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The Astrolabe

An ancient instrument for solving problems of location and distance, as well as time

Astrolábon órganon is the word used in Ptolemaeus Syntaxis 5.1 to describe a form of armillary sphere consisting of both fixed and rotating rings for determining the ecliptic co-ordinates of stars. Also called astrolabe were two-dimensional representations of the celestial sphere: over fixed disks with a representation of the horizon of the earth (in each case for a specific geographic latitude) and its parallels up to the zenith lies a rotating representation of the heavens (called ‘spider’ or ‘net’) with zodiac and indicators for some of the brightest stars. On the back is an indicator (‘alidade’) with visor plates for calculating the height of the stars. The astrolabe allows its user to determine the hours of day and night, the positions of stars, and the height and depth of objects on earth (mountains, buildings, wells). The oldest extant descriptions of the flat, planispheric astrolabe come from Iohannes Philoponus, 6th century AD, and (in Syrian) from Severus Sebokht, c. 660 AD. Indirect references may date back as early as Theon (4th cent.). Between the 8th and the 9th centuries the Arabs appropriated the knowledge of the astrolabe. At the end of the 10th century and again in the 12th century, they passed it on to Western Europe, where astrolabes were constructed up until the 17th cent. Today, one Byzantine astrolabe (from 1062) is extant, as are some 750 Arabic-Islamic astrolabes and approximately the same number of European astrolabes.

This information is abstracted from Brill's New Pauly, the English edition of the authoritative Der Neue Pauly, Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World. The encyclopaedic coverage and high academic standard of the work, the interdisciplinary and contemporary approach and clear and accessible presentation have made the New Pauly the unrivalled modern reference work for the ancient world. For more information see www.brillsnewpauly.com or visit our website catalog: www.brill.nl/bnp
Brill’s New Pauly and the complete original Der Neue Pauly, the recognized standard reference works for students and scholars of the ancient world are also available online. This dual-language edition offers basic and advanced search facilities and is fully browsable. New English translations are added as they become available. See www.paulyonline.brill.nl for more information and a demo version.

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New Title: Hiroshige: Shaping the Image of Japan

Hiroshige: Shaping the Image of Japan provides a comprehensive overview of Hiroshige’s work as a woodblock print artist. A lavishly beautiful book, published to coincide with the 150th anniversary of Hiroshige’s death, the publication catalogues the landmark 2008 exhibition of his work held at the SieboldHouse Museum in Leiden, from October 31, 2008 up to January 25, 2009.

For the calendar of lectures and events related to this exhibition, please visit the website of the museum.

You can download the press release for this title here.

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Featured Products

A Brush with Animals

An extensive overview of 250 years of Japanese animal painting, with emphasis on works by artists of the naturalistic Shijô School. Many of the paintings are published here for the first time, having been selected from collections of members of the Society for Japanese Arts, (to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Society). You can view some pages from a Brush with Animals here and here.

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Sieboldhuis: www.sieboldhuis.org

Hotei Author Index

Hotei author index coming soon!

Hotei's definitive Author Index giving general details, published titles, and current projects, will be available very soon. Please check back for updates.

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Kawase Hasui: The Complete Woodblock Prints 2nd edition

Originally published in 2003, this groundbreaking publication on the life and work of Kawase Hasui is now available with a DVD; which includes a 1950s film on the artist and the production of one of his designs and a process book, displaying all stages in the creation of a Japanese woodblock print. Additional designs by Hasui that were not reproduced in the 2003 edition are included, amongst them a collection of first-day covers.

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Japanese Visual Culture
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Edited by: John Carpenter (SOAS/University of London; The Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures), Julie Nelson Davis (University of Pennsylvania), Shigeru Oikawa (Nihon Joshi Daigaku), Hans Bjarne Thomsen (University of Zurich), Gennifer Weissenfeld (Duke University).

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