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Terrestrial and celestial globes; their history and ... - 24grammata.com

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Last Quarter of the Sixteenth Century.<br />

after that a horizon circle. This meridian is made of brass,<br />

<strong>and</strong> each degree is divided into minutes, <strong>and</strong> the horizon has<br />

the width of a palm of the h<strong>and</strong>, being covered with brass<br />

having the degrees <strong>and</strong> minutes marked. The vertical quadrant<br />

passing from the zenith to the horizon is of brass.<br />

"The globe rests on a firm base having two iron supports<br />

crossing each other, two of which you see on one side <strong>and</strong><br />

two on the other. These are for the purpose of giving<br />

strength lest the horizon of the instrument should not be<br />

firm because of its bulk <strong>and</strong> weight.<br />

"The entire is support five feet high, <strong>and</strong> on the lower<br />

part<br />

of the structure various mathematical devices are to<br />

be seen skilfully painted for the sake of ornamentation, <strong>and</strong><br />

with the other features adding beauty to the whole. The<br />

globe itself is approximately six feet in diameter, <strong>and</strong> from<br />

this dimension the size of the meridian, of the horizon <strong>and</strong><br />

of the rest of the instrument can be obtained.<br />

"Such a globe, so solidly made, so finely wrought, <strong>and</strong><br />

in every part so finely constructed <strong>and</strong> properly constituted<br />

never before in any part of the world, so I believe <strong>and</strong> say<br />

without the thought of arousing envy, has been <strong>com</strong>pleted.<br />

It is an immense <strong>and</strong> a magnificent work; so much so that<br />

many<br />

have <strong>com</strong>e from various countries to Denmark that<br />

they might have a view of it together with my other instru-<br />

of Urania <strong>and</strong> its far-famed<br />

ments, while the Kingdom<br />

citadel were st<strong>and</strong>ing.<br />

"Around the horizon circle one could read in letters of gold<br />

Tn the year of Christ CO ID XXCIV (1584), Frederick II<br />

reigning in Denmark, this globe like unto a <strong>celestial</strong> machine,<br />

in which are fixed the stars of the eighth sphere as set down<br />

on his globe each exactly in its place, also the w<strong>and</strong>ering<br />

stars as they appear among these, Tycho Brahe, to all on<br />

earth who desire to underst<strong>and</strong> this matter, shows the<br />

heavens by this mechanical device which he perfected for his<br />

sons, for himself <strong>and</strong> for posterity.'<br />

"The date 1584 is inscribed hereon because that is the<br />

[ 187 ]<br />

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