Collection of texts relating to astrology by Albumasar, John of Seville and Ibn al-Saffar

Collection of texts relating to astrology by Albumasar, John of Seville and Ibn al-Saffar, in Latin, copied by the unidentified surgeon Guidotus of Vicenza in Northern Italy; with decorated initials and rubrication.

Contents (described according to the more recent modern foliation; earlier foliation recorded in brackets):

f. iiir: Table of Properties in five columns, 14th century.

f. iiiv: List of contents in the hand of Tomaso Balena, 16th century.

1) ff. 5r-78v (formerly 3r-68v): Albumasar (Abu Ma'shar Ja'far; d. 886), Maius introductorium in scientia astrorum, translated from Arabic into Latin by John of Seville (Iohannes Hispalensis; active in Portugal in the 1120s and 1130s, and possibly in Toledo in the 1140s-1150s).

The Great Introduction to Astrology is the most important work of Albumasar, the best-known astrologer of the Middle Ages, born of Persian descent in Balkh (in modern Afghanistan), but active in Baghdad (in modern Iraq) for most of his life. The text is divided into eight books and provides a detailed description and defence of astrology as a scientific subject within the framework of Aristotelian natural philosophy. This Latin translation by John of Seville (probably completed c. 1133) was the most popular during the Middle Ages and has a large manuscript tradition, but was only put in print by Richard Lemay in 1995. A second Latin translation by Hermann of Carinthia (completed c. 1140) was printed in 1489 as Introductorium in astronomiam Albumasaris abalachi octo continens libros partiales (Augsburg: Erhard Ratdolt, 7 February 1489) [ISTC no. ia00359000], and reprinted in Venice in 1495 and 1506.

f. 5r (formerly 3r), column a: Introduction, incipit: (rubric in red) [I]Ncipit liber introductorij maioris in magisterio sciencie Astrorum e dictione Albumasar et interpretacione Iohannis yspalensis ex Arabico in latinum (end of rubric) // [L]Aus deo qui creauit celum/et terram cum omnibus quae in eis sunt mirabilibus suis [et] posuit stelas ornamentum [et] lucernas ...

f. 5r (formerly 3r), column a: Incipit: (rubric in red) Differencia prima Jn inicio libri et capitibus septem (end of rubric) // [D]ixit Geasar quocam [for quodam ?] albumasar circa [?] que me provocavit ut ederem librum introductorium ad scientiam iudiciorum astrorum fuit quia vidi editiones sapientie tendens [?] ad scientiam rerum [et] inuentionem [?] sapientiarum [?] atque ordinationem earum …

f. 78v (formerly 68v), column a: Explicit: … deinde prohiceremus hoc de initio signi solis recto ordine finiretur quia numerus in .20. gradu leonis sciremus quia quod luna esset ibidem.: // (rubric in red) Hic est finis libri Introductorij maioris in magisterio sciencie iudiciorum Astrorum e dictione Albumasar et interpretacione Johannis yspalensis ex arabico in latinum. Amen.

f. 78v (formerly 68v), column a: Colophon: (in red) Guidotus cyrugicus de ciuitate Vincencie hoc scripsit Et expleuit Anno a natiuitate christi curente [sic] 1335 die mercurij 18 Octubris [sic].

Portions of text missing in the manuscript were copied by Alessandro Padoani on ff. 1r-4v inserted before f. 5 (formerly 3), and ff. 21-28 inserted between ff. 18 and 29 (formerly f. 19): ff. 1r-4v, headed 'Scriptoris incuria quae hic scripta sunt omissa fuerunt [in] lib. V differentia quarta ubi hoc signo ? ea repone', include text omitted in Book 5 from differentia 5 to 10 on f. 39r (formerly 29r), column b, line 36; text beginning at 'Quoniam .n. [sign for Mercury] corda fere 19 gradi est ipse …', breaking at '… sic omnia feminina eodemque ordine dividuntur'; ff. 21-28 contain a continuation of the text from the first Differentia in Book III to the end of the book, possibly missing because of the loss of an original third quire of eight leaves.

2) ff. 79r-94v (formerly 69r-84v), Albumasar, Liber experimentorum seu De revolutionibus annorum, translated from Arabic into Latin by John of Seville (Iohannes Hispalensis).

See Francis J. Carmody, Arabic Astronomical and Astrological Sciences in Latin Translation (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1956), pp. 94, no. 13.4.a, and 101, no. 13.25; Abu Ma'šar al-Balhi (Albumasar), Kitab al-madkhal al-kabir ilá 'ilm ahkam al-nujum = Liber introductorii maioris ad scientiam judiciorum astrorum, ed. Richard Lemay, 9 vols (Naples: Istituto Universitario Orientale, 1995-1996), vol. 4 (1995), p. 181.

f. 79r (formerly 69r), column a: Incipit: (rubric in red) INcipit liber Experimentorum [faint and written over in brown ink] Albumasar. / Tractatus in reuolutione annorum mundi (end of rubric). / [S]Cito horam introytus solis in primum minutum Arietis. Et constitue ascendens et eius angulos. [Et] tres partes ad loca planetarum in longitudine ac latitudine [et] proiectione eorum luminum in angulos ...

f. 94v (formerly 84v), column b, line 33: Explicit: ... et peticionem in regno. Si deus uoluerit. // (rubric in red) Explicit liber Experimentorum albumasar.

f. 94v (formerly 84v), column b, lines 36-37: Colophon: Explectus [sic] anno. 1332. Indictione. 15a. die 20. Jullii.

3) ff. 95r-102r (formerly 85r-92r), Ibn al-Saffar (Ibn as-Saffar; d. 1035), De operatione uel utilitate astrolabii, translated from Arabic into Latin by John of Seville (Iohannes Hispalensis).

The treatise relates to the use of the astrolabe, an astronomical instrument used to measure the position and altitude of stars and planets, to determine the time and latitude at the observer's location, or to solve mathematical problems. The text is John of Seville's translation of an Arabic treatise by Ibn al-Saffar, a disciple of Maslama al-Magriti (d. 1007, the most famous and influential astronomer and mathematician of Islamic Spain, also known in the West as Maslama of Madrid).

See Paul Kunitzsch, 'On the Authenticity of the Treatise on the Composition and Use of the Astrolabe Ascribed to Messahalla', Archives Internationales d'Histoire des Sciences, 31 (1981), 42-62 (p. 49), reprinted in The Arabs and the Stars (Northampton: Variorum Reprints, 1989), no. x; idem, 'Observations on the Arabic Reception of the Astrolabe', Archives Internationales d'Histoire des Sciences, 31 (1981), 243-252 (p. 251 no. 6); reprinted in The Arabs and the Stars, no. vii.

Edited by José Maria Millás Vallicrosa, Las traducciones orientales en los manuscritos de la Biblioteca Catedral de Toledo (Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 1942), pp. 261-284.

ff. 95r-95v column a, line 18 (formerly f. 85r-v), Table of chapters: (rubric in red) Incipit liber de Operacione Astrolabii. Et sunt 40 capitula. (end of rubric) // [C]Apitulum primum. In intentione Astrolabii … Quadragesimum. Ad sciendum introitum [et] motum annorum latinorum [et] eorum mensium.

f. 95v (formerly f. 85v), column a, line 18, Incipit: (rubric in red) Capitulum primum. Jn intentione Astrolabii et nominum super eum cadendum (end of rubric) // [C]Apitulum primum hora est. Armilla per quam suspenditur astrolabium ad capiendam altitudinem …

f. 102r (formerly 92r), column b, line 35: Explicit: ... de annis christi ex anni ara/bum. Si deus uoluerit. // (rubric in red) Explicit liber de Operacione Astrolabii. Operacione Abilcacim de [Mache]rith. qui dicitur Almacherita [text faint and illegible].

4) ff. 102v-104v (formerly 92v-94v), Pseudo-Messahallah [i.e. John of Seville (Iohannes Hispalensis)], De constructione astrolabii, in Latin.

The text is a treatise on the construction of the astrolabe traditionally believed to be the translation of a treatise in Arabic attributed to the Persian astrologer Messahallah (Ma'sha'allah or Maša'allah ibn Athari; active in Iraq circa 754-815), but almost certainly an original Latin text by John of Seville.

See Carmody, pp. 169-170, no. 37.2b; Kunitzsch, 'On the Authenticity of the Treatise', p. 49 n. 35 and 'Observations on the Arabic Reception', p. 251 no. 5.

Edited by Millás Vallicrosa, Las traducciones orientales, pp. 314-321.

f. 102v (formerly 92v), Incipit: (rubric in red) Incipit liber de Constructione Astrolabii (end of rubric) // (column a, line 24) AStrologice speculationis habere uolentibus instrumenti ratio ...

f. 104v (formerly 94v), column a, line 11, Explicit: ... Secundum quod exemplar astrolabii notabis regula. Cuius hec est figura. // (rubric in red) Explicit liber de constitutione Astrolabii.

5) ff. 104v-107v (formerly 94v-97v), Pseudo-Messahallah, Practica astrolabii, translated from Arabic into Latin by John of Seville (Iohannes Hispalensis)

The text was traditionally attributed to Messahallah, but has been identified by Paul Kunitzsch as a Western compilation from John of Seville's translation of an Arabic treatise on the use of the astrolabe by Ibn al-Saffar.

See: Carmody, pp. 23-25, no. 1.1.1; Kunitzsch, 'On the Authenticity of the Treatise', pp. 42-62 (pp. 48-56); Pseudo-Masha'allah, On the Astrolabe, ed. Ron B. Thomson, version 1.2 (Toronto, 2015), Introduction, Part I, pp. 3, 18, 63 (available online at https://shareok.org/bitstream/handle/11244/14221/I_Introduction_Pseudo_Mashaallah_Thomson_Ron_B_ver1-2.pdf?sequence=13; accessed on 22 August 2016).

Edited in Robert T. Gunther, Early Science in Oxford, vol. 5, Chaucer and Messahalla on the Astrolabe (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1929), pp. 217-231

f. 104v (formerly 94v), column a, line 22: Incipit: (rubric in red) Incipit liber de Operacione Astrolabii (end of rubric) // NOmina instrumentorum astrola/bii hec sunt primum est armilla suspensiora [sic] ad capiendam altitudinem ...

f . 107v (formerly 97v), column a, line 18: Explicit: … et equalis fuerit comparatio stature tue ad totam planitiem. Finitus. 1332. Indictione. 15a. die. 18. Jullii/in ciuitate Vincencie. // (rubric in red) Explicit Opus Astrolabii. Et Gui/[dotus] […] cuius est.

On parchment, with later inserted leaves on paper.

96 ff. plus 12 inserted leaves; three upper (the first modern on paper, the second and third original on parchment and foliated ii-iii) and one lower (foliated 109) flyleaves; ff. i and 108 blank. Medieval foliation '3-98' at centre of the lower margin, including two leaves at the beginning (now wanting) and excluding later additional paper leaves; two sets of modern foliation in pencil on upper right corner: '3-92', following the medieval foliation, and '1-108', followed here, including all later additional paper leaves, i.e. four before f. 3 and eight after the original second quire, i.e between ff. 20 and 29. 290 x 210 mm, writing space c. 230 x 140 mm; ruled in double column with a metal (lead?) point for single vertical bounding lines, plus one at the centre of the space between the columns, and 46-49 horizontal lines to a column for 45-48 written lines (below upper ruled line).

Written about 1332-1335 in a regular cursive Gothic hand in brown ink, with occasional marginal additions and corrections, by Guidotus of Vicenza, an unidentified surgeon, his colophons as follows: 'Guidotus cyrugicus de ciuitate Vincencie hoc scripsit Et expleuit Anno a natiuitate christi curente [sic] 1335 die mercurij 18 Octubris [sic] (f. 78v, formerly 68v, column a), and 'Explectus [sic] anno. 1332. Indictione. 15a. die 20. Jullii' (f. 94v, formerly 84v, column b, lines 36-37).

Guidotus noticed an omission in Book V, Differentia II (either from his exemplar or through his own error), on f. 39r (formerly 29r) and therefore added the marginal note 'hic debet esse illud quod est scriptum in principio libri in illis duabus cartis, quod est sic signatum' [an arrow above his note] in red ink, signalling the addition of the missing text on two leaves bound at the beginning of the book. These leaves are now missing and replaced by the later addition of four leaves (ff. 1-4) copied in cursive hand by Padoani, who also supplied ff. 21-28, copied by him in the same cursive hand.

Collation: 1⁴ (later addition, on paper), 2-3⁸, 4⁸ (later addition, on paper, perhaps in substitution of a lost quire), 5-8⁸, 9⁴, 10⁸, 11⁶, 12-14⁸, 15⁶; no catchwords, but quire signature '1-8' for quires 1-2 and 4-9, supplied in lower right corner of first recto after the loss of the original third quire.

Secundo folio: est sapientum concordia (f. 6r, formerly f. 4r).

Decoration: Three-line initials in alternating red and blue, with small guide letters; paragraph marks in red and blue, inconsistently supplied; headings in red. Three- or four-line initials in gold, within a double red frame with penwork decoration (mostly foliate decoration) in red and black on ff. 29r, 65r, 79r, 92v, 95r, 102v, 104v (formerly ff. 19r, 55r, 69r, 82v, 85r, 92v, 94v), the penwork decoration on ff. 65r, 79r and 102v including respectively: a man's profile, a bear [or monkey?] sejant rampant holding a globe [or a tambourine?], and the profile of a man pointing to the diagram in the upper half of the leaf; initials not supplied on ff. 5r, 104v (formerly 3r, 102v). Astrological tables on ff. 39r-v and 41r (formerly ff. 29r-v and 31r), in red and black; zodiacal diagram on f. 92v (formerly f. 82v), and diagram of months in the form of a volvelle on f. 102v (formerly f. 92v).

Binding: quarter-parchment and decorated paper, with gilt-tooling on spine, including the Locatelli coat-of-arms on the lower spine compartment and gilt-tooled black morocco title label on second spine compartment, reading 'Albumasar Opera varia, M.SS Num. 73', Italy, 18th century. Many leaves stained with fading of text, especially those written in red; a number of leaves with old repairs from strips from an-almost contemporary parchment manuscript.

Purchased by Sir Henry Wellcome at Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, Further portion of the classical, historical, topographical, genealogical and other manuscript & autograph letters &c. of the late Sir Thomas Phillipps, pt. 13, 15 June 1908, lot 39, for £65.

f. 2v: four erased ownership inscriptions, datable to the late 14th and 15th century.

ff. 2v and 108v (formerly 98v): upper corner, inscribed 'Tomaso Balena' and 'Sig. Thomaso Balena in casa del Sig Bartolomeo Boccamag[giore? or Boccamagna?]', 16th century, unidentified, the second name possibly Bartolomeo Boccamaggiore from the Boccamaggiore family of Mantua.

f. 3r: inscribed 'Di Aless[and]ro Padoani' in an early 17th-century Italian hand, identifiable with the collector, scientist, physician and chronicler Alessandro Padoani of Forlì (d. 1637), owner of a conspicuous library rich in manuscripts and incunabula, dispersed about 1782. Other Wellcome Library manuscripts owned and signed by Padoani are MSS 332, 540 and 726.

Marked 'G' in black ink on recto of first upper flyleaf, 17th or 18th century.

From the collection of Marquis Giuseppe Locatelli Martorelli Orsini of Cesena (late 18th century), his arms ([azure], to an owl proper, set on a hillock of three mounts, accompanied in chief of three mullets malordonnées) gilt in lower spine compartment, and his title label with shelfmark 'M. SS / Num. 73' in second spine compartment, the shelfmark 'N.o 73' repeated in grey ink on recto of upper flyleaf and in black ink on f. 108v [a similar shelfmark 'N.o 84' up-side-down on verso of lower flyleaf, foliated 109]. The Locatelli library was dispersed at auction in Rome in the early 19th century.

Marked '169' (obliterated) and '413' in pencil on upper pastedown. Modern lot number 'No 571' in pencil, followed by 'Payne' in upper right corner of upper flyleaf.

Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872), baronet, collector of books and manuscripts, his armorial stamp 'Sir T. P. / Middle Hill' and MS. number '3013' on recto of upper flyleaf.

S.A.J. Moorat, Catalogue of Western Manuscripts on Medicine and Science in the Wellcome Historical Medical Library (London: Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine, 1962-1973), I, pp. 13-14. Description revised and enhanced by Laura Nuvoloni in 2016 based on the compiler's own research.

A more recent description in Abu Ma'šar al-Balhi (Albumasar), Kitab al-madkhal al-kabir ilá 'ilm ahkam al-nujum = Liber introductorii maioris ad scientiam judiciorum astrorum, ed. Richard Lemay, 9 vols (Naples: Istituto Universitario Orientale, 1995-1996), vol. 4 (1995), pp. 181-184.