Description
Book SynopsisStrasbourg Cathedral’s astronomical clock is one of the most famous monuments to Time in the world. No other clock has been described and appreciated so often and in such a myriad of ways. There were three clocks built consecutively within the cathedral: the earlier fourteenth century clock has left little trace; a second clock was realized in 1570-1574; while the nineteenth century clock began as a proposal for repairs, but was intended by its maker as a replacement clock. This book gives a detailed outline of the artistic and technical components of the second clock, much of which survives, and it describes the astronomical indications and its underlying conceptual framework. The author has discovered a hitherto disregarded contemporary statement that the clock displays four ways of determining the ascendant as described by Ptolemy. He also shows that the Strasbourg clock is the result of a highly original reception of the architectural theory of Vitruvius and other mathematical and mechanical texts of Late Antiquity. Revised and updated translation from the German edition Die Straßburger Münsteruhr: Funktion und Bedeutung eines Kosmos-Modells des 16. Jahrhunderts. Published by GNT-Verlag in 1993. See inside this book.
Trade Review“A volume that should find readers among scholars interested in the history of science and technology, early modern studies, the Reformation, urban studies, and the relationship between engineering, art, and design.” E. R. Truitt, University of Pennsylvania. In: Renaissance Quarterly, Vol. 74, No. 3 (Fall 2021), pp. 963–964. “This penetrative account is technically and historically fascinating, richly referenced, amply illustrated and indispensible to the many who fall under Strasbourg’s spell.” Sebastian Whitestone, in: Antiquarian Horology, Vol. 41, No. 3 (September 2020), pp. 411–413.
Table of Contents Preface List of Illustrations List of Abbreviations Introduction Part 1: The First Clock in the Strasbourg Cathedral and the Project for a New Clock in the Sixteenth Century 1 The First Clock in the Strasbourg Cathedral 1.1 The Automata of the First Cathedral Clock 2 The Clock on the Tower Platform 3 The Project for Building a New Clock in the First Half of the Sixteenth Century 4 Completion of the Second Clock in 1571–1574 4.1 Conrad Dasypodius 4.2 Isaac and Josias Habrecht 4.3 Tobias Stimmer 4.4 The Commission of 1571 and the Completion of the Second Cathedral Clock Part 2: The Artistic Embellishments of the Second Clock 5 The Artistic Decoration of the Clock Housing 5.1 Pictorial Representations of the Clock 5.2 General Description of the Clock Housing 5.3 The Lowest Tier 5.4 The Central Clock Tower 5.5 The Tower for the Weights 6 The Portrait of Copernicus: Did Conrad Dasypodius Adhere to Heliocentrism? Part 3: The Technical Components of the Clock 7 Gear Trains and Layout 7.1 Principal Arrangement 7.2 The Clockwork 7.3 Gear Train for the Mechanical Cock and Carillon 7.4 Transmissions 8 The Celestial Globe 8.1 The Sphere of Archimedes 8.2 Gear Train of the Celestial Globe 9 The Astrolabe Dial 9.1 Layout of the Tympanum 9.2 Ecliptic Ring and Hands for Planets 9.3 Gear Train for the Astrolabe 10 Calendar Disk and Sundials 10.1 The Calendar Disk 10.2 The Sundials on the Gable of the Cathedral’s Southern Transept Part 4: Programmatic Meanings 11 Clock Construction and Architectural Theory 11.1 Dasypodius’s Reception of Vitruvius 11.2 The Emblematic Painting on the Weight Drive Tower 11.3 The ‘Late Gothic’ Architecture of the Clock Housing 12 Influences of Alexandrine Technology 13 The ‘Inventio Prima’ of Dasypodius 13.1 Claudius Ptolemy’s Tetrabiblos 13.2 Dasypodius’s Commentary to Ptolemy’s Tetrabiblos Conclusion Appendices Appendix 1: Dasypodius’s Commentary on Chapter 2 of Book III of Ptolemy’s Tetrabiblos Appendix 2: The Lost Astronomical Clock of 1583 Appendix 3: Excerpt from the Protheoria mathematica by Conrad Dasypodius, 1593 Appendix 4: Excerpt from a Letter by Paul Virdung to Kepler, 1604 Appendix 5: The Divisions of Mathematics according to Geminos Sources and Bibliography A. Manuscripts B. Printed Sources and Secondary Literature Index
