Humfray Cole (died 1591) was an English maker of scientific instruments and engraver.

Life

Cole was, according to his own description, a native of the north of England. From his employment at the mint and the general character of his work he appears to have been a mechanician.

Edward Dyer Sir Edward Dyer (October 1543 – May 1607) was an English courtier and poet. Life The son of Sir Thomas Dyer, Kt., he was born at Sharpham Park, Glastonbury, Somerset. He was educated, according to Anthony Wood, either at Balliol Col ...

acted as his patron, and he was commended as artisan by

Gabriel Harvey Gabriel Harvey (c. 1552/3 – 1631) was an English writer. Harvey was a notable scholar, whose reputation suffered from his quarrel with Thomas Nashe. Henry Morley, writing in the ''Fortnightly Review'' (March 1869), has argued that Harvey's Lati ...

. For the second edition of the ''

Bishops' Bible The Bishops' Bible is an English translation Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source ...

'', published in 1572, he engraved a map of

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

, as

Canaan Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus T ...

, thought to be based on a 1557 map by Tilemann Stella or Stoltz. On it he describes himself as "Humfray Cole, goldsmith, an Englishman born in ye north and pertayning to ye Mint in the Tower, 1572." Poorly paid at the mint, Cole took outside commissions; he undertook to supply any of the instruments shown in the 1571 ''Pantometria'' of Leonard Digges and

Thomas Digges Thomas Digges (; c. 1546 – 24 August 1595) was an English mathematician and astronomer. He was the first to expound the Copernican system in English but discarded the notion of a fixed shell of immoveable stars to postulate infinitely many s ...

. He supplied instruments to Martin Frobisher. He was employed in engraving mathematical and astronomical instruments in brass, of which there are specimens in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

. One of these is an

astrolabe An astrolabe ( grc, ἀστρολάβος ; ar, ٱلأَسْطُرلاب ; persian, ستاره‌یاب ) is an ancient astronomical instrument that was a handheld model of the universe. Its various functions also make it an elaborate inclin ...

, at one time in the possession of

Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales (19 February 1594 – 6 November 1612), was the eldest son and heir apparent of James VI and I, King of England and Scotland; and his wife Anne of Denmark. His name derives from his grandfathers: Henry Stuar ...

. He also made an

armillary sphere An armillary sphere (variations are known as spherical astrolabe, armilla, or armil) is a model of objects in the sky (on the celestial sphere), consisting of a spherical framework of rings, centered on Earth or the Sun, that represent lines of ...

. James Gregory purchased examples of Cole's work in London in 1673, for the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

. William Bourne also mentions Cole as an innovator in the design of a

ship's log A logbook (a ship's logs or simply log) is a record of important events in the management, operation, and navigation of a ship. It is essential to traditional navigation, and must be filled in at least daily. The term originally referred to a bo ...

Notes

External links

Objects by Cole at the British MuseumObjects by Cole at the National Maritime MuseumPage at the Museum of the History of Science
;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Humfray 1591 deaths English engravers 16th-century English people Year of birth unknown