1907: Mather Sundial
View from northeast
Source: Robert J. Clark
View from northwest, with McCosh Hall in background, circa 1922
Source: Princeton University Archives, Mudd Library, Grounds & Buildings, SP 5
Source: Robert J. Clark
Source: Princeton University Archives, Mudd Library, Grounds & Buildings, SP 5
The Mather Sun Dial, in the court of McCosh Hall, is a replica of the historic Turnbull Sun Dial constructed in 1551 at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. It was given by Sir William Mather, governor of Victoria University, Manchester, England, to "symbolize the connection between Oxford and Princeton [and] . . . Great Britain and America," and was unveiled on his behalf by Viscount James Bryce, then British ambassador to the United States, in 1907. The monumental shaft, rising from a broad base to a height of more than twenty feet, is topped by a pelican, religious symbol of Corpus Christi. Inscribed around the base are these words from Samuel Butler's Hudibras:
"Loyalty is e'er the same Whether it win or lose the game True as the dial to the sun Although it be not shined upon."
Source: Source: Leitch p. 319 ff
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