Hartmann's Practika : A Manual for Making Sundials and Astrolabes with the Compass and Rule, Written from 1518 to 1528 by Georg Hartmann

Tallmadge, Ohio: Classical Science Press, 2009. First English Language Edition. Cloth. Near Fine. First English Language Edition. 312 pages. 13 3/4 x 9 1/2 inches. Publisher's green cloth with leather spine label. Spine slanted, a little light dusting to the cloth, otherwise an excellent copy. This title was issued in three different editions - (library, standard, and deluxe). This is a copy of the standard edition (the library edition is smaller with printed titles on the front board, the deluxe edition is larger with a 1/4 goatskin binding and fancy endpapers). Cloth. "Georg Hartmann lived from 1489 to 1564. As a young man he studied both mathematics and theology, becoming a Lutheran churchman. For over forty years he designed and constructed the astrolabes, armillary spheres, sundials, globes and quadrants that are now the pride of some of the world's most prestigious museums. Hartmann must have felt the need to record exactly how he designed this instruments, for in the summers of 1518 and 1526-1528 he scribbled down in Low German a rough draft (illustrated with even rougher sketches) of his mathematical techniques. No publisher ever considered it, for to refine this raw material into a logical and understandable treatise would necessitate enormous effort and dedication. Hartmann is therefore truly fortunate that, after nearly five centuries, John Lamprey has undertaken this task (including a translation into English) as a labor of love. The work took him six years, but the result - concisely entitled Hartmann's Practika - is a credit to both author and editor/translator. Now we can discover at first hand how this master craftsman laid out his beautiful instruments.

Lamprey has rearranged and edited Hartmann's draft into seven chapters ("books") according to the type of instrument described.

Book 1 - Block Sundial
Book 2 - Diptych Dial
Book 3 - Shepard's Dial
Book 4 - Lines of Declination
Book 5 - Hemispherium and Chalice Dial
Book 6 - Nuremberg Portable Dial
Book 7 - Designing the Astrolabe

Book review courtesy of Allan Mills, 2003" (from the publisher's catalog).