First edition of the first translation of the Almagest from the original Greek. Previously Ptolemy's great astronomical text was available only in the 12th century translation of Gherardo da Cremona from an Arabic translation (1st ed.: 1515). The present translation was made directly from the Greek in 1451 by George of Trebizond, using a manuscript in the Vatican; this translation was edited for publication by Luca Gaurico. The original Greek text was not published until 1538.

"Ptolemy's chief work in astronomy, and the book on which his later reputation mainly rests, is the Almagest… It is a manual covering the whole of mathematical astronomy as the ancients conceived it… the Almagest is a masterpiece of clarity and method, superior to any ancient scientific textbook and with few pe...[ Read more ]

First edition of the first translation of the Almagest from the original Greek. Previously Ptolemy's great astronomical text was available only in the 12th century translation of Gherardo da Cremona from an Arabic translation (1st ed.: 1515). The present translation was made directly from the Greek in 1451 by George of Trebizond, using a manuscript in the Vatican; this translation was edited for publication by Luca Gaurico. The original Greek text was not published until 1538.

"Ptolemy's chief work in astronomy, and the book on which his later reputation mainly rests, is the Almagest… It is a manual covering the whole of mathematical astronomy as the ancients conceived it… the Almagest is a masterpiece of clarity and method, superior to any ancient scientific textbook and with few peers from any period. " --Dictionary of Scientific Biography, XI, p.187 & 196.

"Among the instruments mentioned or described in the Almagest are the equatorial armillary for determining the equinoxes at Alexandria; the plinth and the meridional armillary for determining the midday and meridian altitude of the sun; the triquetrum for measuring meridian transits of the moon or fixed stars; and the armillary astrolabon." --Stillwell, The Awakening Interest in Science during the First Century of Printing 1450-1550, 97.