Georg Hartmann Georg Hartmann was born on 9 February 1489 in Eggolsheim, Germany. He was a highly regarded goldsmith and metalworker specialising in the production of scientific instruments. From 1506, he studied theology at the University of Cologne, where he was also tutored in mathematics by Henricus Glareanus (b.1488, d. 1563). Sometime between 1510 and 1518, he travelled in Italy, where he studied the design of sundials and discovered magnetic dip, and became friendly with Andreas Copernicus, the brother of the famous mathematician and astronomer, Nicolaus Copernicus.[1] From 1518 to 1544, he was vicar of the fashionable St Sebald’s church in Nuremberg. He continued his mathematical research while performing his religious duties, even establishing and directing a commercial manufactory of instruments. Shortly before 1523, he set up his workshop in Nuremberg. Hartmann became a major supplier of scientific instruments to Europe during the 1500s, producing fine examples for royal and noble patrons such as Duke Albrecht of Prussia and Duke Ottheinrich. He even created instruments for fellow mathematicians, which attests to the quality of his workshop’s output. For example, at the National Museum of American History there is a planispheric astrolabe by Hartmann, made in 1537 (ID No. MA.336117), which features an inscription indicating that it belonged to the Italian astronomer and mathematician Galileo Galilei. An exhibit of the brass planispheric astrolabe that Hartmann created in around 1532 is coming soon to Clocktime. Hartmann was a pioneer in manufacturing, especially in terms of production in quantity. He produced his prestigious brass instruments in batches while also devising a low cost method to systematically print astrolabe parts on paper for assembly on cardboard or wood – a DIY method for the more frugal customer. Also, he never engraved letters or numbers. Instead, he used punches: stamped identification numbers on different parts of an instrument. This method may have streamlined production when he was constructing batches of instruments. The range and quantity of instruments that Hartmann produced could have been achieved only in a large workshop setting. Sometime after 1540, he diversified his products and began producing gunners’ instruments as well. More than 30 Hartmann instruments survive. The majority are sundials, with a smaller corpus of astrolabes, quadrants, and other astronomical and astrological tools. Although none survives, we know that he also produced terrestrial and celestial globes and armillary spheres, as well as the gunners’ instruments mentioned above. In 1518, Hartmann began writing a practical treatise on the construction of sundials and astrolabes; this he completed in 1528. Although the manuscript was never published, it survives. In 1533, just after creation of his early planispheric astrolabe (that is coming soon to Clocktime), he published a manual on making diptych sundials. He also went on to complete several unpublished manuscripts containing drawings of sundials, astrolabes and other instruments which have survived as well. In 1542 he produced an edition of John Pecham’s Perspectiva communis, a treatise on optics dating from 1292, and in 1554, he produced the astrological work, the Directorium. Georg Hartmann died on 8 April 1564. End Note [1] Nicolaus Copernicus (b. 1473, d. 1543) proposed that the sun was stationary in the center of the universe and that the earth revolved around it. He adopted this theory around 1500, and it was (and is) known as the heliocentric theory. This theory contradicted the Bible, and its publication caused much controversy. Copernicus’ heliocentric theory was gradually accepted by the 16th century. Further Reading Karr Schmidt, S. 2018. Interactive and Sculptural Printmaking in the Rennaissance (Brill’s Studies in Intellectual History, Volume 270/21). Leiden: Brill. Lamprey, J. P. 1997. ‘An examination of two groups of Georg Hartmann sixteenth-century astrolabes and the tables used in their manufacture’ in Annals of Science 54(2): 111–142. Poppick, L. January 31, 2017. ‘The story of the astrolabe, the original smart phone’ in Smithsonian Magazine. Turner, A. J. 1985. The Time Museum, Volume 1, Time Measuring Instruments: Astrolabes, astrolabe-related instruments. Wilminton, DE: Rockford, pp. 128–131. Turner, A. J. 1987. Early Scientific Instruments: Europe 1400–. London: Sotheby’s Publications, pp. 39–40.
