20. Astrolabe (cosmographical mirror) and universal altitude sundial by Gillis Coignet, Antwerp, 1560


Type: instrument
Inv. No. 53211
Source: MHS

Though generally classified as a form of astrolabe, the face of the instrument as displayed is more precisely identified as a ‘speculum cosmographicum’ or cosmographical mirror. It is a brass version of the paper instrument within the book on display, Peter Apian and Gemma Frisius, Cosmographia. On the other side of Coignet’s instrument is a form of universal sundial that also appears on paper in Cosmographia.

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