- Until recently Rowley's first orrery had remained in the possession of the Orrery family since its construction, but on 24 June 1974 it was sold by auction to the Science Museum, London, where it is now part of the Astronomical Collection. In the 1930s it was restored by Lt. Cdr. Gould: see Gould R.T. The original orrery restored: an early 18th-century mechanical model of the solar system The illustrated London news Dec. 1937 191 1102 1103 18 1106
- Huygens's planetarium, made in 1682, is now in the Rijksmuseum voor de Geschiedenis der Natuurwetenschappen, Leyden. A brief description and two illustrations are given in Crommelin's C.A. Descriptive catalogue of the Huygens collection Leyden 1949 18 19 Its design and construction were fully described by Huygens in a latin manuscript printed after his death in his Opuscula postuma, quae continent … Descriptionem automati planetarii, Leyden, 1703, 429–460. For a French translation with numerous notes and other relevant material see Oeuvres complètes de Christiaan Huygens, vol. 21, The Hague, 1944. Roemer's planetaria, of which several were made to different designs, are not well documented, but descriptions of two types are available. A ‘table’ model contemporary with Huygens's planetarium is briefly described and illustrated in Gallon's Machines et inventions approuvées par l'Académie Royale des Sciences, Paris, 1735, vol. 1, 81–83. A ‘ceiling’ version, probably later, is described and illustrated in P. Horrebow, Basis astronomiae sive astronomiae pars mechanica …, Copenhagen, 1735, 131–138.
- ‘The honest man [Rowley] calls his machine the Orrery, in gratitude to the nobleman of that title; for whose use and by whose generosity and encouragement he began and accomplished the undertaking’. Steele Richard The Englishman 1713 October 29 There is at present no comprehensive reference book devoted to the history of orreries and other solar system models, but this gap will be filled (probably in 1976) by the publication of research in this field currently being undertaken by Dr. Henry C. King of the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto. I am indebted to Dr. King for reading the draft of this paper and making helpful comments.
- Desaguliers , J.T. A course of experimental philosophy Vol. 1 , 1734 – 1734 . London 430
- Most of the Earl's scientific instruments passed to Christ Church College, Oxford, at his death in 1731, and are now displayed in the Museum of the History of Science, Oxford. For outline descriptions and illustrations of armillary spheres made by Rowley for the Earl, see Gunther R.T. Early science in Oxford Oxford 1923 2 265 269 For a brief account of Rowley's life and work, see E. W. Taylor, J. S. Wilson, and P. D. Scott Maxwell, At the sign of the orrery; the origins of the firm of Cooke, Troughton & Simms Ltd., York, n.d. [c. 1955], 7–11.
- The Tompion and Graham model is now in the Museum of the History of Science, Oxford, Inv. 47/48-27. For a description and illustrations see Gabb G.H. Taylor F.S. An early orrery by Thomas Tompion and George Graham, recently acquired by the Museum of the History of Science, Oxford The connoisseur September 1948 122 24 26 55. The other model, signed by Graham alone, is in the Adler Plantarium, Chicago. Details of this model have not been published, but in 1974 its mechanism was examined by Mr. R. S. Webster (Curator, Antique Instrument Collection) and Dr. H. C. King, who have informed me that internally it appears to be almost identical with the Tompion and Graham model and was probably the prototype for the latter.
- Armillary spheres of the common or ‘General’ type as well as the newer ‘Particular’ type were described by Moxon Joseph A tutor to astronomy and geography, or the use of the Copernican spheres London 1665 Moxon did not give an illustration of his ‘Particular’ sphere, but one was included in E. Stone's The construction and principal uses of mathematical instruments, London, 1723, plate XVIII. The same illustration was also used in the Astronomy plate of E. Chambers's Cyclopaedia, London, 1728, with the comment (in the article ‘Sphere’) that such devices were so rare that there was no need to waste space in describing them. No extant ‘Particular’ spheres by Moxon are known, but I am informed by Dr. H. C. King that one of the original models by W. J. Blaeu, thought to date from c. 1630, is in the Nederlandsch Historisch Scheepvaart Museum, Amsterdam, Inv. B54/61.
- 1764 . The gentleman's magazine Vol. 34 , 273 – 278 . This account of Hales's life was also published in the ‘Characters’ section of The annual register … for the year 1764; the paragraph quoted is on p. 44. Rowley was Master of Mechanics, not Mathematics.
- Clark-Kennedy , A.E. 1929 . Stephen Hales, D.D., F.R.S., an eighteenth century biography Cambridge
- Gilbert , N. 1957 . The work of Stephen Hales (1677–1761) and its influence on his contemporaries and successors University of London unpublished M.Sc. thesis
- Gunther , R.T. 1937 . Early science in Cambridge 189 – 189 . Oxford item no. 198 and 159–160
- Rice , H.C. Jnr. 1954 . The Rittenhouse orrery 7 – 7 . Princeton, N.J.
- 1973 . The clockwork of the heavens, an exhibition of astronomical clocks, watches, and allied scientific instruments , 50 – 50 . London : Asprey & Co. Ltd. . The exhibition included Rowley's orrery (item no. 45) and the Tompion and Graham model (item no. 44).
- Hales's model is also mentioned by Gabb Taylor An early orrery by Thomas Tompion and George Graham, recently acquired by the Museum of the History of Science, Oxford The connoisseur September 1948 122 24 26 55. The other model, signed by Graham alone, is in the Adler Planetarium, Chicago. Details of this model have not been published, but in 1974 its mechanism was examined by Mr. R. S. Webster (Curator, Antique Instrument Collection) and Dr. H. C. King, who have informed me that internally it appears to be almost identical with the Tompion and Graham model and was probably the prototype for the latter. and by Taylor, Wilson and Scott Maxwell (footnote 5), 9.
- Lukis , W.C. , ed. 1882 . The family memoirs of the Rev. William Stukeley, M.D.… 83 – 87 . Durham (3 vols., for the Surtees Society), These volumes are also designated Publications of the Surtees Society, vols. 73, 76, 80 for the years 1880, 1883, and 1885 respectively. They are cited hereafter as ‘Lukis’.
- Piggott , S. 1950 . William Stukeley, an eighteenth-century antiquary 189 – 201 . Oxford At that time a large private collection of Stukeley papers was held by Mr. A. Keiller; this was presented to the Bodleian Library in 1955. For cross-references from former Keiller shelfmarks to the current Bodleian ones see P. Long, ‘The Keiller collection of Stukeley papers’, Bodleian Library record, 1956, 5, 256–261.
- Lukis specifically states in his preface that he selected mainly items of topographical or antiquarian interest, for the benefit of Surtees Society members, though he did print a batch of ‘Astronomical Correspondence’ (not written by Stukeley) on pp. 418–452 of the first volume. Similarly, when J. Nichols printed a list of the drawings in one of Stukeley's notebooks in his Illustrations of literary history 1822 5 510 512 he omitted the drawing of Hales's model, presumably because it did not fit his heading ‘Civil Architecture’.
- Bodleian MS Eng. Misc. 121 – 140 . and e 196. A 19th-century manuscript index to e 121–40 is Bodleian MS Eng. Misc. e 141; this consists of about 1000 slips pasted into a volume of 130 leaves, in alphabetical order, but it is not a great deal of help in searching for specific items or names as no attempt was made to rationalize the form of entry. There is only one entry under ‘orrery’ (a reference to a maker at Norwich in 1753), and one under ‘planetarium’ (the passage quoted at footnote 32, 1752).
- Bodleian MS Eng. Misc. c 533, ff. 1–33. This was printed by Lukis 1 1 48
- Lukis . 1 1 – 48 . (MS), f. 14 r and v; Lukis, vol. 1, 21–22.
- Ferguson , J. The use of a new orrery, made and described by James Ferguson Vol. 1746 , iv – iv . London
- Masters , R. The history of the college of Corpus Christi … 1753 – 1753 . Cambridge 386
- The archdeacon, Stukeley, J. T. Desaguliers, and many well-known men of science were members of the Gentleman's Society of Spalding at this time. For a list of members, see Nichols J. Literary anecdotes of the 18th century 1812 4 69 122
- In 1751 Stukeley claimed to have Bishop Cumberland's clock in his own collection. For references to the clock, based on a preliminary search of the Stukeley papers, see Millburn J.R. Some horological extracts from Stukeley's diaries Antiquarian Horology 1969 6 206 211
- Stukeley records that in May 1750 he dined with the clergy at Sion College, and met there a former Fellow of Bennet College who asked him to send a concise account of his life to Robert Masters. This note is followed by a copy of the manuscript which he sent. See Bodleian MS Eng. Misc. e 667/5 29 51 The text of Stukeley's life, but not the introductory paragraph explaining how it arose, was printed by Lukis (vol. 1, 49–58) and mistakenly dated ‘May 1820’.
- Lukis . 1 54 – 54 .
- Lukis . 1 50 – 51 . This is one of the authorities quoted by the Oxford English Dictionary for ‘orrery’, with Lukis's erroneous 1720 date.
- Bodleian MS Eng. Misc. e 131 74 – 74 .
- Masters . 1753 . The history of the college of Corpus Christi … 381 – 386 . Cambridge The entry for Hales is on pp. 302–305.
- Bodleian MS Eng. Misc. e 135 15 – 15 .
- “ Bodleian MS Eng. Misc. e 260 ” . In The contents of this volume were printed by Lukis Vol. 1 , 94 – 135 . mistakenly headed ‘1720’
- Bodleian MS Eng. Misc. e 260 (MS) 114v – 114v . Lukis ibid., 131–133. Rowley died in January 1727/28
- Bodleian MS Eng. Misc. e 260 (MS) 117v – 117v . Lukis ibid., 133–134
- Clark-Kennedy , A.E. 1929 . Stephen Hales, D.D., F.R.S., an eighteenth century biography Cambridge plate IV
- Stukeley ought to have been familiar with the different functions of the broad wooden circle in the standard form of globe or sphere mounting, for in 1704 he purchased a pair of Moxon's globes together with his book on the use of them Lukis 1 23 23 As Joseph Moxon died in 1691, it was presumably his son James who sold the globes to Stukeley; James's activities have not been investigated in detail, but Davis and Carter quote evidence that he was still trading in 1703. For biographical details of Joseph Moxon and brief references to his son James see the Introduction to Mechanick exercises on the whole art of printing (1683–4) by Joseph Moxon (ed. H. Davis and H. Carter), London, 1958 (2nd. ed. 1962), xix–Iv. Joseph's Moxon's book on the use of the globes was A tutor to astronomy and geography, or the use of both the globes, celestial and terrestrial, first published in 1659. By 1704 it was in its 5th edition, 1699. This is a different work from that cited in footnote 7 above.
- For the development of educational ‘planetarium’ models with separate attachments for demonstrating the motions of the Earth and Moon, see Millburn J.R. Benjamin Martin and the development of the orrery British journal for the history of science 1973 6 378 399
- Bodleian MS Eng. Misc. e 126 50 – 50 .
- Letter from Stukeley to Mrs. Peirson, 2 October 1754 Lukis 1 89 89
- Lukis . 1 56 – 56 .
- Masters . 1753 . The history of the college of Corpus christi h 385 – 385 . Cambridge
- Towards the end of 1747 Stukeley was offered and accepted the living of St. George's, Queen's Square, London. He lived in London for the rest of his life. On 3 November 1750 he purchased a stable adjoining his house to make into a library Lukis 1 82 82
- Bodleian MS Eng. Misc. e 130 72 – 73 . Lukis, vol. 3, 14
- Bodleian MS Eng. Misc. e 667/4 ff. 3r – ff. 3r . 4r
- Bodleian MS Gough Maps 230 f. 13. – f. 13. .
- Lukis . 2 357 – 357 . Mr. Eayre was probably the clockmaker of that name; for some further references to him see J. R. Millburn (footnote 28).
- The ratio 57/59 was used frequently by James Ferguson; see Henderson E. Life of James Ferguson, F.R.S. Edinburgh 1867 297 301
- For example, according to his diary on 19 March 1740/41 Stukeley showed the Royal Society a model of a horseless carriage that he had invented and made Lukis 2 351 351
- Stukeley recorded Sisson's death in his diary for 16 June 1747: ‘My old friend and acquaintance Jonathan Sisson, mathematical instrument-maker, dyed the 13th at night. A man of an extraordinary genius that way’ Bodleian MS Eng. Misc. e 126 59 59 Lukis, vol. 2, 359.
- Some of Ferguson's contributions to the Society's proceedings are mentioned in Stukeley's diaries; see, for example Bodleian MS Eng. Misc. e 139 ff. 3 ff. 3 40, 64, 72 (1760–61) It is not clear whether Ferguson and Stukeley were acquainted in the 1740s.
- 1746 . Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society , 44 : 127 – 150 .
- It would not be true to say that no orreries were made on Hales's pattern, with the Earth's axis vertical, for there is in the Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna, an extraordinary model made about 1752 by J. G. Nestfell (1694–1762) which uses a similar principle. In Nestfell's model, which is a planetarium rather than an orrery, all the planets with their attendant satellites rise and fall on vertical spindles as they move round the inclined ecliptic. I am indebted to Dr. H. C. King for this information.
Annals of Science
Volume 31, 1974 - Issue 6