PAL

Ptolemaeus Arabus et Latinus

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Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, M. 28 sup.

Date:

s. XIV1 (not before 1327, date of John of Saxony’s Canones, for f. 1-22; ‘A nativitate Christi usque nunc 1321’ f. 86r; computation of the date of Easter for 1323 f. 117v).

Or.:

several sections are in Italian.

Prov.:

the MS belonged to one ‘B<ar>tolameus de Sorevelis (Sorenelis?)’ in 1522, cf. f. 142r.

Parchment, 177 f., one main hand.

Astronomy, astrology, arithmetic, geometry and music: table of contents, added (1v); John of Saxony, Canones (2r-16r); description of the stars of the 12 signs and constellations ‘In forma Arietis sunt stelle 13…’ (17ra-21r, with drawings of the 12 signs f. 17ra-18rb); Sacrobosco, De sphera (23r-31v); comm. on Sacrobosco’s De sphera ‘Tractatum de spera. Iste quidem tractatus qui est de dispositione mundi…’ (31v-53v); Alcabitius, Introductorius (53v-71v); ‘Cum fuerit Luna cum Capite vel Cauda in uno signo est dies cavenda in omnibus operibus…’ (71v-72r); Alchandreana ‘Si vis scire cuiusmodi faciem habet ille qui furatus est…’ (72r-72v); Zael, Liber temporum, excerpts (73r-74r); Astronomia Ypocratis (75r-77r); ‘In principio egritudinis, hora qua eger ponit se in lecto, in aliquo angulorum fuerit Luna tunc significat supra varietate malicie vel bonitatis egritudinis…’ (77v-78v); Ptolemaica (79r); Theorica planetarum Gerardi (79v-84v); chapters on astronomy, computus and astrology ‘Cum planetarum cupium describere cursum et foris ad centrum terre…’ (84v-91v); Picatrix, excerpt ‘De mansionibus secundum Picradim. Prima mansio Lune dicitur Alnach. Incipit in primo gradu Arietis et finitur in gradibus 12…’ (92r-92v); Pseudo-Messahallah, De compositione astrolabii, second part on uses (92v-97r); shadow table (97v-98r); ‘Si vis dividere unum numerum per alium, maiorem dividentem numerum…’ (98v-104r); arithmetic in Italian (104r-106v); ‘Si vis scire excessum celi ad quadratum ipsum infra illum circulum…’ (106v-107v); geometry in Italian (107v-112r); ‘Sciendum de mensurationibus rerum secundum quadrantem. Si vis scire altitudinem rei…’ (112r-114r); ‘Nota quod tresdecim sunt species cantus, videlicet tonus, semitonus…’ (114r-117r); ‘Si volueris scire computum Pasce…’ (117v-118v); ‘Incipit abrevatio compoti a magistro compilata. Nota materia compoti versatur precipue…’ (119r-123r); Sacrobosco, Algorismus (123r-127r); Euclid, Elementa, ed. Campanus of Novara, Books I-V (127v-141r and 143r-177v). Blank: 1r, 16v, 21v-22v (except for an unfinished diagram of the 12 months f. 22v), 74v, 141v-142v (except for owner’s note f. 142r).

Bibl. P. Revelli, I codici Ambrosiani di contenuto geografico, Milano, 1929, 95 (no. 232); L. Thorndike, ‘Some Little Known Astronomical and Mathematical Manuscripts’, Osiris 8 (1948), 41-72: 51; A. L. Gabriel, A Summary Catalogue of Microfilms of One Thousand Scientific Manuscripts in the Ambrosiana Library, Milan, Notre Dame, 1968, 261-263 (no. 610); J. Agrimi, Tecnica e scienza nella cultura medievale. Inventario dei manoscritti relativi alla scienza e alla tecnica medievale (secc. XI-XV). Biblioteche di Lombardia, Firenze, 1976, 104-106 (no. CXXIV); Inventario Ceruti dei manoscritti della Biblioteca Ambrosiana, ed. A. Paredi, IV, Trezzano, 1978, 92-93; D. Pingree, Picatrix. The Latin Version of the Ghāyat Al-Ḥakīm, London, 1986, li; P. O. Kristeller, Iter Italicum, VI, London-Leiden, 1992, 42; D. Juste, Les Alchandreana primitifs. Étude sur les plus anciens traités astrologiques latins d’origine arabe (xe siècle), Leiden-Boston, 2007, 338-339.

79r

‘Ptolomeus in suo Centumloquio (!) docet nos causas dierum determinabilium — et ideo non est nobis necesse recitare. Finis [this word added by a later hand].’