A translation of the Anonymous Commentary on the Tetrabiblos (C.2.12) by Giorgio Valla (1447-1500), professor of Greek and Latin in Pavia (1466-1485) and Venice (1485-1500). In the unique extant witness, published in Venice in 1502, the text is presented as Valla’s own commentary, something which irritated Girolamo Cardano who knew the Greek original text and accused Valla of appropriating the commentary for himself (‘Mirum est autem quod a tam paucis tam celebris utilisque liber [i.e., the Tetrabiblos] sit expositus, ut vix praeter authorem ignotum qui Graece scripsit, quenque Georgius Valla vertit impudenter illius commentaria sane satis frigida sibi ascribens, quae Emarus Ranconetus nobis largitus est, apud quem etiam Graecus codex, ut vidi, extabat, et Haly Heben Rodoan Arabem alium sciam qui prodierit in lucem tanto authore dignus’, In Ptolemaei librorum de iudiciis astrorum commentaria (C.2.24), Prooemium expositoris, ed. Basel 1554, sig. 2). The same accusation was repeated by the publisher of the editio princeps of the Greek text (‘Nuper etiam cum in commentationes in Cl<audii> Ptolemaei Quadripartitum Venetiis anno 1502 editas et Georgio Vallae inscriptas incidissem, vehementer fui exhilarates. Nam a tanto viro nihil non eximium expectabam. Sed cum paulum progressus fuissem legendo, facile deprehendi id opus et Vallae falso esse inscriptum et ab ipso haudquaquam emendatum, sed e Graeco transcriptum duntaxat esse’, ed. Basel 1559, sig a₂r). It should be noted, however, that the text was published posthumously by Valla’s son, Giampietro Valla, who may as well be responsible for the attribution of the commentary to his father. The Greek manuscript used by Valla has been identified as Modena, BEU, gr. 40 (Alfa T.9.6) (Caballero-Sánchez). My thanks to Craig Martin for drawing my attention to Cardano’s passage.

Text ‘(ed. Venice 1502) Georgii Vallae Placentini In Ptolemaei ad Syrum Apotelesmata commentarium. (A_iir) [preface] Ptolemaeus mathematicorum omnium facile princeps ut quidam scripsere Adriani vixit temporibus ad Antoniumque — historicusque non invenustus. (A_iir-C_iiv) [book i] Exordium igitur in hoc opere sibi assumit Ptolemaeus in illos qui astronomiam artem — significat refrigerationem impedimentumque coitus. (C_iiv-D_iiir) [book ii] Georgii Vallae Placentini Enarratio in Ptolemaei Apotelesmatum volumen secundum distributiones universalis considerationis. Maxime praecipua cunctorum in tabulis expositorum cuncta introductoria praecepta — dicere ad illaque te remittendo concludit orationem. (D_iiir-F_iiiv) [book iii] Georgii Vallae Placentini Commentatio in tertium Ptolemaei Apotelesmaton librum delectu eorum quae praecessere universalia. Componit sese in tertii libri exordio ad demonstrandum ordinem et iteratam commemorationem ex divisione dictorum — et si prius dictum ob celerem mobilitatem omnium quae diximus causa efficitur. (F_iiiv-[G_iv]r) [book iv] Georgii Vallae Placentini in quartum volumen Ptolemaei Apotelesmaton commentarium. Cum ea quae genesim praecedunt absolverit tertiumque volumen non simpliciter neque ut casus tulit imposuit finem — ex eo quod infertur ex ablatione ascensionum rectae sphaerae capitulo 16 omnium centrorum habebimus primordia.’

Bibl. J. L. Heiberg, Beiträge zur Geschichte Georg Valla’s und seiner Bibliothek, Leipzig, 1896, 38-39; R. Caballero-Sánchez, ‘Historia del texto del Comentario Anόnimo al Tetrabiblos de Tolomeo’, MHNH 13 (2013), 77-198: 83-84 and 134-135.

Modern ed. ---