Latin Ptolemaic Writings on Astronomy and Astrology up to AD 1700
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Book Series
Ptolemaeus Arabus et Latinus - Studies, vol. 4
Glosses as a Source for the History of Science
The Case of Gerard of Cremona's Translation of Ptolemy's Almagest
Stefan Georges
- Pages: approx. 400 p.
- Size:178 x 254 mm
- Illustrations:12 col., 17 tables b/w.
- Language(s):English, Latin
- Publication Year:2026
- € 90,00 EXCL. VAT RETAIL PRICE
- ISBN: 978-2-503-61933-0
- Hardback
- Forthcoming (Sep/26)
- ISBN: 978-2-503-61934-7
- E-book
- Forthcoming
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This book explores the reception of Gerard of Cremona's Latin translation of Ptolemy's Almagest by means of a detailed study of how it was glossed over space and time.
BIO
Stefan Georges is a medievalist specialising in codicology, the edition of Latin scientific texts and the study of their transmission. He is a researcher at the Chair of the History of Philosophy at the University of Würzburg, held by Dag Nikolaus Hasse. Together they are preparing an edition of the Latin translation of Averroes's Long Commentary on Aristotle's Metaphysics.
Summary
Gerard of Cremona's Latin translation of Ptolemy's Almagest provided medieval scholars with an entirely new basis for astronomy. This book explores its reception by closely examining all its 67 extant manuscript copies and drawing a detailed picture of how they were glossed over space and time. The results challenge many traditional notions and propose many new ones, both regarding the studied text and medieval science in general. Thus, for example, the role of France in the astronomy of the later 12th and earlier 13th centuries appears to have been far less significant than could have been assumed, and to have been largely outshone by that of England; 12th-century Winchester emerges as a hitherto unnoticed centre for the science of the stars; the roles of Cremona and Bologna as scientific centres around 1200 gain contours; and with Gerard of Cremona, ʿAbd al-Masīḥ of Winchester, Walter of Châtillon, Adam of Exeter, Leonardo Fibonacci, Campanus of Novara and Taddeo da Parma, several outstanding and long-studied medieval scholars appear in bright new light.
The outcome of the study has benefited greatly from a fresh approach towards dating and localising manuscripts, an approach which, if adopted as standard, would place the history of medieval science on much firmer ground. Raising awareness of the need for such an approach is the second major concern of the book.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
