'Rotula Arithmetica' (piece)

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This brass plate is from the 'Rotula Arithmetica', a device for simple addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, invented in 1699 by a dissenting minister, George Brown (1650-1730). The rest of the instrument does not survive.

The plate is inscribed 'for the right Honble Patrick Earle of Marchmont / Lord High Chancelour of/ Scotland / Feb 28. 1699'. It is doubtful that Brown himself made the rotula: he probably employed an engraver.

Sir Patrick Hume (1641-1724), the first Earl of Marchmont, was a powerful political figure: all of the surviving examples have different dedications, and Brown was clearly searching for an influential patron.

Record details

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• Online ID: 000-100-044-673-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: National Museums Scotland
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  T.1979.166
• Date: 1699
  
• Material: Rotula plate
  
• Dimensions:
• What: Rotula plate
  
• Subject:
• Who: Earl of Marchmont (Dedicated to the Earl)
  G. Brown, Edinburgh (Maker)
  
• Where: Scotland, Midlothian, Edinburgh
  
• Event:
• Description: Plate for G. Brown's rotula, dated 1699 and dedicated to the Earl of Marchmont
  
• References:
  • Bryden, D. J., 'George Brown, Author of the Rotula' in Annals of Science 28 (1972), pp 1-29 
• Translations:
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