# Humfray Cole

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English maker of scientific instruments and engraver

**Humfray Cole**[1] (died 1591)[2] was an English maker of scientific instruments and engraver.

## Life

Cole was, according to his own description, a native of the north of England. From his employment at the mint and the general character of his work he appears to have been a mechanician.[3] [Edward Dyer](/source/Edward_Dyer) acted as his patron, and he was commended as artisan by [Gabriel Harvey](/source/Gabriel_Harvey).[4]

For the second edition of the *[Bishops' Bible](/source/Bishops'_Bible)*, published in 1572, he engraved a map of [Palestine](/source/Palestine_(region)), as [Canaan](/source/Canaan), thought to be based on a 1557 map by [Tilemann Stella](/source/Tilemann_Stella) or Stoltz.[5] On it he describes himself as "Humfray Cole, goldsmith, an Englishman born in ye north and pertayning to ye Mint in the Tower, 1572."[3]

Poorly paid at the mint, Cole took outside commissions; he undertook to supply any of the instruments shown in the 1571 *Pantometria* of [Leonard Digges](/source/Leonard_Digges_(scientist)) and [Thomas Digges](/source/Thomas_Digges).[6] He supplied instruments to [Martin Frobisher](/source/Martin_Frobisher).[7] He was employed in engraving mathematical and astronomical instruments in brass, of which there are specimens in the [British Museum](/source/British_Museum). One of these is an [astrolabe](/source/Astrolabe), at one time in the possession of [Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales](/source/Henry_Frederick%2C_Prince_of_Wales).[3] He also made an [armillary sphere](/source/Armillary_sphere). [James Gregory](/source/James_Gregory_(mathematician)) purchased examples of Cole's work in London in 1673, for the [University of St Andrews](/source/University_of_St_Andrews).[7]

[William Bourne](/source/William_Bourne_(mathematician)) also mentions Cole as an innovator in the design of a [ship's log](/source/Pitometer_log).[8]

## Notes

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Humfrae as he wrote; also Humfrey, Humphry, Humprey, or Humphrey.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["British Museum - Humfrey Cole"](https://web.archive.org/web/20080806102330/http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/article_index/h/humfrey_cole.aspx). *www.britishmuseum.org*. Archived from [the original](https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/article_index/h/humfrey_cole.aspx) on 6 August 2008.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-DNB_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-DNB_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-DNB_3-2) [Stephen, Leslie](/source/Leslie_Stephen), ed. (1887). ["Cole, Humfray"](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Dictionary_of_National_Biography,_1885-1900/Cole,_Humfray). *[Dictionary of National Biography](/source/Dictionary_of_National_Biography)*. Vol. 11. London: [Smith, Elder & Co](/source/Smith%2C_Elder_%26_Co).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [Christopher Hill](/source/Christopher_Hill_(historian)), *Intellectual Origins of the English Revolution* (1980), p. 133 and p. 15.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [Catherine Delano-Smith, Elizabeth Morley Ingram, *Maps in Bibles, 1500-1600: an Illustrated Catalogue*](https://books.google.com/books?id=gMnUylp85_QC&dq=%27%27Humfray+Cole%22+%22map+of+Palestine%22&pg=PA60)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** [http://www.sartonchair.ugent.be/index.php?id=59&type=file](http://www.sartonchair.ugent.be/index.php?id=59&type=file), p. 8 of PDF; list of Cole's instruments on later pages.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-StA_7-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-StA_7-1) ["Humphrey Cole and the Armilliary Sphere (1582)"](https://web.archive.org/web/20020820212048/http://www-ah.st-andrews.ac.uk/mgstud/reflect/humphrey.html). *www-ah.st-andrews.ac.uk*. Archived from [the original](http://www-ah.st-andrews.ac.uk/mgstud/reflect/humphrey.html) on 20 August 2002.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** [Stephen, Leslie](/source/Leslie_Stephen), ed. (1886). ["Bourne, William"](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Dictionary_of_National_Biography,_1885-1900/Bourne,_William). *[Dictionary of National Biography](/source/Dictionary_of_National_Biography)*. Vol. 6. London: [Smith, Elder & Co](/source/Smith%2C_Elder_%26_Co).

## External links

- [Objects by Cole at the British Museum](https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/search_results.aspx)

- [Objects by Cole at the National Maritime Museum](http://www.nmm.ac.uk/collections/search/listResults.cfm?Maker=Humphrey%20Cole&SortBy=maker)

- [Page at the Museum of the History of Science](http://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/epact/maker.php?MakerID=66)

**Attribution**

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the [public domain](/source/Public_domain): [Stephen, Leslie](/source/Leslie_Stephen), ed. (1887). "[Cole, Humfray](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Dictionary_of_National_Biography,_1885-1900/Cole,_Humfray)". *[Dictionary of National Biography](/source/Dictionary_of_National_Biography)*. Vol. 11. London: [Smith, Elder & Co](/source/Smith%2C_Elder_%26_Co).

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Humfray Cole](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humfray_Cole) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humfray_Cole?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.