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Oxford, New College, 281

Date:

s. XIII².

Or.:

England.

Prov.:

John Farley (d. 1464), fellow of New College, Oxford, bequeathed the volume to that college (f. Ir: ‘Liber collegii beate Marie Winton<iensis> in Oxon<ie> ex dono magistri Joannis Farley, quondam socii huius collegii ac scolaris sacre theologie, eius anime propicietur Deus. Amen’).

Parchment, II+248 f. (modern foliation in pencil), a single neat hand, deluxe MS richly decorated especially at the beginning of each book of the Almagest, numerous painted and decorated initials throughout. The decoration was, however, added in the 15^th c.

Ptolemaica (single text), with added glosses containing a second Ptolemaic section. Blank: I-II, 1, 243 and several folia within the text (see below).

Bibl. H. O. Coxe, Catalogus codicum qui in collegiis aulisque Oxoniensibus hodie adversantur, I, Oxford, 1852, Codices MSS. Collegii Novi, 98; P. Kunitzsch, Der Sternkatalog des Almagest. Die arabisch-mittelalterliche Tradition, II, Wiesbaden, 1990, 22; H. Zepeda, The First Latin Treatise on Ptolemy’s Astronomy: The Almagesti minor (c. 1200), Turnhout, 2018, 76-77; J. Willoughby, ‘John Farley (d. 1464) and the Finessing of MS 281’, New College Notes 15 (2021), no. 2, 9 pp. (e-journal); S. Georges, Glosses as a Source for the History of Science. The Case of Gerard of Cremona’s Translation of Ptolemy’s Almagest (forthcoming).

2r–⁠242v	‘Bonum scire fuit quod sapientibus non deviantibus visum est cum partem — abbreviationem, arrogantiam et collaudationem, tunc iam sequitur et honestum est ut ponamus hic finem libro.’ = Ptolemy, Almagesti (tr. Gerard of Cremona) (A.1.2) , Class A, without the preface. I, 2r-19v (end missing); II, 21r-41v (beginning missing); III, 41v-58r; IV, 58r-79v; V, 81r-101v (beginning and end missing); VI, 103r-122v (beginning missing); VII, 122v-136v; VIII, 136v-148v; IX, 148v-167v and 169r-170r; X, 170r-170v, 168r-168v and 171r-184r; XI, 184r-206r (with lacuna); XII, 206r-225r (with lacunae); XIII, 225r-242v (with lacuna). Several sections are missing with blank folio or space in loco, including the end of Book I and the beginning of Book II (f. 20 blank, f. 19v breaks off towards the beginning of I.14 ‘… CXII partes et XXIII minuta et LVI secunda, que est sicut proporcio centum et unius…’ and f. 21r opens towards the end of II.1 ‘… distancium et equidistancium orbi equacionis diei, et hoc est quanta sit…’); the beginning of Book V (f. 80 blank, f. 81r opens towards the end of V.1 ‘… <ar>mille extrinsece et super locum ex quo videtur stella qui est super partem orbis signorum…’); the end of Book V and the beginning of Book VI (f. 102 blank, f. 101v breaks off towards the end of V.19 ‘Et ut exemplificemus illius exemplum ponemus in hac forma posita…’ and f. 103r opens towards the middle of VI.2 ‘… et fuit motus Solis per motum suum medium in media die primi mensis…’; chapters XI.11 and XII.8, both consisting of tables (f. 203r-205r blank and 221r-221v partly blank); the table at the end of XII.9 (blank space on f. 225r); and chapter XIII.11 (blank space on f. 241v-242r). The missing folia 20, 80 and 102 (beginning of Books II, V and VI) were probably removed for their decoration. The star catalogue (VII.5-VIII.1) is only partly filled. Substantial glosses by the scribe contemporary or somewhat later hand throughout, including excerpts from the Almagesti minor (see below). Colour reproductions of f. 2r, 170v, 8v and 56r by Willoughby, 2, 3, 5 and 8 respectively.
(28r–⁠77r)	‘Propositio 16^a. Cuiuslibet porcionis circuli declivis ascensionem in spera declivi invenire — Medium motum Capitis Draconis elicere.’ = Almagesti minor (C.1.4) , excerpts II.16-18, 21-26 and 33, III.3-IV.1 and IV.17-19 as glosses to the Almagest (see above) on f. 28r-30r, 32v, 48r-48v, 49v-50v, 51v-54r, 55v, 56v-58r and 76v-77r. These excerpts are closely related to and perhaps copied from MS Florence, BML, Plut. 89 sup. 57 (see).

2r–⁠242v

‘Bonum scire fuit quod sapientibus non deviantibus visum est cum partem — abbreviationem, arrogantiam et collaudationem, tunc iam sequitur et honestum est ut ponamus hic finem libro.’

= Ptolemy, Almagesti (tr. Gerard of Cremona) (A.1.2)

, Class A, without the preface. I, 2r-19v (end missing); II, 21r-41v (beginning missing); III, 41v-58r; IV, 58r-79v; V, 81r-101v (beginning and end missing); VI, 103r-122v (beginning missing); VII, 122v-136v; VIII, 136v-148v; IX, 148v-167v and 169r-170r; X, 170r-170v, 168r-168v and 171r-184r; XI, 184r-206r (with lacuna); XII, 206r-225r (with lacunae); XIII, 225r-242v (with lacuna). Several sections are missing with blank folio or space in loco, including the end of Book I and the beginning of Book II (f. 20 blank, f. 19v breaks off towards the beginning of I.14 ‘… CXII partes et XXIII minuta et LVI secunda, que est sicut proporcio centum et unius…’ and f. 21r opens towards the end of II.1 ‘… distancium et equidistancium orbi equacionis diei, et hoc est quanta sit…’); the beginning of Book V (f. 80 blank, f. 81r opens towards the end of V.1 ‘… <ar>mille extrinsece et super locum ex quo videtur stella qui est super partem orbis signorum…’); the end of Book V and the beginning of Book VI (f. 102 blank, f. 101v breaks off towards the end of V.19 ‘Et ut exemplificemus illius exemplum ponemus in hac forma posita…’ and f. 103r opens towards the middle of VI.2 ‘… et fuit motus Solis per motum suum medium in media die primi mensis…’; chapters XI.11 and XII.8, both consisting of tables (f. 203r-205r blank and 221r-221v partly blank); the table at the end of XII.9 (blank space on f. 225r); and chapter XIII.11 (blank space on f. 241v-242r). The missing folia 20, 80 and 102 (beginning of Books II, V and VI) were probably removed for their decoration. The star catalogue (VII.5-VIII.1) is only partly filled. Substantial glosses by the scribe contemporary or somewhat later hand throughout, including excerpts from the Almagesti minor (see below). Colour reproductions of f. 2r, 170v, 8v and 56r by Willoughby, 2, 3, 5 and 8 respectively.

(28r–⁠77r)

‘Propositio 16^a. Cuiuslibet porcionis circuli declivis ascensionem in spera declivi invenire — Medium motum Capitis Draconis elicere.’

= Almagesti minor (C.1.4)

, excerpts II.16-18, 21-26 and 33, III.3-IV.1 and IV.17-19 as glosses to the Almagest (see above) on f. 28r-30r, 32v, 48r-48v, 49v-50v, 51v-54r, 55v, 56v-58r and 76v-77r. These excerpts are closely related to and perhaps copied from MS Florence, BML, Plut. 89 sup. 57 (see).