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An intriguing collection of various tools used throughout the seventeenth century for the purposes of navigation and astronomy. This work would have originally accompanied a text documenting the twenty or so images here portrayed.
Many figures are easily recognizable, while some are more cryptic. Figures XIX to XXIII are simple representations of the globe, portraying such aspects as the path of the sun, the ecliptic lines, the distances between points on a sphere, and much more. Figures A and M are simply compasses, which include an additional tool for measuring precise directions. Interestingly, the directions the compass can point two are subdivided into twenty-four portions, similar to a clock, and not three hundred and sixty. One compass is adorned with a clinometer. Many other tools are shown, including a pendulum and perhaps a clock.
In all, this is an intriguing work that informs the modern observer about past tools used for navigation and astronomy.
![Tableau general des courants atmospheriques et oceaniques [General map of atmospheric and ocean currents]](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/85734.jpg)