NOVrSSIMA AC PERPF.Tb'A 



ASTRON M I C A 



EPHEMERIS 



AUTHOMATICA 



T II EO RiCOI'R A CMC A: 



a qua pr.rter bor.ts , bir. min. prima, tf Ire:'" !■', 



current tin Annum , Menfrm , menfit . etbeba •. i ^ 



T)irm , Litlerani Dom. Epachtm f indeque or,m'::nt 



F e/lorum, ahorumque imm Mobilitnn diem, Cycittn 



Sularcm ,Ntim;: ■■,•: mimtm , IndiHionem Rom. 



'i CHfUfvtJ ann: Dominum, ejufq. SiRnum t 



Cr Donittm, hunt Pbajes , & tllius K.t.item mr.ii.mt 



odeo yrraciter omnes Solis , & Lume motus im 



L mgit. , Unit. , Altit. , Excentriciratent &c. con- 



ii mo confpiciuntter , ut non modo Novi - & Pie- 



•'■lnni.i vera , verrqt'.e amborum Lumin.iry<rrt 



udr.iturie &c. appareant \verum ettam Edipfet 



tmnes folares , & Inni tj>,i fifiLrfet . q:<.i»» 



■s onemadmodltm in Ccrh , fie & i>t Au- 



ionute , Juts -j exit temper: bus conjpicut cete- 



brenf.tr , preterit eqtte scqi<? , m futur.r cum (nit 



ftkribms ttmjparis , durations , magnitudmis Cc. 



rircumflamiu pritflo Jijh poflint ,excogitMj t ac im 



editii 



*£ U T H H E 



FRANCISCO BURGHESIO,- 



ANNANIENSI, 



Tridentino Sacculote fxcului A. A. L. L. 



fc rhilotophi.r Doftore. 



MUM* 



^ T R 1 D E N T T , 



fcx Typogbr.Ca itulari loannis Bapr. Monaan' 



SUTLr\10':\UM VEh\MlSSU. 



Figure ~ I mi Pagi ol Fathei Borghesi's (its( book. 

 III.- translation in its entirety is: "The Most Recent, 

 Perpetual, Astronomical Calendar Clock: theoretical 

 — Practical: bj means ol which besides the hours, the 

 minutes and seconds; the current year, the month; the 

 day "I the month and i!i<- day of the week; the dominical 

 letter, epact, .m<l thence, the <\.i\ ol .ill ih<- feastdays, both 

 fixed .hkI movable; the solar cycle; die golden number; 

 the Rum. in indii don; the dominant planet of any yeai 

 and its sign; the phases of the moon and it-, mi 

 and all the motions of die sun and the moon as to longi- 

 tude, latitude, eccentricity, etc., are immediately seen, 

 so accurately that [not only] the true new full moons and 

 the tine quadrature, etc., of the sun and moon appi 



all solar and lunar eclipses both visible and 

 invisible; as in heaven, so on the clock, the) are con- 

 spicuously celebrated in their true dmes, and those ..I the 

 past and those ol the future, with their circumstances ..I 

 time and duration, magnitude, etc., ran be r jnii klv 

 determined. All this was devised and brought to light 



l>v the auth ' > Borghesi o \ ni, a secular 



priestol [rent, \. VI..I.. & Doctor of Philosophy. (Trent: 

 From the printshop of Giovanni Battista Monauni, With 

 Permission of Superiors.)" [Titlt pagi r,-f>roduced by 

 ioleca delta Citta di Trento.) 



(hue. Main times, lie wrote, he chided and begged 

 and shamed his erstwhile partner into resuming the 

 project where it had been last abandoned. Little In- 

 hale, the first clock began to take form. As each 

 new difficulty was encountered, the two men would go 

 back over the notes and sketches to trace the problem 

 to its source. < Hun a new part of the mechanism 

 would nullify .mother which had thus far operated 

 suo essfully, and a complete rearrangement would be 

 required. 



Again and again. Bertolla threw up his hands in 

 despair and begged Father Borghesi to abandon the 

 enterprise, lie protested that he wav no) Capable of 

 producing such a complicated mechanism: he had 

 neither the tools nor the skill. The priest wished to 

 produce a clock such as the world had nevei seen be- 

 fore, such as the greatest scientists and clockmakers 



of all time had never been able to m ike. But lien, ilia 

 felt that he was only a provini w ho could 



not hope to surpass them all with only his simple tools 



and training. 



In his bonk on the first clock. Novissima Ac Perpelua 

 i i Borghesi w rote that when he 

 had finall) ■ ome w ithin a few weeks of the i 

 stage in the development of his clock, he was faced 



with the problem of bolstering the sagging enthusiasm 

 of Bertolla. The clockmaker's original enthusiasm 

 had shown promise of great results, but as the days 

 passed and the problems of the multiplex and gen- 

 erally unfamiliar apparatus to be forged for the work- 

 ings of the automaton became more complex, his ardor 

 decreased. Finally, Bertolla became so discou 

 by the scoffers and frustrated b\ the fact that the 

 work was insufficient!) organized that Father Borghesi 



PAPER 35: THE BORGHESI ASTRONOMICAL CLOCK 



39 



