Hi Andrew,
Thank you for your message. You wrote: (snip)
> > It doesn't seem possible that in the more than 3 centuries since the > > sundial was first installed no one has written extensively on its > > design and construction. I should think that IS actually quite possible! I suspect that in the C18 the knowledge would have been commonplace and probably not considered worthy of writing down. I would be quite surprised if in the C19 and earlier C20 it had been written up. If a recent paper by a Fellow of All Souls gives no help then I fear you may be on a quest for something which does not exist - but I'd be delighted to be proved wrong and to learn of what you find! Have you tried writing to him directly? Best wishes, Andrew James
Dr John Simmons, the author of "Wren's Dial Remov'd, or High-Victorian Hubris at All Souls," is elderly, busy, and doesn't use email. I've exchanged several messages with Norma Aubertin-Potter, Librarian in Charge, Codrington Library, who forwarded my questions to Dr Simmons and returned his answers. (Patrick Powers supplied an email address for the Library.) She has been very gracious and prompt in responding, but doesn't know where to find the material I'm seeking.
I secured a copy of J. A. Bennett's "The Mathematical Science of Christopher Wren" through inter-library loan, but was disappointed to find only a brief mention of Wren's interest in sundials. Simmons also lists a monograph by Pattenden, "Sundials at an Oxford College," and I'm looking for a copy. Norma Aubertin-Potter gave me a more complete reference as: Philip Pattenden, Sundials at an Oxford College. Oxford: Roman Books, 1979. ISBN 0950664405. 100 pages.
If any on the Sundial List are interested in Wren's magnificent sundial at All Souls College but haven't seen it, I have a small jpg (about 45k) available. There must be better images available somewhere on the internet, but I don't know where at the moment.
Best wishes, Mac Oglesby
