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A Treatise on the Construction of Astrolabes by Jacob ben Abi Abraham Isaac al-Corsuno (Barcelona, 1378): Edition, Translation and Commentary
Abstract
Corsuno’s treatise on the astrolabe (Barcelona, 1378) is extant in only one Hebrew manuscript preserved at the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich. This text, which is a set of instructions for constructing an astrolabe, is, according to Corsuno’s words, a translation of the Arabic treatise that he devoted to the same topic in Seville in 1376, which is not extant. The text presents original traits in relation to contemporary astrolabe sources and certainly in relation to Hebrew sources on the astrolabe. The article analyses Corsuno’s contribution to the field of astrolabe literature in Hebrew and presents the Hebrew edition and translation of his astrolabe text (the Hebrew edition available in the Hebrew appendices, in the online version of JHA).
[ca] El regnat de Pere el Cerimoniós és sens dubte el període de més esplendor per a l’astronomia i l’astrologia a la Corona d’Aragó, gràcies al decidit impuls d’aquest monarca. El seu interès per la ciència dels estels es manifestà en l’adquisició i fabricació d’instruments astronòmics i en la promoció d’un ambiciós conjunt d’obres d’astronomia i astrologia. En conseqüència, al llarg del seu regnat, més d’una dotzena d’astrònoms-astròlegs consta que van estar al servei del rei Pere, sigui per a treballs puntuals sigui per una vinculació continuada. Aquest article pretén oferir una visió sobre el perfil biogràfic i professional d’aquests experts, especialment pel que fa a la seva relació amb la Corona, a partir no solament de la revisió dels testimonis ja coneguts sinó també de documents que fins ara havien passat desapercebuts o havien estat poc estudiats.
The two star lists presented here add new information on the astronomical activity developed during the reign of Pere el Cerimoniós and support the claim that Ibn al-Kammād’s list is to be considered as the star list of the Tables of Barcelona.
:An autograph Hebrew manuscript written by the Italian scholar Mordekay ben Avraham Finzi (Bologna, early fifteenth century-Mantua 1475), long regarded as lost, is described. A short note on this codex was published at the end of the nineteenth century; then the manuscript was bought by the orientalist Leone Caetani and donated to the Accademia dei Lincei in Rome (where it is presently MS Or. 259). For unknown reasons, the codex is not listed in the general inventory of Accademia dei Lincei oriental manuscripts, published in 1926.The codex contains Hebrew versions of: Euclid's Elements, Books I-VII; Avraham Ibn Ezra's Book of the Astrolabe; Ibn al-á¹¢affÄr's Illustration of the Astrolabe by the Scholar Ptolemy; Ibn al-ZarqÄllu's Epistle on the Construction of the Plate Called á¹£afīḥah; Qusá¹Ä Ibn LÅ«qÄ's Book on the Construction of the Celestial Globe; and several anonymous or pseudonymous texts about the construction of astrolabes, spheres, sundials, and quadrants.
Fray Manuel Mariano Ribera; Fray Pedro Nolasco Mora; Fray José Mudarra; Fray Vicente Giralt y Canyadó; Fray Manel Casamada y Comellas
In the twelfth century the Arabic astronomer Ibn al-Kammâd, living
in Islamic Spain, composed three sets of astronomical tables, called
"zijes". The zijes were largely based on the work of predecessors, going
back to Ptolemy on the one hand, and Hindu astronomers on the other.
None of his zijes survived in the original Arabic, but a Latin
manuscript contains a translation of an apparently complete zij, the
"al-Zij al-Muqtabis". This paper examines the body of astronomical
knowledge contained in this zij. Specifically, it is shown that one can
gain valuable information on the solar theory of the Islamic astronomers
from this translation. Furthermore, the theory of lunar and solar
eclipses in the work is analyzed, and tables of mean planetary and solar
motions are discussed. In addition, tables for the motion of the vernal
equinox, star tables, and several topics of Islamic spherical astronomy
are examined.
Documents per l'historia de la cultura Catalana Mig-Eval, 2 vols (Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans
- A Rubio I Lluch
A. Rubio i Lluch, Documents per l'historia de la cultura
Catalana Mig-Eval, 2 vols (Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, 1908 and 1921), vol.
1, pp. 129 and 172; F. de Bofarull i Sans, "Antigua marina catalana," Memorias de la
Real Academia de Buenas Letras de Barcelona, 7, 1901, pp. 115-6;
Relacions dels Reys d'Aragó amb la literatura, la ciencia y l'art en els segles XIII y XIV
- H Finke
H. Finke, "Relacions
dels Reys d'Aragó amb la literatura, la ciencia y l'art en els segles XIII y XIV," Estudis
Universitaris Catalans, 4, 1910, pp. 66-80;
The Jews of Majorca (Londres: Methuen and Co, 1936)
- A Isaacs
A. Lionel Isaacs, The Jews of Majorca
(Londres: Methuen and Co, 1936), pp. 93-101 (the intellectual activity of the Jews in
Majorca) and 58-75 (about the rulership of Pedro IV);
For Jacob Corsuno אלקורסונו( יצחק בן ,)יעקב see J. Vernet and J. Samsó
- A Pons
- D Abulafia
- Mediterranean Emporium
A. Pons, Los judios del reino de
Mallorca durante los siglos XIII y XIV, 2 vols. (Palma de Mallorca: Miguel Font, 1984),
especially v. 1, pp. 90-7; and D. Abulafia, A Mediterranean Emporium: The Catalan
Kingdom of Majorca (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002). For Jacob Corsuno
אלקורסונו( יצחק בן ,)יעקב see J. Vernet and J. Samsó, "La ciència i la tècnica als Països Catalans
durant la baixa edat mitjana," in La ciència en la història dels Països Catalans, vol. I., pp.
261-3;
Documentos para la biografía de Dalmacio Ces-Planes, astrólogo de Pedro el Ceremonioso
- J M Madurell I Marimon
J.M. Madurell i Marimon, "Documentos para la biografía de Dalmacio Ces-Planes,
astrólogo de Pedro el Ceremonioso," Hispania, 24, 1964, pp. 581-98; and Chabàs,
"L'activitat astronòmica a l'època del rei Pere (segle XIV)," p. 491.
Documentos culturales de Pedro el Ceremonioso
- A See
- López De Meneses
See A. López de Meneses, "Documentos culturales de Pedro el Ceremonioso," in Estudios
de edad media de la Corona de Aragón (Saragosse: [s. n.], 1952), p. 278.
This is certainly another case of cultural cooperation as those described by Bernard Goldstein in his
This is certainly another case of cultural cooperation as those described by Bernard
Goldstein in his "Astronomy as a 'Neutral Zone': Interreligious Cooperation in Medieval
Spain," Medieval Encounters, 15, 2009, pp. 159-74 in relation to Alphonse X (d. 1284) and
his astronomers, and Abraham Zacuto (d. 1515) in Castile and Portugal.
L'activitat astronòmica a l'època del rei Pere (segle XIV)
- See Chabàs
See Chabàs, "L'activitat astronòmica a l'època del rei Pere (segle XIV)," p. 497.
In relation to the Tables of King Alphonse X or Tables of Toledo, see J. Chabàs and B.R. Goldstein, The Alfonsine Tables of Toledo
- See Millás Vallicrosa
- Las Tablas Astronómicas Del Rey Don
- Pedro El Ceremonioso
- J Chabàs Bergón
See Millás Vallicrosa, Las Tablas Astronómicas del Rey Don Pedro El Ceremonioso; and
J. Chabàs Bergón, "Astronomía andalusí en Cataluña: Las Tablas de Barcelona," in J.
Casulleras and J. Samsó (eds), From Baghdad to Barcelona, Studies in the Islamic Exact
Sciences in Honour of Prof. Juan Vernet (Barcelona: Instituto Millás Vallicrosa, 1996), pp.
477-525. In relation to the Tables of King Alphonse X or Tables of Toledo, see J. Chabàs and
B.R. Goldstein, The Alfonsine Tables of Toledo (Dordrecht, Boston and London: Kluwer,
2003), pp. 20-1. The tables and the almanac prepared by Dalmau were based on tropical
coordinates rather than sidereal ones.
Actes del VII Congrés de l'Associació Hispánica de Literatura Medieval: Castellò de la Plana, 22-26 de setembre de
- J Samsó
J. Samsó, "Traducciones
científicas árabo-romances en la Península Ibérica," in S. Fortuño Llorens and T. Martínez
Romero (eds), Actes del VII Congrés de l'Associació Hispánica de Literatura Medieval:
Castellò de la Plana, 22-26 de setembre de 1997 (Castellò de la Plana: Universitat Jaume
I, 1999), vol. 1, pp. 199-231; and L. Cifuentes i Comamala, La ciència en català a l'Edat
Mitjana i el Renaixement (Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca: Universitat de Barcelona and
Universitat de les Illes Balears, 2006), especially 189-222 (and the bibliography quoted
there).
Italian hours" are based in the same system
- See H Michel
See H. Michel, Traité de l'astrolabe (Paris: Gauthier-Villars, 1947), p. 59. "Italian hours"
are based in the same system, but the counting starts at sunset.
I thank Flora Vafea for providing me with a copy of Ms. Tunis, al-Zaītūna 5540, f. 20r (614 H, i.e. A.D. 1217/18), which contains al-Bīrūnī's Arabic text of Comprehension of the possible ways for the construction of the astrolabe
- See M.-L Al-Bīrūnī
- Davidian
In relation to the first method of Al-Bīrūnī, see M.-L. Davidian, "Al-Bīrūnī on the Time of
Day from Shadow Lengths," Journal of the American Oriental Society, 80(4), 1960, pp.
330-5. I thank Flora Vafea for providing me with a copy of Ms. Tunis, al-Zaītūna 5540, f.
20r (614 H, i.e. A.D. 1217/18), which contains al-Bīrūnī's Arabic text of Comprehension
of the possible ways for the construction of the astrolabe. This work is edited by Al-Sayyid
Muḥammad Akbar Jawādī al-Ḥusaīnī, Al-Bīrūnī, Istīʿāb al-wujūh al-mumkina fī ṣanʿat
al-āsṭurlāb (Mashhad: Mujamʿa al-buḥūth al-islāmīa, Astan Quds Razavi, 1422 H or A.D.
2001/02). For a medieval Latin treatise explaining the construction of a telling-time alidade
by three different methods, see Ron B. Thomson (ed. and trans.), Pseudo-Masha'allah On
the Astrolabe, Part IV: English Translation, Version 1.1, Toronto, 2014 (Part IV -13-14,
chapter 5 of the Construction, On the arrangement of the hours on the rule). Method 1 uses
the shadow square of an astrolabe for the construction of the hour divisions onto the alidade;
Miscellanea astronomica
- G Lacerenza
In relation to this manuscript, see G. Lacerenza, "Miscellanea astronomica," in A. Cadei (ed.),
Il trionfo sul tempo, Manoscritti illustrati dell'Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei (Modena:
Cosimo Panini Editore, Modena, 2002), pp. 286-7, no. 131;
Bibliothèque Nationale de France hébreu 1095, ff. 127b-130b. I am preparing the edition and translation of Comtino's texts on the astrolabe. There were other methods, see for instance how Joseph Ṭaiṭaṣaq (Spain, fifteenth century) constructed his almucantars in Rodríguez-Arribas and Kozodoy
- See Ms
See Ms. Bibliothèque Nationale de France hébreu 1095, ff. 127b-130b. I am preparing the
edition and translation of Comtino's texts on the astrolabe. There were other methods, see
for instance how Joseph Ṭaiṭaṣaq (Spain, fifteenth century) constructed his almucantars in
Rodríguez-Arribas and Kozodoy, "On the Construction of an Astrolabe by Josef Ṭaiṭaṣaq"
(forthcoming).
For this method, see for instance García Franco, Catálogo crítico de astrolabios existentes en España
- J L Berggren
For this method, see for instance García Franco, Catálogo crítico de astrolabios existentes
en España, pp. 75-7. For the different methods available, see J.L. Berggren, "Medieval
Islamic Methods for Drawing Azimuth Circles on the Astrolabe," Centaurus, 34(4), 1991,
pp. 309-44.
Corsuno's explanation of the access and recess movement affecting the vernal point or beginning of Aries in Massó i Torrents
- Cf
Cf. Corsuno's explanation of the access and recess movement affecting the vernal point
or beginning of Aries in Massó i Torrents, Mestre Pere Gilbert i Dalmau Planas: Tractat
d'astrologia o sciencia de les steles, p. 9 (ch. 3). Cf. also the value for the precession that
Corsuno used in the Tables of Barcelona, Chabàs, "L'activitat astronòmica a l'època del rei
Pere (segle XIV)," p. 488.
The Treatise on the Astrolabe by Rudolph of Bruges
- See J Drecker
See J. Drecker, "Hermannus Contractus über das Astrolab," Isis, 16, 1931, pp. 207-8; Ch.
Burnett, E. Poulle, M.-Th. D'Alverny (Latin ed. and French trans.), Traité de l'astrolabe
/ Liber cursuum planetarum, Raymond de Marseille (Paris: CNRS éditions, 2009), p. 71
[6c-e]; and R. Lorch (Latin ed.), "The Treatise on the Astrolabe by Rudolph of Bruges," in
L. Nauta and A. Vanderjagt (eds), Between Demonstration and Imagination, Essays in the
History of Science and Philosophy Presented to John North (Leiden-Boston-Köln: Brill,
1999), pp. 82-3 [7], respectively.
For the other methods available, see ibid
In relation to the method of the false right ascensions, see R.B. Thomson, Jordanus de
Nemore and the Mathematics of Astrolabes: De Plana Spera (Toronto: Pontifical Institute
of Mediaeval Studies, 1978), p. 64. For the other methods available, see ibid., pp. 62-7.
The Hebrew version of the tables is extant in several manuscripts: Biblioteca de Catalunya Ms. 1664, Biblioteca Rossi de Parma Ms. 165, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana in Roma Ms. 356 and Ms. 379, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek Ms. 132, and Ms. Sassoon 823, see Chabàs
- J Massó I Torrents
- Mestre Pere Gilbert I Dalmau Planas
- J Chabàs
For the canons of these tables, see J. Massó i Torrents, Mestre Pere Gilbert i Dalmau
Planas: Tractat d'astrologia o sciencia de les steles compost baix orde del rey Pere
III lo Ceremoniós (Barcelona: [s. n.], 1890); and J. Chabàs, "Astronomía andalusí en
Cataluña: las Tablas de Barcelona," Anuari de filologia Secció B -Estudis àrabs i
islàmics, 2, 1996, pp. 477-525. The Hebrew version of the tables is extant in several manuscripts: Biblioteca de Catalunya Ms. 1664, Biblioteca Rossi de Parma Ms.
165, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana in Roma Ms. 356 and Ms. 379, Österreichische
Nationalbibliothek Ms. 132, and Ms. Sassoon 823, see Chabàs, "L'activitat astronòmica
a l'època del rei Pere (segle XIV)," p. 487.