Henry Sutton London-based mathematical instrument maker Henry Sutton was one of the leading technical illustrators and engravers of England during the mid-1600s. He was renowned for his skill and accuracy and specialised in the gradation of scales that had been pulled from copperplates and batch-printed in paper form. He had the ability to work on both brass and wood and also in reverse on a copper printing plate. Very little is known of Sutton’s early life. He first appears in the historical record in 1647, when he became a member of the Joiners’ Guild. Two years later, in 1649, he began operating professionally in London as an instrument maker. Over the course of his career, he had at least two workshops in the heart of the City: the first at Threadneedle Street near St Christopher’s Church from 1649 and another located behind the Royal Exchange also in Threadneedle Street from 1658. While mathematical instruments such as Sutton’s did not directly affect horological development, they do have their place in horological history. In her book Longitude, Dava Sobel explains that during the 1600s the accepted theory was that the solution to the problem of longitude would be an astronomical one – that longitude could be calculated by reading the relative positions of celestial bodies, such as the moons of Jupiter (newly discovered by Galileo).[1] Thus, quadrants such as those produced by Sutton were essential equipment in the pursuit of this problem and were indispensable for safe navigation. Instrument makers were also part of the London clockmaking ecosystem, making the various kinds of sundials which, by necessity, had to be referenced when setting clocks and watches to the correct time. They also sometimes provided engraving work, such as producing the division markers on clock dials. As such, they were even sometimes subject to regulation by the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers.[2] The ‘incomparable’ Mr. Sutton During his lifetime, Sutton’s abilities were such that his name became synonymous with quality and accuracy, and his reputation among both connoisseurs and mathematical practitioners continued to endure a century or so after his death. His ‘incomparable’ reputation (during his own lifetime and into the present) is explored and celebrated by Jim Bennett in his chapter on Sutton in the publication celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Whipple Museum of the History of Science, where several of Sutton’s instruments are now housed.[3] Surviving works by Sutton include the wooden quadrant now at Planetarium Zuylenburgh in The Netherlands.[4] Sutton refined the process for batch-producing printed scales, like that seen on this quadrant, by pulling the scales from a single copper plate. This was an economising measure that made the early mass production of wooden quadrants possible. In this wooden quadrant’s case, the date ‘1658’ represents the start date of each batch manufacture. Mathematician John Collins published a treatise on the use of quadrants that provides the directive with paper prints of each quadrant, either loose or pasted upon boards; to be sold at the respective places aforesaid, 1659. The quadrants to which he refers were most likely made by Sutton, who is credited among the publishers of Collin’s treatise: Henry Sutton, mathematical instrument-maker, at his house in Thred-needle street, behind the Exchange.[5] Sutton also produced numerous surveyor’s compasses, such as the magnetic (or azimuth) compass (which comes in its original boxwood case along with one of Sutton’s sundials) in the Science Museum London (Object Number: 1928-942). There is also his printed azimuth magnetic surveyor’s compass, which was produced around 1650 or 1656 (coming soon to Clocktime).[6] It features two partly printed and hand-drawn papers mounted one on top of the other, also batch manufactured. It is unclear whether the last number for the date printed on Sutton’s surveying compass is a ‘0’ or a ‘6’; hence, the confusion over the date of this instrument. Other examples of Sutton’s work survive as illustrations in books and as printed sheets and engravings on brass plates or wooden boards. They can be found at in the United Kingdom, such as the Science Museum in London (mentioned above), the British Museum, the Royal Museums Greenwich, the Museum of the History of Science in Oxford and the Whipple Museum of the History of Science in Cambridge. Sutton and Knibb Sutton appears to have developed a creative partnership with the talented clockmaker Samuel Knibb, whose premises were also located nearby on Threadneedle Street during this time. The two appear to have collaborated on multiple projects, and it is possible that they may have even shared a workshop space at some point. Sutton also may have been part of the wider Knibb-Fromanteel network, as his workshop may have been providing engravers to the Fromanteel workshops.[7] In 1664, Sutton and Knibb collaboratively produced a calculating machine for computing trigonometric ratios (Science Museum in London, Object number: 1872-136). This complex and expensive machine exemplifies the technical sophistication of Sutton and Knibb’s work and is also a sublime example of collaboration between instrument makers and clockmakers. There is also the possibility that it was Sutton who executed the necessary dividing and engraving of chapter and minute rings on Knibb’s now-famous Cupola Clock made around 1665.[8] Antiquarian Jonathan Carter thinks that this work ‘could conceivably have been one of the last jobs executed' by Sutton.[9] This exemplary clock also certainly represents a very poignant connection between Sutton and Knibb: the shared circumstance of their deaths, as both suddenly died during the Great Plague of London in the prime of their careers. Sutton died during 1665, and Knibb was gone by 1670. A poor loss Upon learning of Sutton’s death, Sir Robert Moray wrote to Henry Oldenburg, wee all here are much troubled with the poor loss of [Anthony] Thomson & Sutton’. Then again, he wrote to John Wallis, ‘I found wanting Mr Anthony Thompson and Mr Henrie Sutton, two of the best Mathematicall Instrument Makers.[10] Following Sutton’s death in 1665, his workshop was taken over by his former apprentice, John Marke. End Notes [1] Sobel 2007. [2] The Worshipful Company of Clockmakers established and controlled trading standards, known as ‘Standard measure’(/glossary/standard-measure), to which both clockmakers and instrument makers were held accountable. While mathematical instrument makers were fair game, they were rarely subjected to this regulation as they were often members of other guilds, as was the case for Sutton, who was a member of the Joiners’ Company. [3] Bennett 2019. [4] Carter 2021b, 14–15, Catalogue No. 3. [5] Collins 1659. [6] Carter 2021a, 16–17, Catalogue No. 4. [7] Carter 2021b, 15. [8] Carter 2022, 58; Taylor personal communication. [9] Carter 2022, 58. [10] Sir Robert Morary (b. around 1608, d. 4 July 1673) was from a significant family in Perthshire, Scotland. He was a celebrated soldier, scientist, judge, diplomat and author, and his best-selling work, The Invisible College, explored the early days of Gresham College, University of Cambridge. He was also one of the founders and the first President of the Royal Society (Lomas 2009). See also Bennett 2019, 94, nos. 22 and 23. References Bennett, J. 2019. ‘That incomparable instrument maker: The reputation of Henry Sutton’ in Nall, J., L. Taub and F. Willmoth (editors). Objects and Investigations: To celebrate the 75th anniversary of R. S. Whipple's gift to the University of Cambridge. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (published online). pp. 83–100. Carter, J. 2021a. The John C Taylor Collection: Part I (Selling Exhibition Catalogue). Winchester: Carter Marsh & Co. Carter, J. 2021b. The John C Taylor Collection: Part II (Selling Exhibition Catalogue). Winchester: Carter Marsh & Co. Carter, J. 2022. The John C Taylor Collection: Part III (Selling Exhibition Catalogue, Carter Marsh & Co). Winchester: Carter Marsh & Co. Collins, J. 1659. The Sector on a Quadrant: The sector on a quadrant, or a treatise containing the description and use of four several quadrants; two small ones and two great ones, each rendred many ways, both general and particular. Each of them accomodated for dyalling; for resolving of all proportions instrumentally and for the ready finding the hour and azimuth universally in the equal limbe. Of great use to seaman and practitioners in the mathematics. Also an appendix touching reflected dyalling from a glass placed at any reclination. London: J.M. for George Hurlock. Lomas, R. 2009. The Invisible College: The secret history of how the Freemasons founded the Royal Society. London: Corgi Books. Sobel, D. 2007. Longitude: The story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time. London: Harper Perrenial.
