Equatorie of PlanetisThis book, first published by Cambridge University Press in 1955, investigates the origins of The Equatorie of the Planetis, a fourteenth-century manuscript in the library of Peterhouse, Cambridge. Dr Price, a historian of science, examines the idea that it was composed and written by Geoffrey Chaucer. The chapters discuss the problems of ascription, bibliography and palaeography as well as giving an account of the theories and history of medieval astronomy and the Equatorie instrument. This edition reproduces, translates and describes the complete manuscript and uses various photographic techniques to examine erased words and analyse Chaucer's signature on the document. There are facsimiles of pages from the astronomical tables together with an analysis of their contents, and a selection of extracts from other unpublished Middle English astronomical texts are included in the appendices. A glossary is provided by R. M. Wilson. |
Contents
INTRODUCTION | 3 |
PROVENANCE AND PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE MANUSCRIPT | 6 |
TRANSCRIPT AND FACSIMILES | 17 |
TRANSLATION | 47 |
NOTES ON THE TEXT | 62 |
THE ASTRONOMICAL TABLES | 75 |
Analysis of tables numerical values etc | 79 |
Notes and other material inserted in the Tables | 84 |
The Alfonsine precession | 104 |
The technical terms of Ptolemaic astronomy as found in the text | 107 |
Accuracy of the theory and the Equatorie | 110 |
ΙΟ The calculation of planetary positions | 116 |
HISTORY OF THE PLANETARY EQUATORIUM page | 119 |
PALAEOGRAPHY | 134 |
ASCRIPTION TO CHAUCER | 149 |
GLOSSARY | 167 |
THE PTOLEMAIC PLANETARY SYSTEM | 93 |
General foundations of the theory | 95 |
The Sun | 97 |
Venus Mars Jupiter and Saturn | 99 |
Mercury ΙΟΙ 6 The Moon | 103 |
Cipher passages in the Manuscript | 182 |
207 | |
214 | |
Common terms and phrases
31 December 3eres Alfonsine Tables Almagest Astrolabe auges black thread blake thred Bredon calculation Cancer cauda centre aryn centre equant centrum cercle Chaucer cipher cleped compas comune deferentis degres Deinde deuyde diameter diurnal motion Earth eccentric circle ecentrici ecliptic Epicycle equacioun equant Equatorie equatorium error excentrik fixed folio forseide haue head of Aries hole instrument Jupiter label Latin latitude Libra limb line alhudda linea litel lune lymbe lyne Mars mean argument mean motus medieval Mercury meridie meridional line Merton College miª Middle English moeuable mone Moon motion orbit Peterhouse Peterhouse manuscript planet planetarum planetary plate pron quires quod radius radix Richard of Wallingford Saturn sexagesimal shal signes signorum Simon Bredon sonne soply sunne thanne thed thyn Treatise true motus twixe Venus verrey verrey motus verrey place white thread zodiac þat þei