Algorismus (On Algebra)
Title
Algorismus (On Algebra)
Description
This manuscript textbook on practical arithmetic intended for a merchant’s adolescent son or daughter, with common mathematical problems accompanied by vivid illustrations is an apparently unique and possibly autograph text, produced in Nola, east of Naples, by Pierpaolo Muscharello in 1478. The contents reflect the curriculum of the Abacus, a form of secondary school frequented by the children of merchants between the ages of about eleven and fifteen. These schools taught the practical skills of mathematics and geometry useful for commercial transactions, together with knowledge of foreign and domestic trading practices. The work begins with several pages of multiplication tables, followed by a table of contents, and a preface including the arms of the Alberti family. Though the decoration mimics that of contemporary Neapolitan illuminators such as Cola Rapicano (act. 1451–d. 1488) and Cristoforo Majorana (act. ca. 1472–94), the illumination undoubtedly the work of a nonspecialist.
Creator
Author: Pierpaolo Muscharello; Scribe: Pierpaolo Muscharello (colophon, fol. 101r)
Date
1478
Format
Manuscript on parchment, 113 fols.,
Identifier
University of Pennsylvania, Lawrence J. Schoenberg Collection, LJS 27
Coverage
Nola, Italy
Tags
Citation
Author: Pierpaolo Muscharello; Scribe: Pierpaolo Muscharello (colophon, fol. 101r), “Algorismus (On Algebra),” Making the Renaissance Manuscript, accessed November 21, 2024, http://makingrenmanuscripts.exhibits.library.upenn.edu/items/show/77.
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