Penn in Hand: Selected Manuscripts

[Astronomical anthology] [manuscript].

[Catalonia, ca. 1361]

114 leaves : parchment, col. ill. ; 275 x 204 (190 x 132) mm. bound to 288 x 224 mm.

Collection of astronomical texts, including a copy of a treatise on the calendar originally compiled for Pedro IV, King of Aragon, with an almanac of oppositions and conjunctions of the sun and moon and predictions of lunar and solar eclipses; four short works by the 12th-century scientist Abraham Ibn Ezra on an introduction to astrology, choosing the most auspicious moment for a given activity, the zodiac, and astrology concerning humankind collectively; and a Hebrew translation of Ptolemy's Almagest, with numerous tables, diagrams, and illustrations.

Ms. codex.

Title supplied by cataloger.

Foliation: Parchment, iv (modern paper) + 114 + iv (modern paper; [1-228]; modern pagination in pencil, upper outer corners.

Layout: Text written in 2 columns of 37 lines; some leaves ruled in faint ink.

Script: Written in Sephardic cursive script by multiple hands, one perhaps of a scribe named Moshe (p. 2); headings written in square script.

Decoration: 2 full-page color illustrations in gouache and ink of constellation maps (p. 112-113); 43 smaller illustrations of constellations in gouache and ink with gold bezants for stars (p. 117-144); panel headpiece in interlaced red and green penwork and full border of gold bezants flourished in colored ink (p. 1); numerous full-page diagrams and tables in red and brown ink; Gothic penwork infilling frames on some tables (p. 196-211); headings in red or green ink.

Binding: Modern blind-stamped morocco, with 2 sets of clasps and catches.

Origin: Written in Catalonia, ca. 1361.

Dimensions of original manuscript: 275 x 204 (190 x 132) mm. bound to 288 x 224 mm.

UPenn LJS 57

Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts University of Pennsylvania LJS 57