Augsburg dial for latitudes 2°-88° North. Standard dial (see related terms) except for the following details:-

The dial-plate is square. Around the compass is a wind-ring with 32 points named in German. A wind vane in the form of a pennant is mounted above the compass on a hinged bracket. The latitude arc is divided [2°]-[88°] and the hour ring is cusped and decorated. Hinged to the South side of the dial-plate, the elaborately shaped plumb-bob support is pierced to accommodate the plumb bob. The plate is supported by one brass leg beneath the hour-circle hinge and two brass levelling screws in the corners on either side of the plumb bob. The back of the compass is engraved with a table of latitudes, headed 'Elev. Poli', on which all the towns listed have high latitudes, suggesting that the dial was possibly made for sale in Northern Germany. The dial is signed 'Lorenz Grassl' on its base.

Whereas most other Augsburg makers produced octagonal universal equinoctial dials, this one is square with a cusped hour ring, rather than a circular one. Like AST0458, it includes a wind-ring around the compass well, and the wind vane is intact. The inclusion of levelling screws for setting the dial horizontally is unusual on Augsburg dials. Similar instruments are in the 'Dresden Mathematisch Physikalischer Salon' and the 'Musee de la Vie Wallonne, Liege'. Another Grassl dial was included in the sale of the Greppin Collection in 1975.

For more information regarding this dial please refer to the OUP & NMM catalogue, 'Sundials at Greenwich'.