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ALFONSO X [King of Castile and Leon].
Divi Alphonsi Romanorum et Hispaniarum Regis astronomicae tabulae in propriam integritatem restitutae…
Paris: Christian Wechel, 1545.
£3250.00
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4to. Pp. [viii] 274 [ii]. Roman and italic letter, numerous woodcut tables, printer's Pegasus and cornucopiae device on title page and verso of final leaf, very early price code and pressmark at head of former. Light dampstaining to margins of a few quires, sometimes lightly touching text, tear to G4 without loss, a few leaves a bit dust soiled, a few ink spots. Generally a good, large unsophisticated copy in contemporary English blind-tooled calf over pasteboard, covers with central fleurons in roll-tooled borders with Tudor rose, fleur-de-lys, portcullis, crown, and dragon motifs within double blind-ruled borders, spine gilt in compartments (front guard and rear pastedown preserving fragments of 14th-century manuscript). One corner of upper cover defective, small hole at upper edge of lower cover, small loss to foot of spine, joints cracked. From the library of the Earls of Macclesfield at Shirburn Castle, their armorial bookplate to front pastedown, and embossed stamp to title and aii. A very good copy of the work which underpins Alfonso X's "lasting scientific fame" (DSB) in a handsome strictly contemporary London or Cambridge binding (cf. Oldham, HE g4). Alfonso X ('The Wise', 1221 - 1284), the great-grandson of Frederick Barbarossa, was an enthusiastic sponsor of the translation of Arabic works, especially, astronomy, into Latin and Castilian. The commission of a translation of the present work was his most enduring achievement, it became known as the Tablas alfonsinas and was widely popular in its Latin form throughout the Middle Ages, the Spanish text from which it was translated having been lost. A theoretical text for astronomers, the tables were used to predict the motions of the planets and stars (cf. Kenney, no. 3). By following the rules of calculation, in principle the user could derive the positions of the planets for any given time or place. Astronomical tables were also used to determine lunar phases, eclipses and calendrical information. Essentially, the work was a translation of the Toledan Tablets of the Cordoban astronomer al-Zarqali (Archazel, c. 1029 - c. 1087), with some new observations made in the years 1262-1272. It followed the general format of al-Zarqali's earlier compilation and, with only minor qualifications, retained the Ptolemaic system for explaining celestial motion. The first printed edition was Ratdolt's in Venice, in 1483, and there were nine subsequent editions (the last one in 1649), two of them published by Wechel. The Alphonsine Tables as they became known were a standard work of reference for astronomers, cosmographers, astrologers and navigators for nearly five hundred years. Houzeau & Lancaster 12487; BMC French p. 11; Adams A-733; Oldham HE g4; Brunet I, p.199; Cantamessa I 103; Graesse I 86; Brunet I 199 nota.
L386
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