Four Greek cosmographies in Latin translation

Four Greek cosmographies in Latin translation

This manuscript contains four texts united on cosmography. The first is Plato’s Timaeus, in the canonical fourth-century translation with commentary by Calcidius. This remained the only text by Plato known in the Latin West until Henry Aristippus’s translation of the Meno and the Phaedo in the twelfth century. The second text is a unique translation of the pseudo-Aristotelian On the Universe, produced by John Argyropoulos (ca. 1415–87). The third work is Philo of Alexandria’s De incorruptione mundi, probably translated by the Umbrian humanist Lilio Libelli Tifernate (1417/18–86). The final text is the sole known work by the Greek astronomer Cleomedes, De contemplatione orbium excelsorum, translated and dedicated to the condottiere Cesare Borgia by his humanist secretary, Carlo Valgulio (ca. 1440–98). The geometric diagrams for the Timaeus are annotated in Latin, while those for the Cleomedes are in Greek, suggesting an early user fluent in both.

Authors: Plato, Calcidius, John Argyropoulos, Philo of Alexandria; Translators: Lilio Libelli Tifernate, Carlo Valgulio

ca. 1500

Manuscript on paper, 341 fols.

University of Pennsylvania, Ms. Codex 761

Italy