Translated from the Greek by the Italian polymath Giambattista della Porta (1535-1615) and published by him in Naples in 1605, this version includes Book I only, interspersed with Ptolemy’s original text, also translated from the Greek by della Porta (A.1.8). The edition of 1588, often referred to in the secondary literature since Fabricius, probably never existed (see De Vivo, xiv-xv).

Text ‘(ed. Naples 1605) [ptolemy's text] Claudii Ptolemaei Magnae constructionis liber primus. Prooemium. Qui legitime philosophati sunt, bene quidem, o Syre, contemplativam philosophiam ab activa mihi videntur… (3) [theon’s comm.] Theonis Alexandrini commentarius in primum mathematic<ae> constructionis Ptolemaei librum. Prooemium. Saepe numero ab auditoribus honatus, fili Epiphani, ea commentari, quae unicuique difficilia iudicarunt — ubique tum in horizontem super sphaera recta. Finis.’

Bibl. N. Halma, Commentaire de Théon d’Alexandrie sur le premier livre de la composition mathématique de Ptolémée, Paris, 1821, xiii; R. De Vivo, Giovan Battista della Porta: Claudii Ptolemaei Magnae constructionis liber primus, cum Theonis Alexandrini commentariis Io. Baptista Porta Neapolitano interprete, Napoli, 2000, xiv-xvii.

Modern ed. De Vivo (from ed. Naples 1605).