Manuscript
EL ESCORIAL - Real Biblioteca Ω.I.1
| Content | Scientia > Geographica > Claudius Ptolemy (person page) |
| Person(s) | |
| Date | 01/03/1523-31/07/1523 |
| Origin | Carpi < Emilia-Romagna < Northern Italy < Italy |
| Bibliography |
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| Identification | Diktyon (Pinakes) , 15051 |
| Comment | As stated in the colophon (f. 118v) by the scribe, Bernardino Donato, he copied the Almagest from a manuscript that belonged to and had been written by Giorgio Valla and afterwards belonged to Alberto Pio da Carpi (cf. Martínez Manzano 2018, 365-366). Contrarily to what was suggested in VGH, p. 114 n. 2, this master copy cannot have been Modena, Biblioteca Estense Universitaria α. V. 7. 06 (Puntoni 174; olim II F 9; https://www.dbbe.ugent.be/manuscripts/37318), because it does not contain the Almagest, even though it is copied by Valla. Besides, even though both codices contain Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos, the epigram in the Modena codex precedes the Tetrabiblos, while in the Escorial codex it precedes the Almagest, which makes direct dependence for the epigram's text unlikely. The date, provided in the colophon (f. 118v) as σκιρροφοριῶνος ἑβδόμη μεσοῦντος, is interpreted in different ways in the literature: - 7 May (Vogel & Gardthausen, 113); - 7 June (catalogue entry at the RBME Digital); - the seventh day of the month corresponding to June-July (Bianchi 2025, 45). Still, it could also be March, in case the scribe followed Leonardo Bruni's reconstruction of the Athenian calendar - a reconstruction that was popular at the time. Theodore Gaza's reconstruction, no less widespread, interpreted Skirophorion as May. Besides, ἑβδόμη μεσοῦντος should perhaps refer to the Plethonian system and stand for the so-called seventh day (which in fact means the first because of the regressive counting) of the second unequal week (μεσοῦντος) of the month, i.e. the 9th. Therefore, the date of the colophon should be perhaps interpreted as 9 March or 9 May. |
| Occurrences | f. 4v [37362] οἶδ’ ὅτι θνητὸς ἐγὼν καὶ ἐφάμερος, ἀλλ’ ὅταν ἄστρων [01/03/1523-31/07/1523] |
| Acknowledgements |
Creator(s)
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Last modified: 2026-04-01.
