Cardboard facsimile of a sixteenth century nocturnal by the Italian maker, Girolamo della Volparia which is in the Museo di Storia della Scienza in Florence. The instrument comes within a booklet which describes the nocturnal and its use, including the method for making adjustments so that it will give the time accurately now, despite calendar changes and alteration in the position of the stars.

Two rotatable discs and a rotatable arm are fixed to the centre of the main disc.
Main disc: Date scale divided anticlockwise to named month and subdivided to one day.
Lower rotatable disc: Hour scale divided clockwise and pointer for midnight.
Upper rotatable disc: Pointer and 12 teeth numbered anticlockwise. Inside is a table for midnight acording to Italian hours.
Reverse: Horary quadrant. Degree scale divided anticlockwise. Midday marked by arc to right of the quadrant; hour lines drawn to left of this, continuous for morning and dotted for afternoon. Further lines for declination parallels.
Outside the months scale is a zodiac scale. In the top part of the quadrant is a circular table with three scales: a zodiac scale, a months scale and a numbered scale.
There is a scrolled support for the carrying ring. A brass rivet through the centre holds all the pieces together.