Date |
1559 |
Maker |
Thomas Gemini |
Place |
London |
Material |
Brass |
Acquisition |
Transferred from the
University Observatory, Oxford, in 1936 |
Accession |
1936-6 |
Provenance
The surviving parts of Oxford University's
Savilian Collection of astronomical instruments were
discovered in a neglected state at the University Observatory
in 1936. They had come there from the Savilian Tower in the
1890s, where they had been nominally in the custody of the
Bodleian Library. They were kept in the tower's 'astronomy
chamber' for use by the 17th and 18th-century Savilian
professors of astronomy and geometry in their teaching. The
collection, including this astrolabe, was given to the
university in 1659 by Nicholas Greaves, in memory of his
brother John Greaves and of John Bainbridge, who were the
first two Savilian professors of astronomy. The instruments
had belonged to John Greaves, and this astrolabe was used by
him to measure the latitude of Rhodes during his scientific
expedition to the eastern Mediterranean in 1637-40. How
Greaves (or Bainbridge) acquired it is not known. In origin
it is evident from the coat of arms and inscriptions that it
was made either for or in honour of Queen Elizabeth I, who
succeeded to the throne in November 1558 and was crowned in
January 1559. A recent study has suggested that it is the
'instrment of astronymye' purchased from Gemini for £10 (a
large sum) in May 1559 in the accounts of Robert Dudley,
afterwards Earl of Leicester, the Queen's favourite at this
time. He may well have commissioned it as a gift for her.