637 - Astronomical compendium by Ulrich Schniep

Astronomical compendium by Ulrich Schniep Engraved brass, gilt and silvered, clear glass, blued compass needle, coloured lunar phase indicator. Round, hinged case with a centrally pierced lid. The upper surface features a lunar volvelle and a nocturnal (with ‘NACHT VR’ engraved on the pointer); inside, an equatorial sundial with a cross-shaped gnomon, a plumb-line frame and a degree arc inscribed ‘POLVS HOHE’. The compass is housed within the case; on the base are the names of 24 cities arranged concentrically, together with their latitudes. Engraved beneath the plumb-line frame: ‘HOROLOGIVM GENERALE FECIT VLRICVS SCHNIEP DE MONACO’. Height 1.7, diameter 5.3 cm. Munich, 1560 - 88. Ulrich Schniep is regarded as one of the best-known astronomers and compass makers of the sixteenth century. Documented in Munich from 1545 onwards, he entered the service of Duke Albrecht V (1528-1579) a few years later and, following his death, that of his successor, Duke Wilhelm V (1548-1626). His duties included the production of clocks, compasses, sundials for buildings, musical instruments, terrestrial and celestial globes. In 1551, Emperor Charles V granted him a coat of arms. He died in 1588. A similar round compendium by Ulrich Schniep, dated 1566, is in the Museum of the History of Science, Oxford, inv. no. 48219. Another round astronomical ‘pocket instrument’, also dated 1556, is held by the Grünes Gewölbe, Dresden, inv. no. VII 289. Literature For more on Schniep, see Zinner, Astronomische Instrumente des 11. bis 18. Jahrhunderts, Munich, 1967, pp. 522 ff. See also Syndram, Wissenschaftliche Instrumente und Sonnenuhren, Kunstgewerbesammlung der Stadt Bielefeld Stiftung Huelsmann, Munich, 1989, pp. 30 f.