Altitude Sundial by Humphrey Cole

Acquisition at auction of a silver altitude sundial, for latitude 51 degrees 30 minutes (ie. the latitude of London), in original tooled leather case, circa 1570. Made by Humphrey Cole (1530-91), the first native-born instrument maker to practice a craft which had recently been introduced to England from the Low Countries. The instrument had been on loan to the Museum of the History of Science, Oxford.