ALPETRAGIUS (d. c.1204). Planetarum theorica phisicis rationibus probate. Venice: Luc’Antonio Giunta, January 1531.
Lot 226

ALPETRAGIUS (d. c.1204). Planetarum theorica phisicis rationibus probate. Venice: Luc’Antonio Giunta, January 1531.

Closed30 November 2016

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ALPETRAGIUS (d. c.1204). Planetarum theorica phisicis rationibus probate. Venice: Luc’Antonio Giunta, January 1531.

2° (307 x 212mm). Woodcut diagrams, ornamental initials, errata at end. (Errata with clean closed tear in lower corner, small repairs in lower inner gutter at beginning and end.) Later calf gilt (front joint split at head of spine, lightly rubbed, new endpapers).

Alpetragius or Nur ad-Din al-Bitruji was an astronomer and a Qadi from Al-Andalus. Despite his limited knowledge of Ptolemy's Almagest, al-Bi?ruji was the first astronomer after Ptolemy to present a non-Ptolemaic astronomical system as an alternative to Ptolemy's models. Another original aspect of his system was that he proposed a physical cause of celestial motions. Cf. Houzeau and Lancaster 1233.