De motu stellarum: Plato of Tivoli's Latin translation of al-Battani's Zij

ترجمة أفلاطون التيفولي اللاتينية لزيج البتاني ⁦(في حركة النجوم)⁩

The surviving Latin translation of al-Battani's Zij, made by Plato of Tivoli at Barcelona in the first half of the twelfth century and printed at Nuremberg in 1537 with Regiomontanus' notes; known under the titles De motu stellarum, De scientia stellarum and De numeris stellarum ¹ ² ³.

Summary

This is the Latin translation of al-Battani's Zij made by Plato of Tivoli, the only one of two Latin versions to survive. ⁴ ² The titles it bears in print — On the motion of the stars, On the science of the stars, On the numbers of the stars — are taken from the book's opening. ¹

First printing

It was first printed at Nuremberg in 1537 together with Alfraganus' Rudimenta, under a title naming "Albategnius, most skilled astronomer, on the motion of the stars from his own and Ptolemy's observations, all with geometrical demonstrations and the additions of Johannes Regiomontanus"; Alfraganus takes 26 folios and Albategnius 90, separately numbered. ² It was printed from a copy Regiomontanus had annotated in his own hand. ⁵ Plato's preface comes first, calling the science of the stars the prince of the liberal arts. ²

Opening and chapters

The version opens "in the name of the Lord" and announces the book of Muhammad son of Jabir son of Sinan, called Albategni, on the numbers of the stars and the places of their motions grasped by experiment, in fifty-seven chapters. ² In some Latin manuscripts, such as those of Venice and the Vatican, chapter 57 is headed as the completion of the book and the making of the instrument in the likeness of the heavens and of two sighting instruments. ⁶

Manuscripts

Manuscripts exist at Erfurt, one breaking off in chapter 55, another holding multiplication and division tables drawn from chapter 2. ⁷

Its value

Halley and Nallino find it obscure and barbarous, senseless in many places, and with more numerical errors than the Arabic. ³ ⁸ Yet it witnesses an archetype shared with the Escorial manuscript and preserves a few words lost from it. ⁸

Sources

al-Battani sive Albatenii Opus astronomicum, ed. and Latin tr. Carlo Alfonso Nallino, Parts I–III (Milan: Hoepli, 1899–1907) , p. 40

al-Battani sive Albatenii Opus astronomicum, ed. and Latin tr. Carlo Alfonso Nallino, Parts I–III (Milan: Hoepli, 1899–1907) , p. 59

al-Battani sive Albatenii Opus astronomicum, ed. and Latin tr. Carlo Alfonso Nallino, Parts I–III (Milan: Hoepli, 1899–1907) , p. 65

al-Battani sive Albatenii Opus astronomicum, ed. and Latin tr. Carlo Alfonso Nallino, Parts I–III (Milan: Hoepli, 1899–1907) , p. 58

al-Battani sive Albatenii Opus astronomicum, ed. and Latin tr. Carlo Alfonso Nallino, Parts I–III (Milan: Hoepli, 1899–1907) , p. 46

al-Battani sive Albatenii Opus astronomicum, ed. and Latin tr. Carlo Alfonso Nallino, Parts I–III (Milan: Hoepli, 1899–1907) , p. 61

al-Battani sive Albatenii Opus astronomicum, ed. and Latin tr. Carlo Alfonso Nallino, Parts I–III (Milan: Hoepli, 1899–1907) , p. 60

al-Battani sive Albatenii Opus astronomicum, ed. and Latin tr. Carlo Alfonso Nallino, Parts I–III (Milan: Hoepli, 1899–1907) , p. 71

al-Battani

Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Jabir ibn Sinan al-Harrani al-Raqqi al-Battani (born before 244, died 317 AH / 929 CE), astronomer and mathematician from Harran who lived in al-Raqqa, observed there from 264 to 306 AH, wrote the Zij that corrected Ptolemy's observations and motions, and died on his way back from Baghdad at Qasr al-Jiss near Samarra.

De motu stellarum: Plato of Tivoli's Latin translation of al-Battani's Zij

At a glance