Western Medieval Manuscripts : Euclid

Western Medieval Manuscripts

<p style='text-align: justify;'> The manuscript contains three treatises attributed to <i> Euclid</i>: <i> Catoptrics</i>, which now is considered spurious, on the mathematical theory of mirrors, <i> Phaenomena</i> on spherical astronomy, and <i> Optics</i> on the geometry of vision. </p><p style='text-align: justify;'> It was copied by the Greek scribe Konstantinos Mesobotes, who was active in the first half of the 16th in Italy, in Padua, Venice and Bologna. The texts derive from MS <a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/bsb00047488/image_1'> München, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Cod. Graec. 361a</a>, ( Heiberg 1895, p.xxvii; Heiberg-Menge 1916, p. xxix) which was owned by Cardinal Domenico Grimani (see A. Diller, H.D. Saffrey, L.G. Westerink, <i> Bibliotheca Graeca Manuscripta Cardinalis Dominici Grimani (1461-1523)</i>, Venice 2003, no. 391 p. 165) and was brought with his collection to the monastery of S. Antonio di Castello in Venice after his death (1523).</p><p style='text-align: justify;'> The work of the scribe on the manuscript seems incomplete: rubrics were not added (now and then later hands added some missing initials, see e.g. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(51);return false;'> f. 22r</a>).</p><p style='text-align: justify;'> The quires are now in disorder: since the scribe numbered them correctly, this must have happened later, probably when the manuscript was rebound.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'> Dr Erika Elia</p>