Sovereign Military Hospitaller
Order of St John of Jerusalem of
Rhodes and of Malta

Antique nautical and planispheric instruments

On sale Yes
Face value Complete set 5,60 €
Stamp description

among ancient nautical and planispheric instruments, the use of the astrolabe dates back to classical antiquity. As an astronomical instrument it was able to locate or calculate the position of the celestial bodies and also to determine local time by knowing the latitude and vice versa. A simplification of the planispheric astrolabe is the nautical astrolabe which can only reveal the height of the stars. To be more stable on ships at sea, it was built of bronze and brass and weighed around two kilos.

The stamps illustrate a page taken from Les Premières Oeuvres de Jacques Devaulx Pilote en la Marine (1583); a brass astrolabe by Walter Aertsen (Gualtiero Arsenio) 16th century; an astrolabe clock with mechanism by Jean Naze.

€ 0.10: Page taken from Les Premières Oeuvres de Jacques Devaulx Pilote en la Marine (1583), Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale
© 2020. Photo Josse/Scala, Florence.

€ 2.60: Brass astrolabe by Walter Aertsen (Gualtiero Arsenio) 16th century, Florence, Museo Galileo, formerly Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza
© 2020. White Images/Scala, Florence.

€ 2.90: Astrolabe clock. Mechanism by Jean Naze. Ecouen (France), Musée National de la Renaissance
© 2020. Foto Josse/Scala, Florence.

Date of issue 18 December 2020.
Face values three stamps (€ 0.10, € 2.60 and € 2.90) for a total of € 5.60.
Size 40 x 52 mm.
Perforation 13 x 13.
Souvenir sheet size
Print run five thousand complete sets.
Stamp sheet nine stamps.
Printed by offset. Cartor Security Printing, La Loupe, Francia.