The So-Called ‘Chaucer Astrolabe’ from the Koelliker Collection, Milan

Nuncius ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 179-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jim Bennett ◽  
Giorgio Strano
Keyword(s):  

The so-called “Chaucer Astrolabe” from the Koelliker collection, Milan, is a remarkable 14th-century English instrument. In addition to recounting its recent story and expounding its detailed description, this article offers a multi-sided approach to the object. The instrument is examined in relation to some of the early manuscript copies and to other astrolabes that have most commonly been seen as linked to Geoffrey Chaucer’s Treatise on the Astrolabe. In particular, the article provides stylistic and astronomical analyses through comparisons with the illustrations in the early copies of the Treatise, a selection of very similar instruments, and the data of the Pseudo-Messahalla star table. This multi-sided approach has some implications for existing scholarship on the astrolabes in the Chaucer tradition.

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karolina Blusiewicz

Based on the late medieval leather artefacts from Puck, Gniew, Lębork and Chojnice, an attempt was made to assess the level of shoemaking production at that time. Microscopic analyses of leather goods and production waste proved that in the field of tanning the activities related to the mechanical treatment of leather were carefully performed, although with insufficient professional knowledge concerning the process. The results of the identification of the animal origin of the leather confirmed the purposeful selection of raw material with different properties for individual footwear elements and the ability to properly cut it. The quality of the shoemaking products was highly rated in terms of technology and style. However, in the analysed collections a clearly perceptible difference in craftsmanship and assortment of products from Gniew and the other three towns was noticed.


2008 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alisdair Dobie

This paper is based upon an examination of a selection of the bursars' accounts from Durham Cathedral Priory covering the period from the first extant account (1278–9) to the end of the 14th century. The accounts selected have been transcribed from the original documents and translated from Latin into English. A traditional focus of accounting historians in the medieval period has been on manorial accounting and the system of charge and discharge. This paper examines a series of non-manorial accounts and a variety of supporting accounting materials, analyzing them for evidence of the development and refinement of controls. After an introduction which reviews the background of the accounts and the extent to which they have been utilized for historical research, this paper describes the various sources of receipts and types of expenditure which are revealed. The format of the accounts is traced, and a review of total receipts and expenditure is conducted to gain an understanding of the overall financial position of the bursar's office. Next, the accounts are considered within the context of other accounting records to explore the financial controls in place. Finally, areas for further investigation and analysis are identified. The accounts selected reveal that actual receipts and actual expenditure were kept closely in tandem, and that an extensive network of other accounting material and documents allowing a system of cross-checks enabled auditors to ascertain the veracity and accuracy of the accounts.


2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 17-39
Author(s):  
Miha Zor
Keyword(s):  

The article deals with pictorial metamorphosis in the opening pages of two early 14th-century manuscripts of the Estoire del saint Graal. Firstly, the episodes depicted are analysed iconographically and formally. Secondly, it explores how pictorial narrative is established in the multi-compartmentalised miniature, that is how the images are linked internally in order to convey a narrative that has its beginning and its ending. Thirdly, it is shown how the images in the opening miniature communicate with other miniatures in the manuscript and how the course of interpretation, signaled by the opening miniature, is succeeded and confirmed by the selection of episodes which are subsequently depicted, as well as by the way in which the episodes depicted are pictorially interpreted.


2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 17-39
Author(s):  
Miha Zor
Keyword(s):  

The article deals with pictorial metamorphosis in the opening pages of two early 14th-century manuscripts of the Estoire del saint Graal. Firstly, the episodes depicted are analysed iconographically and formally. Secondly, it explores how pictorial narrative is established in the multi-compartmentalised miniature, that is how the images are linked internally in order to convey a narrative that has its beginning and its ending. Thirdly, it is shown how the images in the opening miniature communicate with other miniatures in the manuscript and how the course of interpretation, signaled by the opening miniature, is succeeded and confirmed by the selection of episodes which are subsequently depicted, as well as by the way in which the episodes depicted are pictorially interpreted.


Author(s):  
Chris De Wulf

In this article I will focus on the dialect implications on vowel spelling in the 14th Century, which is before the onset of (spelling) standardisation processes that were spurred on by the development of printing. Central in my research is the question what historical sounds can be represented by the graphemes in use in nine cities. My method involves analysing and cataloguing grapheme-phoneme relationships of a selection of tokens taken from the fourteenth Century charter corpus CRM (Corpus Van Reenen – Mulder). More precisely, I want to find out to what extent vowel graphemes convey phonetic variation accurately across the regions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gian Domenico Iannetti ◽  
Giorgio Vallortigara

Abstract Some of the foundations of Heyes’ radical reasoning seem to be based on a fractional selection of available evidence. Using an ethological perspective, we argue against Heyes’ rapid dismissal of innate cognitive instincts. Heyes’ use of fMRI studies of literacy to claim that culture assembles pieces of mental technology seems an example of incorrect reverse inferences and overlap theories pervasive in cognitive neuroscience.


1975 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 395-407
Author(s):  
S. Henriksen

The first question to be answered, in seeking coordinate systems for geodynamics, is: what is geodynamics? The answer is, of course, that geodynamics is that part of geophysics which is concerned with movements of the Earth, as opposed to geostatics which is the physics of the stationary Earth. But as far as we know, there is no stationary Earth – epur sic monere. So geodynamics is actually coextensive with geophysics, and coordinate systems suitable for the one should be suitable for the other. At the present time, there are not many coordinate systems, if any, that can be identified with a static Earth. Certainly the only coordinate of aeronomic (atmospheric) interest is the height, and this is usually either as geodynamic height or as pressure. In oceanology, the most important coordinate is depth, and this, like heights in the atmosphere, is expressed as metric depth from mean sea level, as geodynamic depth, or as pressure. Only for the earth do we find “static” systems in use, ana even here there is real question as to whether the systems are dynamic or static. So it would seem that our answer to the question, of what kind, of coordinate systems are we seeking, must be that we are looking for the same systems as are used in geophysics, and these systems are dynamic in nature already – that is, their definition involvestime.


1978 ◽  
Vol 48 ◽  
pp. 515-521
Author(s):  
W. Nicholson

SummaryA routine has been developed for the processing of the 5820 plates of the survey. The plates are measured on the automatic measuring machine, GALAXY, and the measures are subsequently processed by computer, to edit and then refer them to the SAO catalogue. A start has been made on measuring the plates, but the final selection of stars to be made is still a matter for discussion.


Author(s):  
P.J. Killingworth ◽  
M. Warren

Ultimate resolution in the scanning electron microscope is determined not only by the diameter of the incident electron beam, but by interaction of that beam with the specimen material. Generally, while minimum beam diameter diminishes with increasing voltage, due to the reduced effect of aberration component and magnetic interference, the excited volume within the sample increases with electron energy. Thus, for any given material and imaging signal, there is an optimum volt age to achieve best resolution.In the case of organic materials, which are in general of low density and electric ally non-conducting; and may in addition be susceptible to radiation and heat damage, the selection of correct operating parameters is extremely critical and is achiev ed by interative adjustment.


Author(s):  
P. M. Lowrie ◽  
W. S. Tyler

The importance of examining stained 1 to 2μ plastic sections by light microscopy has long been recognized, both for increased definition of many histologic features and for selection of specimen samples to be used in ultrastructural studies. Selection of specimens with specific orien ation relative to anatomical structures becomes of critical importance in ultrastructural investigations of organs such as the lung. The uantity of blocks necessary to locate special areas of interest by random sampling is large, however, and the method is lacking in precision. Several methods have been described for selection of specific areas for electron microscopy using light microscopic evaluation of paraffin, epoxy-infiltrated, or epoxy-embedded large blocks from which thick sections were cut. Selected areas from these thick sections were subsequently removed and re-embedded or attached to blank precasted blocks and resectioned for transmission electron microscopy (TEM).


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