Early horology

The paper focuses on the contribution of the Italian clockmaker Giovanni Dondi (1330-1388). He authored the manuscript Tractatus Astrarii documenting , with text and drawings, the design and manufacturing phases of a very sophisticated astronomical clock. In particular, the manuscript contains one of the earliest documented procedures for the design of non-circular gears. Hence, the purpose of this paper is twofold: to call the attention of the mechanism community about these historically meaningful procedures and to offer insights on the kinematic structure of some relevant parts of Dondi's astronomical clock. In fact, detailed descriptions of the gear trains for tracking the motions of the Mercury planet and of the Moon are herein presented. In these gear trains non-circular gears have been used to account for the apparent irregular motion of the planets. Finally, it has been observed the correspondence between the average angular speeds of the gear wheels and those of the Ptolemaic model.

Circumstantial evidence is presented that suggests that the Adam lantern clock,
first described in Antiquarian Horology, September 2010, was made near Bury St Edmunds in West Suffolk, possibly by Robert Sparke who is Suffolk’s earliest recorded
clockmaker, or more likely by his son William Sparke. An unusual lantern clock signed for Luke Cocksedge, who was probably its owner, and not a clockmaker, may also have been made by William Sparke

This is one of the most important surviving notebook by a British clock or watchmaker. It is compared with the other surviving notebooks and three very unusual designs of repeating watch are discussed. No other watches based on these principles are know.

This article is based on a lecture given at the Conference of the Antiquarian Horological Society at Liverpool University in 2008. It discusses and illustrates a wide rane of clocks from the region which are often more varied and interesting, both technically and stylistically than those from the south of England. It considers dials, cases and movements and nies their special features and characteristics.

The large posted=frame iron clock described has a very unusual verge escapement with the pendulum at the side. The pallets are very long and curved. There is nag's head striking, week duration and wooden rope barrels. It was probably made in France, or possibly Catalonia, in the early eighteenth century.

A large weight-driven iron chamber clock is discussed. It originally had trains of only two-wheels. Changes to the balance escapement and motion-work have resulted in the dial being repainted to read counterclockwise. Analysis of the paint indicates a date prior to 1650 and a name on the frame suggests a Polish origin. [Recent research suggests that it was made in France about 1580.]

A very unusual dial from a Scottish clock, probably added to a lantern clock to convert it
into a longcase clock, has manually adjustable indicators that show the dominical letters
and epacts. The use of these to determine the date of Easter is explained, and biographical
details of the clockmaker and the dial’s first owner are given.

This article describes a treatise on clockmaking compiled by an unknown clockmaker in about 1380. It is the earliest known practical clockmaking manual in Europe, and accordingly is of great importance for the history and development of horology. A transcript of the original Old French manuscript is reproduced, a literal translation of the complete text in English is here presented for the first time, and the difficult and often obscure text is explained in a detailed commentary, together with the illustrated reconstructions proposed for some of the various mechanisms. From this old treatise we may infer that the second half of the fourteenth century was a period of intense activity and experimentation in clockmaking in France, that several alternative designs of clock mechanisms had already been developed and were known among clockmakers, and that a relatively large number of artisans were engaged in the new craft of clockmaking.