Joseph Drecker
1853 - 1931
Joseph Drecker (1853-1931) lived in Aachen. He was a German scholar and serious collector who was interested in the theory of sundials and Erhard Etzlaub.
In 1928, Drecker’s collection of 243 sundials and 350 books was acquired by Frederik Casparus Wieder (1874-1943), a Dutch historian of cartography who lived in Noordwijk. In 1959, David P. Wheatland (1898-1993) purchased the Drecker Collection from Wieder’s son with the help of Robert Newton Mayall—co-author of Sundials (1938) with his wife, Margaret L. Mayall, a research astronomer at the Harvard College Observatory. Mayall served as a go-between during the negotiations, never revealing who the seller was. He asked Ernst Zinner to draw up the inventory of the Drecker Collection for the sale. Mayall also provided translations from the German into English.
In 1986, Roderick and Marjorie Webster picked out nine sundials from the Drecker Collection, and Mr. Wheatland graciously donated these to the Adler Planetarium. David P. Wheatland gave the rest to Harvard's CHSI around 1987.
PROVENANCE—Joseph Drecker, Aachen, Germany, before 1928; Frederik Casparus Wieder, Noordwijk, The Netherlands, 1928; D. P. Wheatland, Topsfield, MA, 1959; gift to CHSI, ca. 1987.
In 1928, Drecker’s collection of 243 sundials and 350 books was acquired by Frederik Casparus Wieder (1874-1943), a Dutch historian of cartography who lived in Noordwijk. In 1959, David P. Wheatland (1898-1993) purchased the Drecker Collection from Wieder’s son with the help of Robert Newton Mayall—co-author of Sundials (1938) with his wife, Margaret L. Mayall, a research astronomer at the Harvard College Observatory. Mayall served as a go-between during the negotiations, never revealing who the seller was. He asked Ernst Zinner to draw up the inventory of the Drecker Collection for the sale. Mayall also provided translations from the German into English.
In 1986, Roderick and Marjorie Webster picked out nine sundials from the Drecker Collection, and Mr. Wheatland graciously donated these to the Adler Planetarium. David P. Wheatland gave the rest to Harvard's CHSI around 1987.
PROVENANCE—Joseph Drecker, Aachen, Germany, before 1928; Frederik Casparus Wieder, Noordwijk, The Netherlands, 1928; D. P. Wheatland, Topsfield, MA, 1959; gift to CHSI, ca. 1987.
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