Ghent, Universiteitsbibliotheek, 5 (416)
s. XV2 (copied after 8 December 1471, cf. f. 214v, and no later than 1479, or perhaps 1473).
Or.:Low Countries, probably Bruges, cf. also tables for latitude 51° f. 108v. MS prepared for Raphael de Mercatellis, abbot of St Bavon of Ghent, in 1479 (cf. arms f. 4r and 184r, and note on the inner back cover: ‘Hoc volumen comparavit Raphael de Marcatellis, Dei gratia episcopus Rosensis, abbas Sancti Bavonis iuxta Gandavum, anno domini 1479’) or perhaps as early as 1473 (see Derolez, The Library, 56, and ‘Two notes’, 185 n. 2).
Parchment, I+215 f., several similar neat hands, deluxe MS with painted initials at the beginning of each section and numerous decorated initials.
Astrology and natural philosophy: table of contents (Iv); Hermes, Centiloquium (1r-3r); Ptolemaica (4r-21r, 21r-21v and 22r-24r); Thebit Bencora, De imaginibus (24r-26v); Ptolemaica (27r-41v); Capitula Almansoris (42r-45v); Bethen, Centiloquium (46r-48r); Pseudo-Albertus Magnus, Speculum astronomie (48r-56r); Messahallah, Epistola de rebus eclipsium (56r-58r); Sem filius Haym, Capitulum in narratione Saturni quid accidat in mundo (58r-59v); Liber de causis (59v-65r); Zael, Quinquaginta precepta (65r-67v); Pseudo-Aristotle, De physiognomonia libellus (67v-71r); Horoscope: ‘Figura originis mundi secundum Albumasarem in Introductorio suo magno’ (72v); Albumasar, Flores (73r-84v); Abraham Avenezra, De questionibus, tr. Arnoul de Quinquempoix (84v-91v), with appendix ‘Glosa super sextam domum de questionibus. Videas fortitudinem planetarum…’ (91v); Abraham Avenezra, De electionibus, tr. Arnoul de Quinquempoix (91v-96r); Abraham Avenezra, Tractatus particulares, tr. Arnoul de Quinquempoix (96v-103r); Gergis, De significatione septem planetarum in domibus (103v-105v); Alkindi (?), Saturnus in Ariete sub radiis… (105v-107r); Hermes/Enoch, Liber imaginum signorum (107r-108r); table of unequal hours for latitude 51° (108v); Venantius of Moerbeke, Liber de presagiis futurorum (109r-124v); William of Aragon, De pronosticatione sompniorum libellus (125r-132r); Pseudo-Aristotle, De signis (132v-135v); Albumasar, Flores de electionibus (136ra-140vb); ascension tables with canons (141r-144r); ‘Incipit liber Zydrac de nativitatibus. In nomine domini nostri Ihesu Christi incipit libellus ostendens inclinationes et conditiones hominum a signo vite ut ab ascendente nativitatis…’ (145r-152v); table: elections from the aspects of the Moon with the other planets (153ra-154rb); Astronomia Ypocratis (154v-157v); ‘Prenostica Merlini. Lunaque prima qui decubuerit, si tertia die alleviatur, sanus erit…’ (157v-158v); David of Dinant, Quaternuli (158v-183r); Kyranides (184r-212r); ‘Tractatus Roberti de principiis rerum. Oportet arbitrandum naturalem principia…’ (212r-214r); table: ‘Tabula ostendens moram nati in utero per gradum Lune secundum trutinam Hermetis’, with example of rectification for a girl born on 8 December 1471 (214v-215r); table: ‘Tabula ostendens numerum dierum correspondentem cuilibet mensi…’ (215v). Blank: Ir, 3v, 71v-72r, 144v, 183v.
Bibl. J. de Saint-Genois, Catalogue méthodique et raisonné des manuscrits de la Bibliothèque de la ville et de l'université de Gand, Gent, 1849-1852, 295-297 (no. 416); Aristoteles Latinus. Codices, I.1: G. Lacombe, Pars prior, Roma, 1939, 319-321 (no. 176); A. Derolez, Inventaris van de handschriften in de Universiteitsbibliotheek te Gent, Gent, 1977, 1; P. Zambelli, S. Caroti, M. Pereira, S. Zamponi, Alberto magno: Speculum astronomiae, Pisa, 1977, 135-137; A. Derolez, The Library of Raphael de Marcatellis, Abbot of St. Bavon’s, Gent, 1437-1508, Ghent, 1979, 54-58; P. O. Kristeller, Iter Italicum, III, London-Leiden, 1983, 127; R. Lemay, Le Kitāb aṯ-Ṯamara (Liber fructus, Centiloquium) d’Abū Jaʿfar Aḥmad ibn Yūsuf [Ps.-Ptolémée], 1999 [unpublished], I, 247-248 and 342-344; A. Paravicini Bagliani, Le Speculum Astronomiae, une énigme? Enquête sur les manuscrits, Turnhout, 2001, 24-25; A. Derolez, ‘Two notes on Mercatel’s Earliest Astrological Manuscripts’, in Tributes in Honor of James H. Marrow. Studies in Painting and Manuscript Illumination of the Late Middle Ages and Northern Renaissance, eds J. F. Hamburger, A. S. Korteweg, London-Turnhout, 2006, 185-188; A. Derolez, Medieval Manuscripts. Ghent University Library, Gent, 2017, 20.
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4r–21r
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‘Incipit Centilogium Ptholomei cum commento Hali translatum ex Greco in Latinum. Mundanorum ad hoc et ad illud mutatio celestium corporum… Scientia namque astrorum ex te et illis est… Quod autem dixit Ptho<lome>us, ex te et illis est, significat quod qui res futuras prenoscere… (12r) Dixerunt Ptho<lome>us et Hermes quod Lune locus in hora qua… et hoc expertus fuit multociens — et ego Deum deprecor ut te dirigat. Explicit Centilogium Ptholomei cum commento Haly.’ = Abuiafar Hamet filii Joseph, 〈Commentum in Centiloquium〉 (‘Mundanorum’ version) (C.3.1.3)
, mixed with Plato of Tivoli’s translation (C.3.1.1) and also with the ‘Iam premisi’ version (C.3.1.4), although irregularly and often in a confused manner. To give but one example, v. 97-98 (f. 20v, verba are not numbered) in ‘Mundanorum’ are followed by v. 97 in ‘Iam premisi’ and, in smaller script as if a comm. on the former, v. 98 in Plato, both the proposition and the commentary. Overall, the ‘Mundanorum’ version (given in either ‘Mundanorum 1’ or ‘Mundanorum 2’, or both) prevails. Plato’s translation first occurs in v. 10 (f. 6r), as an addition to ‘Mundanorum’: ‘Aliud. Et ideo excitavit nos Ptholomeus ut operaremur…’. The text includes Pseudo-Ptolemy’s Dixerunt Ptholomeus et Hermes quod locus Lune… (B.5) after the commentary on v. 51 (given in ‘Mundanorum’) on f. 12r. No glosses. |
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12r
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‘Dixerunt Ptho<lome>us et Hermes quod Lune locus in hora qua — et hoc expertus fuit multociens.’ = Pseudo-Ptolemy, Dixerunt Ptolemeus et Hermes quod locus Lune... (B.5)
, inserted into v. 51 of the Centiloquium above. |
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21r–21v
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‘Ptholomeus dixit quod stelle cum caudis sunt 9 — in regibus et divitibus apparebit.’ = Pseudo-Ptolemy, De cometis (B.4)
. No glosses. |
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22r–24r
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‘Incipit opus de ymaginibus Ptholomei super facies signorum. Opus ymaginum Ptholomei et est omnibus modis propior et verior in probatione quoniam eius effectus constitutus est super facies duodecim signorum 12. Dixit Alburabeth Benfelix quia omnes orientales operabantur per has ymagines — et impetrabis a Deo quod animus tuus desiderat. Explicit iber de y<maginibus> Ptholomei super facies signorum.’ = Pseudo-Ptolemy, De imaginibus super facies signorum (B.14)
. No glosses. |
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27r–41v
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‘Incipiunt 100 verba Ptholomei. Dixit Ptholomeus: Iam scripsi tibi, Iesure, libros de hoc quod operantur stelle in hoc seculo… Sciencia stellarum ex te et ex illis… Cum dixit Ptho<lome>us, ex te et ex illis, significat quod qui res futuras prenoscere — et ego Deum precor ut te dirigat. Perfecta est huius libri translatio. Expliciunt 100 verba Ptholomei cum Centilogium (!).’ |