Bulletin

The Bulletin is the journal of the British Sundial Society. It comprises scientific and other papers, mainly contributed by society members and covering their fields of interest. It also carries reports of the principal society meetings and reviews of relevant books and papers from other journals. It is published four times a year in distinctive yellow covers; each number at the moment contains 48 full-colour pages. Members all receive their own copy and copies are kept in certain specialized libraries.

I will be glad to receive articles or other material related to sundials for consideration for publication in the Bulletin. For advice on preparing material for inclusion in the Bulletin please see Guidelines for Contributors

The BSS Bulletin archive, previously published on CD, is now freely available on the website. At present issues from July 1989 (the first Bulletin) to December 2010 are provided as searchable PDFs. Members may be interested to see the original front covers from the first three editions since these went out of print quite quickly and were subsequently republished with the current cover design.

The archive page has two tabs: each issue is accessible via its thumbnail on the Volumes tab and the Articles tab has sortable columns for author, title and volume as well as a free text search for titles.

These 76 issues with nearly 1500 articles and more than 3500 pages of text represent an unparalleled body of knowledge about sundials which the BSS is pleased to make widely available.

The September edition of the Bulletin has recently been delivered to members. The list of contents follows and, as always, a sample article is available for non-members.

Courtesy of Ian Butson, the Author and Title indices for the Bulletin since 2002 have been updated and are available under the Publications menu.

September Contents

1. Editorial

1. Familiar Faces in Victoria, BC

2. The Sundial Herm at Ancient Messene, Greece – Andreas Galanakis and Martin Jenkins

Read More

The June edition of the BSS Bulletin will be delivered to members shortly. For those who can’t wait, or for non-members who want to see what they are missing, a sample article by Geoffrey Lane about the Pewterer’s Hall glass sundial is available now.

Contents

1. Editorial

2. The Chetwode Quadrant: A Medieval Unequal-Hour Instrument – John Davis

6. New Dials (1): A Horizontal Stereographic Projection Dial for South Africa – Malcolm Barnfield

7. 24-Hour Sundial in the Shadow of the Moon – Martins Gills

7. Total Eclipse 2015 – Douglas Bateman

8. In the Footsteps of Thomas Ross: Part 11. The Dyallis of William Aytoun – Dennis Cowan

15. Re-Imagining the Pewterers’ Glass Sundial – Geoffrey Lane

17. English Pottery Sundial Picture – Malcolm Barnfield

18. Who Made these Ivory Diptych Dials? – Mike Cowham

20. Mike Groom—Obituary – Ben Jones

21. Setting the Bead on an Horary Quadrant Without a Date Scale – Frank H. King

21. The Eclipse as Seen in Fife – Dennis Cowan

22. Anton Schmitz – Bildhauermeister; Or, how a young German soldier eventually joined the British Sundial Society – Douglas Bateman and Ursula Schmitz

28. A Proposed Heliochronometer – Alan Mitchell

30. New Dials (2): Armillary Dial in Eire – Mark Lennox-Boyd

31. Sundial Discoveries in India and Sri Lanka – Martin Jenkins

35. New Book – Bonnin

36. Restoration of the Hole Park Sundial – Brad Dillon

37. The Hole Park Dial, Unrestored – John Davis

38. Newly Reported Dials, 2014 – John Foad

41. BSS Annual Conference: Nottingham, 10–12 April 2015 – Geoff Parsons, John Lester, Irene Brightmer and Frank Coe

45. Minutes of the 26th BSS Annual General Meeting

46. Trustees’ Annual Report

48. BSS Accounts for the Period 7 February to 31 December 2014

Members should now have received the March edition of the Bulletin, back to full size and containing the Solar Data Card for 2015. It also contains the booking form for the 2015 Conference, to be held in April. People wanting to attend should return this as soon as possible.

Contents

1. Editorial

2. A Medieval Sundial from Lindos on the Island of Rhodes — Karlheinz Schaldach

5. New Dial – The Neuadd Dial 2014 — Mark Lennox-Boyd

6. A Mystery Sundial by Girard et Barrère of Paris — Martin Jenkins

10. Sundials in Madeira — Maureen Harmer

13. Michael Maltin: Spitfire Pilot and a Gentleman – Obituary — Doug Bateman

14. Dial Dealings 2014 — Mike Cowham

17. New Book — Savoie

18. The Moving Sundial of Ardrossan — Christine Northeast

25. A Theatrical Dial — Jackie Jones

26. BSS Accounts for the Period 1 January to 8 August 2014

28. Conarachne et Pelecinum: About Some Graeco-Roman Sundial Types — Jérôme Bonnin

32. Puzzle Corner

33. In the Footsteps of Thomas Ross – Part 10: A Mixed Bag of Sundials in Edinburgh — Dennis Cowan

38. Some New Sundials in St Petersburg — Valery Dmitriev

41. Some Old Sundials in South Africa — Henk van der Ham and Malcolm Barnfield

45. Semper Novus, Semper Idem – Two Slotted-Gnomon ‘Conservatory’ or ‘Parlour’ Pottery Dials — Malcolm Bishop

51. Canvey Island Dial — Patrick Arnold

52. Dumfries House Armillary Sphere — Brad Dillon

Slightly later and slightly thinner than usual, the December Bulletin will be delivered to members in the next few days. The problems have arisen because of the poor health of the Editor, John Davis, which prevents him using a computer for extended periods. A scratch team of substitutes, led by Frank King, have completed this issue and have been overwhelmed both by the extent of the work John undertakes and how he makes it appear so effortless. Very best wishes to John: we are looking forward to him being able to pick up the reins again.

Contents

1. Editorial

2. An Exceptional Sundial – Denis Savoie and Anthony Turner

5. The Slate Dials of Brittany – Mike Cowham

8. Sundials on the Tropic of Capricorn – Anthony Capon

11. Readers’ Letters – Wood, Bateman

12. In the Footsteps of Thomas Ross. Part 9: The Mercat Crosses of Scotland and their Sundials – Dennis Cowan

19. The Future of Dialling – Tony Moss

20. From Old to New – A Restoration Project—The Nazeing Church Sundial – Ian Butson

24. The Littlecote Dial – J. Mike Shaw

26. The Sad Story of a Sundial – Piers Nicholson

27. Newbury One-Day Meeting, 27 September 2014 – Kevin Karney and Irene Brightmer

Contents

1. Editorial

2. An Oxford Sundial Mystery – Frank H. King

9. New Dials (1)

10. A Craftsman’s Hand Helped Skirlaugh Sundial to Live On – Margaret Ribchester

11. Three Danish Sundials – David Hawker

13. Dialling Tales: The Day That I Said “No” – Christopher Daniel

14. Sundials in the Desert Lands of Central Australia – Marg Folkard & John Ward

17. Promoting the Society – Doug Bateman & Jackie Jones

17. Postcard Potpourri 31. Marsden Park, Nelson – Peter Ransom

18. A Seventeenth-century Halachic Horizontal Sundial by Robert Jole – Maciej Lose

23. Holiday Pictures

24. The Eaton Hall Sundial Pillar. A moving story of deviant orientation – J. Mike Shaw

28. New Dials (2)

29. Book Review – Lester

30. A Calendar Dial for Installation on the Moon – Allan Mills

33. A Vari-purpose Vertical Sundial – John Moir

34. BSS 25th Anniversary Conference, Greenwich, 25-27 April, 2014 – Jim Holland

39. Manchester Railway Dial – JD

40. Unexpected Aspects of Anniversaries, or: Early sundials, widely travelledHelmut Sonderegger

45. BSS 25th Anniversary Photographic Competition, 2013-14 – Ian Butson

48. New Dials (3)