Tools and instruments

Art. 79 - Curious or rare objects (Rariteijten)

It is our great good fortune that Maria did not throw away all of her father's stuff after he died. The notaries who inventoried her possessions must have found this all in one place, perhaps the comptoire on the upper floor where Leeuwenhoek worked. Page 108v (right; click to enlarge) contains all of it.

  An extra large glass burning mirror (brandspiegel)
A smaller burning mirror
A small burning mirror

A magnifying glass (vergrootglas)
A ditto

2 barometers or thermometers (weerglazen)

A burning glass (brandglas)

A barometer (barometer)

2 large globes (globen) with 2 cloths over them, each 14 inches (duijm) diameter

1 extending? (insteekende) telescope (verrekijker)

A compass (compas)
A small compass

Some instruments for grinding glass

A surveyor's chain with the sticks and boards belonging to it, the chain being 5 rods (roeden) lang, each rod divided into 20

11 engraved copper plates
1 small ditto

2 black ebony gauging rods (peijlstokken) with silver knobs and bands
A ditto gauging rod with both sides fitted with silver
A ditto fitted on the side with silver
Yet a few more ebony gauging rods

A small box with silver and gold
A ditto with firestone (brandsteen)

A lathe

A table with a bellows

2 copper (copere; brass?) meridians (meridianen), 11 (ii) half circles from 8 to 1 inch (duijm)

1 astrolabe of a half circle with 1 compass within it

1 pocket sundial (saksonnenwijsertje) and calendar (datumwijzer), 1 cardinal points indicator (poolwijzer)

1 large measuring stick? (transportorium) 10 inches in diameter with a scale
1 ditto smaller 4 inches with 1 scale
1 ditto smaller 3 1/2 inches with 1 scale

1 copper triangle (winkelhaak), 1 copper measure divided into 200 units (deelen)

1 copper pantograph (aap, literally ape)
1 somewhat smaller

1 copper ruler (lineaal), finely engraved with footmeasures (voetmaten)

1 copper measuring stick (voetmaatje) divided into 150 units

1 copper magic lantern (tover instrumentje)

1 copper quadrant

1 engraved copper triangle (driehoek)

2 glass prisms (prisma), 1 large ditto

 


 

burning mirror (brandspiegel)

burning glass (brandglas)

A barometer (barometer) -- see Brief 245 1704-01-08

weerglazen: "a sight glass filled with a liquid at the level of which one was able to make determinations about the weather; Denoting specific meteorological instruments or such, an instrument used in specific functions such as temperature or air pressure meter, or sometimes both" - WNT)

brandglas: Aburning glass ( )

barometer: a barometer, which makes me think that weerglas is something else, like a thermometer or a barometer/thermometer combination

globes -- detail from Evert Collier's Vanitas showing two globes, one astrological and one terrestrial.

 

globes (globen)

extending telescope (verrekijker)

compass (compas)

instruments for grinding glass

surveyor's chain with the sticks and boards belonging to it, the chain being 5 rods (roeden) lang, each rod divided into 20

copper plates

gauging rods (peijlstokken)

A small box with silver and gold
A ditto with firestone (brandsteen)

lathe

A table with a bellows

meridians (meridianen), 11 (ii) half circles from 8 to 1 inch (duijm)

astrolabe of a half circle with 1 compass within it

pocket sundial (saksonnenwijsertje) and calendar (datumwijzer)

cardinal points indicator (poolwijzer)

measuring stick? (transportorium) 10 inches in diameter with a scale

triangle (winkelhaak)

measure divided into 200 units (deelen)

pantograph (aap, literally ape)

ruler (lineaal), finely engraved with footmeasures (voetmaten)

measuring stick (voetmaatje) divided into 150 units

magic lantern (tover instrumentje)

quadrant

triangle (driehoek)

glass prisms (prisma)