$4,700
Rare Vertical Lunatellus by Davis, Pittsburg, with 5-inch J. Davis Improved Globe (1869) made up of twelve colored gores and two polar calottes on metal sphere, rotating with metal moon ball on geared brass arm around 8-inch brass sun (with painted sun spots), vertical printed calendar scale with Gregorian months and Zodiacal houses, hand-cranked mechanism in grain-painted casing with maker's assembly label on reverse J. Davis, Pittsburg, PA. Patentee, December 24th 1867 and October 27th 1868, Large Lunatellus , on lacquered brass pillar to splayed cast-iron pad feet of unequal length, full ht. 38 in., (acceptable dents, losses to terrestrial globe); and Rev. John Davis, A.M., Elements of Astronomy: Designed as a Text Book for Academica, Seminaries, and Families , Pittsburgh, 1867, (staining). Note: Davis' large Lunatellus is illustrated on p. 14 of Elements of Astronomy , and described. "The sun is made to turn on his axis, the earth revolves at her proper inclination on her axis and around the sun, producing not only the changes of seasons and the vicissitudes of day and night, but also their natural increase and decrease in length. The moon revolves around the sun, on her axis, and around the earth, producing the alteration of her days and nights, her changes, phases, and fulling, and also, by her retrograding at every revolution, the interesting phenomena of solar and lunar eclipses".
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2007-03-24
