Humfrey Cole, the first English-born instrument maker in Elizabethan England (died. 1591) and his spectacular mathematical instruments were thought to have been discussed exhaustively by Turner (2000) and Ackermann (1998 and 2004).

The situation changed in 2009 when an extremely rare astrolabic quadrant, discovered during an archeological rescue excavation in Canterbury, narrowly escaped export and was bought at huge expense for the British Museum. The resulting publicity from this discovery led to the acquisition of another, equally spectacular instrument: a hitherto unrecorded horary quadrant signed by Humfrey Cole and dated 1573.

This paper will discuss the acquisition and features of Humfrey Cole’s newly rediscovered quadrant and place the instrument in a larger historical context.