Dear Mike,
 
On the Sundial list something has been written about the oldest polestyle dial.
I made a note of what was written and that note is copied below.
 
Lateron I have read about such a dial from 1372 by Ibn al Shatir.
That is added in the same note.
 
 Best wishes, Fer.
 
-------------------------

Krzysztof Kotynia wrote:

>

> > > Piero Ranfagni wrote:

> > > Dear friends,

> > > I need your help: I'm preparaing a lesson around the mesaurement of

> > > time. I wolud like to know how old is the first equal hours sundial.Rohr

> > > claimed that the "Man with the sundial" in the Cathedral of Strasbourg

> > > is the earliest modern sundial and it dates from 1493. What is your

> > > opinion? Can you indicate me some books on the subject?

> > >

 

> > I don't know what dial with equal hours is the oldest , but on the site of De Zonnewijzerkring

> > you may see a sundial in Utrecht, Netherlands, dated 1463.

> > It is a small dial, still existing and dated.

> >

> > Fer J. de Vries

> > [EMAIL PROTECTED]

> >

 

> Dear  Piero,

> in other countries there are also sundials of equal hours

> dated earlier than Rohr's example.

> In the  Museum of   Jagiellonian University (Krakow, Poland)

>  is beautifully preserved

> sundial designed by Marcin (Martin) Bylica, the professor of

> astronomy in  that University and carried out in 1485 by Hans Dorn

> in Vienna in 1485. That sundial and other astronomical instruments

> (a celestial globe, a very  big astrolabe and so called torquetum)

> Marcin  Bylica bequeathed to the University.

> So I think  that sundials with  equal hours a earlier that  Rohr

> thinks.

> Best regards

> Krzysztof Kotynia

> lat 51.8N long.19.4E

 

According to Ernst Zinner: "Astronomische Instrumente des 1.. bis 18.

Jahrhunderts " (Astronomic instruments of the 11. until 18. Century ),

publishing house C. H. Beck, 1979 the Astronomer and Mathematician

Georg Peuerbach, (1423 - 1461) from Vienna created the first sharped

table sundial of the world in the year 1451.

It is in the museum ‚Zeughaus Kaiser Maximilian I.‘ in Innsbruck.

You will find a picture and further explanations to this sundial in my

homepage.

 

http://www.tirol.com/sundial/

It is the sundial No. 2 in my collection.

Karl Schwarzinger

47°14,3' N   11°26,7' E

E-Mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED]

 

An older one on a wall is Duderstadt, Germany, 1456  ( zie oom catalogus Duitsland, 37115 Duderstadt )

 

also old is Kaschau, Slowakia, 1477

( Košice  b  Pronunciation: [kô´shitse] Ger. Kaschau, Hung. Kassa, city (1990 est. pop. 237,100), E Slovakia. )

 

A list you find in Zinner: Alte Sonnenuhren an europäischen Gebäuden, page 13

 

Happy dialling Klaus Eichholz

[EMAIL PROTECTED]

 

 

 

 

 

We have now:

Strassbourg, France            1493  Building                       Cathedral

Krakow, Poland                    1485  Museum

Kaschau, Slowakia,              1477  ??

Utrecht, Netherlands           1463  Building                       Church

Duderstadt                            1456  Building                       Cathedral

Innsbruck, Austria               1451  Museum

Wien, Austria                       1451  Stephansdom              Cathedral

 

But where is the oldest?

Who knows of older ones?

 

Damascus                              1372        Horizontal sundial by Ibn al Shatir

                                                                Now replica but old parts seem to be present.

                                                                Read:

- Astronomy before the telescope page. 169

- Rohr, Die Sonnenuhr, page 174

- Osmanli Günes Saatleri, page. 30 en 174

-------------------------
Fer J. de Vries
 
 
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Eindhoven, Netherlands
lat.  51:30 N      long.  5:30 E
----- Original Message -----
To: SUNDIAL
Sent: Friday, December 24, 2004 4:38 PM
Subject: Earliest Sundials

Dear Sundial Friends,
    I am trying to find the earliest evidence for sundials made in Europe with gnomons aligned to the Earth's axis.  They were commonly in use after about 1550, (e.g., Nuremberg diptych dials), but I believe that there are much earlier ones.  Rohr, in his book, believes that the technology probably came to Europe from the Arabs following the crusades, the last of which finished around 1290. 
    One string gnomon dial is illustrated by Zinner that he believes was made by Regiomontanus in 1463.  Does anyone know of any earlier dials, fixed or portable using this 'new technology', or any dials with the new gnomon earlier than 1550?
 
    Best Wishes to all my Sundial Friends for Christmas and the New Year.

Regards,
Mike Cowham
Cambridge UK

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