Ptolemy's Almagest - photo 1
Ptolemy's Almagest - photo 2
Ptolemy's Almagest - photo 3

Ptolemy's Almagest

Lot 119
28.01.2025 10:00UTC -05:00
Classic
Sold
$ 30 240
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUSA, New York
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 1360835
Lot 119 | Ptolemy's Almagest
Estimate value
$ 8 000 – 12 000
PTOLEMAEUS, Claudius (ca.100-ca.170CE) and Gerard of Cremona, translator (1114-1187). Almaguestum. Venice: Peter Liechtenstein, 1515.

First edition of Gerard of Cremona's Latin translation from the Arabic. The Almagest, so called from the medieval Latin form of its Arabic name, was the most important of Ptolemy's astronomical and mathematical works. Known in Greek as the Mathematical Treatise or Collection, it covers every aspect of theoretical mathematical astronomy. "Until the innovative work of Tycho Brahe and Kepler in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, that is, for nearly fifteen hundred years, the Almagest was the basis of all sophisticated astronomy, a longevity exceeded only by Euclid's Elements" (N.M. Swerdlow, in Rome Reborn, Washington 1993, p. 144). "This beautifully printed Latin version made available for the first time Ptolemy's complete epicyclic theory and the observations on which it rested. Perhaps Copernicus at last realized, when he obtained his copy of the text, how formidable a task awaited any astronomer who wished to promulgate a new and working cosmology" (Gingerich, Science in the Age of Copernicus, p.9).The first translation made from the original Greek would not appear until 1528. Adams P-2213, Houzeau & Lancaster 865, Stillwell 97.

Small folio (305 x 205mm). Numerous woodcut diagrams printed in margins, pictorial woodcut initials. (Final leaf with colophon lacking and supplied in expert facsimile; a couple small marginal repairs to title page; a little browning to first and last leaves; minor soiling to prelims and occasionally elsewhere; faint stain to upper margin near gutter.) Modern calf. Provenance: deleted stamp to second leaf – 11pp. German manuscript notes on the preface inserted at rear, titled "Aus der vorrede zum Almagest des Cl. Ptolemaus" — Owen Gingerich (bookplate).
Place of origin:Italy
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
20 Rockefeller Plaza
10020 New York
USA
Preview
14.01.2025 – 28.01.2025
Phone +1 212 636 2000
Fax +1 212 636 4930
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase
Shipping Postal service
Courier service
pickup by yourself
Payment methods Wire Transfer
Business hoursBusiness hours
Mo 09:30 – 17:00   
Tu 09:30 – 17:00   
We 09:30 – 17:00   
Th 09:30 – 17:00   
Fr 09:30 – 17:00   
Sa closed
Su closed

Related terms

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.