Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Andalò di Negro’s De compositione astrolabii: a critical edition with English translation and notes

  • Published:
Archive for History of Exact Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In this article, we publish the critical edition of Andalò di Negro’s De compositione astrolabii, with English translation and commentary. The mathematician and astronomer Andalò di Negro (Genoa ca. 1260–Naples 1334) presumably redacted this treatise on the astrolabe in the 1330s, while residing at the court of King Robert of Naples. The present edition has three purposes: first, to make available a text missing from the previous compilations of works by Andalò di Negro (ed. Bonus Opus preclarissimum astrolabij compositum a domino Andalo de nigro genuensi foeliciter incipit…Explicit tractatus astrolabij excellentissimi mathematici Andalonis genuensis, emendatus per celeberrimum et doctissimum astronomum magistrum Petrum Bonum Avogarium in foelici gymnasio ferrariensi. [Ferrara]: magister Johannes Picardus, 1475; Bertolotto II Trattato sull’Astrolabio di Andalò di Negro, riprodotto dall’edizione ferrarese del 1475, con prefazione del socio G. Bertolotto. Atti della società ligure di storia patria 25, 51–141, 1892; Fornaciari and Faracovi Trattato sull’astrolabio di Andalò di Negro, a cura di P.E. Fornaciari e O.P. Faracovi. Pubblicazione del Comune di Livorno in occasione della “Primavera della Scienza a Livorno” (febbraio-maggio 2005). Ospedaletto: Pacini editore, 2005); second, to revise a privately circulated edition of the text (Cesari L’astrolabio di Andalò di Negro, Parte I, edizione critica. Milano: s.n., 1984a; Practica Astrolabii di Andalò di Negro, Parte I. Edizione critica. Bergamo: Istituto Universitario di Bergamo, 1984b); and third, to help disseminating one of the rare Latin texts presenting the principles of the stereographic projection which underlie the construction of the astrolabe.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. “Induxi igitur sepe generosum atque venerabilem senem, Andalo de Nigro Ianuensem, olim in motibus astrorum doctorem meum, cuius quanta fuerit circumspectio, quanta morum gravitas, quanta syderum notitia, tu nosti, rex optime; tibi enim, ut aiebat ipse, cum adhuc iuvenis esses, ratione conformitatis studiorum familiarissimus fuit, et, ut ipse vidisse potuisti, non solum regulis veterum, ut plurimum facimus, astrorum motus agnovit, sed, cum universum fere peragrasset orbem, sub quocunque climate, sub quocunque etiam orizonte, experientia discursuum certior factus, visu didicit, quod nos discimus auditu.” De Genealogiis deorum gentilium XV, 6 (Boccaccio 1953: 760).

  2. Figure 10 shows the design of a tympan for 66° 26′ 30″, latitude of the arctic circle according to the values of the Toledan tables (see Chabas and Goldstein 2012: 23). Figure 11 shows a tympan for 69° 45′. Figure 12 shows a tympan for 78° 30′. According to the text, these latitudes correspond to places where the Sun never sets when its longitude is in the Signs of Gemini and Cancer, or the places where the Sun never sets when it is in the four Signs of Taurus, Gemini, Cancer et Leo.

  3. The deletion of the star with the greatest angular deviation (delfinet, ε Del: − 40°) reduces the mean precession from − 14° 25′ to − 12° 48′, thus fixing the epoch of the astrolabe to  925 A.D.

  4. There are only a few rare copies of this text, which does not even appear in the Italian libraries’ Union Catalog. We are grateful to Mrs. Daniela Pozzi for having kindly sent us a copy of this mimeograph (Firenze, Museo Galileo, Misc 587/29).

  5. For example, line 7: artico] articolo!, line 27: que quantitas… distantia] 14 words missing; line 113: exirent linee 24] 23!; line 177: strictiores] secationes!, lines 209, 212, 227, 228, 229, 237, 238, 240, 244: existente] exeunte!, line 258: medie noctis] medietatis!, line 270: rete] recte!, line 273: capricorni] cancri!.

References

  • Abgrall, P. 2000. La géométrie de l’astrolabe au Xe siècle. Arabic Sciences and Philosophy 10(1): 7–77.

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • al-Farghānī, Livre de la construction de l’astrolabe, see Lorch 2005.

  • al-Qūhī, L’art de l’astrolabe par la démonstration, see Rashed 1993.

  • Andalò di Negro, ed. Bonus. 1475. Opus preclarissimum astrolabij compositum a domino Andalo de nigro genuensi foeliciter incipit… Explicit tractatus astrolabij excellentissimi mathematici Andalonis genuensis, emendatus per celeberrimum et doctissimum astronomum magistrum Petrum Bonum Avogarium in foelici gymnasio ferrariensi. [Ferrara]: magister Johannes Picardus.

  • Andalò di Negro, ed. Bertolotto. 1892. Il Trattato sull’Astrolabio di Andalò di Negro, riprodotto dall’edizione ferrarese del 1475, con prefazione del socio G. Bertolotto. Atti della società ligure di storia patria 25: 51–141.

  • Andalò di Negro, ed. Fornaciari and Faracovi. 2005. Trattato sull’astrolabio di Andalò di Negro, a cura di P.E. Fornaciari e O.P. Faracovi. Pubblicazione del Comune di Livorno in occasione della “Primavera della Scienza a Livorno” (febbraio-maggio 2005). Ospedaletto: Pacini editore.

  • Boccaccio, G. 1953. Genealogia deorum gentilium, edizione a cura di V. Romano. Bari: Laterza.

  • Boncompagni, B. 1874. Catalogo dei lavori di Andalò di Negro. Bullettino di bibliografia e di storia delle scienze matematiche e fisiche 7: 339–370.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Cappellini, A. 1936. Dizionario biografico di genovesi illustri e notabili. Genova: Fratelli Pagano.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cesari, A.M. 1984a. L’astrolabio di Andalò di Negro, Parte I, edizione critica. Milano: s.n.

  • Cesari, A.M. 1984b. Practica Astrolabii di Andalò di Negro, Parte I. Edizione critica. Bergamo: Istituto Universitario di Bergamo.

  • Chabas, J., and B.R. Goldstein. 2012. A Survey of European Astronomical Tables in the Late Middle Ages. Leiden: E.J. Brill.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • De Blasiis, G. 1908. Racconti di storia napoletana. Napoli: Francesco Perella.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Simoni, C. 1874. Intorno alla vita ed ai lavori di Andalò di Negro matematico ed astronomo genovese del secolo decimoquarto e d’altri matematici e geografi genovesi. Bullettino di bibliografia e di storia delle scienze matematiche e fisiche 7: 313–339.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Duhem, P. 1916. Le Système du monde. Histoire des doctrines cosmologiques de Platon à Copernic, vol. 4. Paris: Hermann et Cie.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Favaro, A. 1876. Intorno ad uno scritto su Andalò di Negro pubblicato da B. Boncompagni. Padova: G.B. Randi.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Felsenstein, J. 2009. Phylip. Phylogeny Inference Package. Version 3.69. http://evolution.genetics.washington.edu/phylip.html. Accessed 21 June 2019

  • Glorieux, P. 1971. La Faculté des arts et ses maîtres au XIIIe siècle. Paris: Librairie philosophique J. Vrin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gunther, Robert T. 1929. Chaucer and Messahalla on the Astrolabe (Early Science in Oxford, Vol. V). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Huygens, R.B.C. 2001. Ars edendi. Introduction pratique à l’édition des textes latins du Moyen Age. Turnhout: Brepols.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kristeller, P.O. 1977. Iter Italicum, I. Italy: Agrigento to Novara; II. Italy: Orvieto to Volterra, Vatican City; III. Alia Itinera 1. Australia to Germany. Leiden: Brill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kunitzsch, P. 1966. Typen von Sternverzeichnissen in astronomischen Handschriften des zehnten bis vierzehnten Jahrhunderts. Wiesbaden: O. Harrassowitz.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kunitzsch, P. 1981. On the Authenticity of the Treatise on the Composition and Use of the Astrolabe Ascribed to Messahallah. Archives internationales d’Histoire des Sciences 31: 42–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Libri, G. 1838. Histoire des sciences mathématiques en Italie depuis la Renaissance des lettres. Paris: J. Renouard.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Lorch, R. 2005. Al-Farghānī on the Astrolabe (Boethius 52). Stuttgart: F. Steiner Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mojon, B. 1846. Andalò di Negro. Elogi di liguri illustri, a cura di L. Grillo. Genova: Tip. dei Fratelli Ponthenier.

  • Muccillo, M. 1991. Di Negro, Andalò. Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani 40: 126–131.

    Google Scholar 

  • Narducci, E. 1892. Catalogo di manoscritti ora posseduti da D. Baldassare Boncompagni, compilato da Enrico Narducci. Roma: Tipografie delle science matematiche et fisiche.

  • Poggendorff, J.C. 1863. Biographisch-literarisches Handwörterbuch zur Geschichte der exakten Wissenschaften, vol. 2. Leipzig: J.A. Barth.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Rashed, R. 1993. Les mathématiques infinitésimales du IXe au XIe siècle. London: al-Furqān.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rashed, R., M. Decorps-Foulquier, and M. Federspiel, eds. 2008. Apollonius de Perge, Coniques, vol. 1.1–2. Livre I, commentaire historique et mathématique, édition et traduction. Berlin: de Gruyter.

  • Raynaud, D. 2007. Le tracé continu des sections coniques à la Renaissance, applications optico-perspectives, héritage de la tradition mathématique arabe. Arabic Sciences and Philosophy 17: 299–345.

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Raynaud, D. 2014. Building the Stemma Codicum from Geometrical Diagrams. A Treatise on Optics by Ibn al-Haytham as a Test Case. Archive for History of Exact Sciences 68: 207–239.

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, P.M.W. 1996. Computer-assisted analysis and ‘best-text’ historical editing. In Studies in stemmatology, ed. P. van Reenen et al., 123–134. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sergeyeva, N.D., and L.M. Karpova. 1978. Al-Farghānī’s Proof of the Basic Theorem of Stereographic Projection.

  • Strano, G. 2017. A New Approach to the Star Data of Early Planispheric Astrolabes. Medieval Encounters 23: 444–467.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomson, R.B. 1978. Jordanus de Nemore and the Mathematics of Astrolabes: De Plana Spera. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomson, R.B. 2014. Pseudo-Masha’allah on the Astrolabe. A Critical Edition with English Translation, version 1.1. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies.

  • Thomson, R.B. ed. 1978. Jordanus de Nemore and the Mathematics of Astrolabes: De Plana Spera. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 210–217.

  • Thorndike, L. 1928. Andalò di Negro, Profacius Iudaeus, and the Alphonsine Tables. Isis 10: 52–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thorndike, L. 1934. A History of Magic and Experimental Science. New York: Columbia University Press.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Thorndike, L. 1949. The Sphere of Sacrobosco and Its Commentators. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Tomasini, G.F. 1639. Bibliotecae Patavinae Manuscriptae publicae et privatae. Udine: Typis Nicolai Schiratti.

    Google Scholar 

  • Toomer, G.J. 1968. Survey of the Toledan Tables. Osiris 15: 5–174.

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France

    Dominique Raynaud

  2. CIUHCT, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

    Samuel Gessner

  3. Centro de Estudos Clássicos, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

    Bernardo Mota

Authors
  1. Dominique Raynaud
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Samuel Gessner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Bernardo Mota
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dominique Raynaud.

Additional information

Communicated by Alexander Jones.

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Raynaud, D., Gessner, S. & Mota, B. Andalò di Negro’s De compositione astrolabii: a critical edition with English translation and notes. Arch. Hist. Exact Sci. 73, 551–617 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00407-019-00235-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00407-019-00235-x

Search

Navigation