Penn in Hand: Selected Manuscripts

Regiomontanus, Joannes, 1436-1476.

[Tabulae directionum et profectionum] [manuscript]. [Tabella sinus recti].

[Austria or Hungary, circa 1476]

95 leaves : parchment and paper ; 214 x 142 mm. bound to 220 x 152 (170 x 98) mm.

Latin.

Astronomical tables of declinations and ascensions and a table of sines, copied not long after their completion by Regiomontanus in 1467.

1. p.1-2: [Dedicatory letter to János Vitéz, Archbishop (1465-1472) of Esztergom, Hungary]

2. p.2-33: [Introduction]

3. p.35-150: [Tabulae directionum et profectionum]

4. p.168-185: [Tabella sinus recti]

Sold by a French dealer before 1957 (catalog description, inside upper cover).

Sold by Laurence Witten to Harrison D. Horblit, 1957.

Appears in H. P. Kraus's cat. 155 (1980), no. 16.

Formerly owned by John D. Stanitz (Cleveland, Ohio), Ms. 3.

Acquired by Lawrence J. Schoenberg with other Stanitz manuscripts, Sept. 1997.

Deposit by Lawrence J. Schoenberg and Barbara Brizdle, 2012.

Kuppferberg, Johannes de, scribe.

Vitéz, János, ca. 1408-1472, dedicatee.

Horblit, Harrison D., former owner.

Stanitz, John D., former owner.

Astronomy - Early works to 1800.

Astronomy - Tables.

Codices.

Tables (documents)

Manuscripts, Latin - 15th century.

Manuscripts, Renaissance.

Ms. codex.

Title supplied by cataloger from first printed edition.

Collation: Paper with 2 parchment bifolia, 95; 1¹²(-1) 2-8¹²; inner and outer bifolia of first gathering parchment, with first leaf now missing; [1-190 (151-167 blank)], modern pagination in pencil, upper outer corners 1-55, upper right recto 57-185; modern signatures in pencil, 1-8, lower left first recto.

Layout: Written in 48 long lines, with vertical bounding lines in ink (text); most tables in landscape orientation, with 18 columns, with double vertical and upper horizontal bounding lines.

Script: Written in Gothic cursive script by Johannes de Kuppferberg (p. 33).

Decoration: Tables in black and red ink (p. 35-150, 168-185); rubrication, underlining, and paragraph numbers in text in red ink, with spaces left for initials 3 to 6 lines in height (p. 1-33).

Watermark: Similar to Briquet Balance 2454 (Wiener Neustadt, 1476).

Binding: Modern mottled calf with paste paper endpapers, marbled edges, and 19th-century gilt spine laid down.

Origin: Written in Austria or Hungary, circa 1476 (based on watermark).

Described in Transformation of knowledge: early manuscripts from the collection of Lawrence J. Schoenberg (London: Paul Holberton, 2006), p. 73 (LJS 172).

LJS 172

Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts University of Pennsylvania LJS 172