Epact Scientific Instruments of Medieval and Renaissance Europe

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 Charles Whitwell
Charles Whitwell (fl. 1582-1611) was apprenticed to the engraver and mathematical instrument maker Augustine Ryther in 1582 and, like his master, was responsible for instruments, maps and copper plates for books. He became free of the Grocer's Company in 1590 and in 1598 gave his address in London as 'without Temple Barre against St Clement's Church'. Like Ryther, he collaborated with the mathematical author Thomas Hood: Whitwell engraved the title page plate for Hood's book on the sector (1598) and also made a surviving example of this instrument, dated 1597.

One of Whitwell's most important clients was Sir Robert Dudley, the illegitimate son of the Earl of Leicester who fled to Italy in the early 17th century. Dudley took his collection of instruments with him and, as a result, a number of Whitwell instruments survive in the Museo di Storia della Scienza in Florence.

For instruments by Charles Whitwell, see:
   Astrolabe, Attributed to Charles Whitwell, English, Late 16th century (Firenze, IMSS)
   Astrolabe, Signed by Charles Whitwell, English, Dated 1595 (Firenze, IMSS)
   Astronomical Compendium, Signed by Charles Whitwell, London, circa 1600 (London, BM)
   Equinoctial Dial, Signed by Charles Whitwell, London, Dated 1606 (Oxford, MHS)
   Nautical Circle, Signed by Charles Whitwell, English, Late 16th century (Firenze, IMSS)
   Nautical Hemisphere, Signed by Charles Whitwell, English, Late 16th century (Firenze, IMSS)
   Quadrant, Signed by Charles Whitwell, English, Dated 1595 (Firenze, IMSS)
   Vertical Disc Dial, Signed by Charles Whitwell, English, Dated 1593 (Oxford, MHS)

References:

J. Brown, Mathematical Instrument-Makers in the Grocers' Company 1688-1800, with Notes on some Earlier Makers (London, 1979), p. 24, and pp. 60-61; A. M. Hind, Engraving in England in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (3 vols., Cambridge, 1952-64), vol. 1, pp. 223-7.