in red ink Direction
Septentrio South Written in red ink Direction
Oriens East Written in red ink Direction
Nota distantia lune in nativitate. Est ipse gradus ascendentis hora casus spermatis Note the place of the moon at the birth. That is the degree of the ascendent at the time of conception Miscellaneous
Et locus lune hora casus spermatis. Est gradus ascendentis hora nativitatis And the location of the moon at the moment of conception is the degree of the ascendent at the time of birth. Miscellaneous
Hans Herghamer 1492 Maker's signature

Womb


The womb of the instrument is simply the single sheet of vellum.

Lines

Type Labelled Description
Horoscopic (great) houses Numbered with a superscript 'a' (Numbers in Numbers, written script) (Modern), Plain line style.
Meridian line
Horizon rectus rectus (Latin in Handwriting script)
Horizon obliquus 'orison obliquus' on the left and 'occidens' on th (Latin in Handwriting script)
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