Beschreibung:

6.75 x 8.5 in., 21 leaves (42pp), no covers at present. On the first pages, Master Charles Waterhouse makes his ownership of the copybook clear, such as on page 2: Charles Waterhouse, his Book nor is it any body's business what he writes upon it. He also dates it 1783 a number of times, even writing it out as one thousand seven hundred and eighty three a few times so there is not doubt. The first third of the book seems to be Latin lessons, with general rules (such as masculine and feminine endings), declensions, exceptions, verb conjugations, etc. There are small "life lessons" also, Remember man and bear in mind a trusty Friend is hard to find. Throughout there are pages and words within other pages that appear to be exercises in calligraphy. A word in the middle of a page may be beautifully written. One page seems to be compass exercises, and 1784 appears on the next page, although subsequent pages are still dated 1783. There is poetry in Latin and English (with many doodles along the edges). In the center is A Table Shewing the Time of the Moons Coming to South any Day of her age. Most ink is black, but occasionally there are items in a sepia iron gall ink (many of which have faded). Around the chart of moon phases are several geometric drawings - circles with arcs and chords, a triangle with angles and sides labeled. After this are several pages dedicated to calculation of location and time, with a wonderful drawing of a man using a quadrant followed by how To find the Hour of the Night by the Shadow of the Moon upon a sun Dial. There is A New Mathematical Projection Shewing plainly by inspection exact Rules for the true forming every letter in the alphabet with their proportion and dependance on each other. The dark ink on this chart has "burned" through the page (and 1784 appears again at the bottom). the following page has The Description in Use of the Cross Staff, &c. (for determination of latitude). The page includes Master Waterhouse's rendering of a man using the instrument from John Sellers' Practical Navigation. The next three pages seem to be dedicated to drawing, with several "man in the moon" images, faces and parts thereof, a hand, etc. There is a wonderful drawing of a sea turtle with human heads above showing the relation of eyes, ears, nose, etc. There is one page of geography, with proportions of the earth's surface taken up by the major continents, and the distance of earth to the 5 known planets at the time. And this, of course, provided the opportunity for Bible lessons ("The Heavens declare the Glory of God..."). One page is devoted to a sketch of a bat, and the following page has a compass rose and the location of Polaris in relation to the "dippers." The first and last pages have poetry written within geometric figures. On the first page, it is within the "petals" of a rosette and an elliptical figure, and on the back page, a spiral. A small note on the first page suggests by milton in his Book of paradise Lost. A wonderful view of 18th century education, state of knowledge, etc. Condition: No boards remain. Light overall toning. First and last pages a bit darker. A few pages separated, but most still stitched together. Extensive scuffing of edges. Third leaf has upper right corner torn off, impacting some of the general rules of Latin.