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Harley MS 7402

Record Id:

040-002053257

Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:

040-002053257

MDARK:

ark:/81055/vdc_100000000935.0x0003a5

LARK:

SLARK:

Format:

ISAD(G)

Reference (shelfmark):

Harley MS 7402

Title:

Astronomical tables, including Toldean tables; Pseudo-Robert Grosseteste, Ars Kalendarii; Pseudo-Mā Shā' Allāh ibn Athari, De Practica Astrolabii

Scope & Content:

Contents:

ff. 2r-7v: Astronomical calendar, includes entries for Alphege (19 April: 'Sancti Alphegi episcopi'), Botulph (17 June), Etheldreda (23 June), Sexburgis (6 July) and 'Withburga' (7 July; Ely).

f. 8r: Astronomical table, entitled: 'Tabula ad inveniendum ferias inicialis in annis arabum'.

ff. 8v-16r: Astronomical tables, entitled: 'Tabula minutorum proporcionalium minuta diversitatis cuiuslibet epicicli'.

ff. 16v-17v: Astronomical tables, headed 'Obliqus', with the first table entitled: '[A]ssenciones signorum in latitudine 41 gradum et 40 minutorum cuius horae 16 et 40 minuta'.

ff. 18r-18v: Astronomical tables, headed 'Directus', with the first table entitled: '[A]ssenciones signorum in ciruclo directo in omni regione'.

ff. 19r-46v: Astronomical tables with calculations for Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury, 'Sol', 'Luna', 'Draco', and the Eight Sphere ('Octava spera').

f. 47r: Astronomical table, entitled: 'Tabula equacionis distancie capitis Arietis mobilis secundum secundum longitudine et latitudinem'.

f. 47v: Astronomical table, entitled: 'Tabula latitudinum trium planetarum superiorum quod est elongacio eorum a cingulo signorum' [Toledan table, not listed in Toomer, 'A Survey of the Toledan Tables' (1968)]

f. 48r: Astronomical table, entitled: 'Tabula 7 planetarum inferiorum quod est elongacio' [Toledan table, not listed in Toomer, 'A Survey of the Toledan Tables' (1968)].

f. 48v: Astronomical table, entitled: 'Tabula coniunctionis solis et lune per medium motus in annis arabum collectis ad medium toleti' [Toledan table, not listed in Toomer, 'A Survey of the Toledan Tables' (1968)].

f. 49r: Astronomical table, entitled: 'Tabula coniunctionis solis et lune per medium motus in annis arabum expansis ad medium toleti' [Toledan table, not listed in Toomer, 'A Survey of the Toledan Tables' (1968)].

f. 49v: Eclipse tables for the moon and sun.

f. 50r: Astronomical tables, entitled: '[Tabula] diversi aspectus lune ad medium ?norantoun ad latitudinem 51 gradum et 5 minutorum hore 16 et 39 minuta'.

f. 50v: Astronomical table, entitled: 'Diversis motus solis in lune in una hora equacio'.

f. 51r: Astronomical table, recording the visibility of planets and Signs of the Zodiac at different times.

ff. 52r-76r: Astronomical tables with calculations for for Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercuy, for the 12th months of the years 1300-1349.

ff. 76v-80r: Astronomical tables, entitled 'Tabula solis prima', 'Tabula solis secunda', 'Tabula solis tercia', and 'Tabula solis quarta'.

ff. 80v-81r: 'Tabula medij motus draconiis et verificatur ad [...] collectis'

f. 81v: Astronomical table, entitled: 'Tabula medij motus capitis draconis in mensibus et diebus'.

f. 82r: Astronomical table, entitled: 'Medius motus capitis draconis in diebus et mensibus'.

f. 82v: Astronomical table, entitled: 'Medius cursus lune in Annis collectis'.

ff. 83r-84r: Astronomical tables, entitled: 'Medius motus Lune ad Menses et dies'.

ff. 84v-90v: Astronomical tables, entitled: 'Tabula Argumenti Lune'.

ff. 91r-94v: Astronomical tables, entitled: 'Equacio Lune'.

ff. 95r-100v: Astronomical calendar, includes entries for Werburgh (3 February), Dunstan (19 May) and Alban (22 June).

ff. 101r-101v: Astronomical tables with planets and signs of the Zodiac, entitled: 'Quot dignitates habet quilibet planeta in quolibet signo'.

f. 102r: Pseudo-Robert Grosseteste, Ars Kalendarij ('Ars Kalendarij Magistri Roberti Grosteste'), beginning: 'Ad noticiam novi kalendarii primo sciendum est quod 19 litterae alphabeti secundum ordinem hic ponuntur in 4 lineis pro aureo numero'.

ff. 102r-104v: Pseudo-Mā Shā' Allāh ibn Athari [Messahalla], De Practica Astrolabii, here unattributed and entitled: 'Ars operandi in astrolabio', beginning: 'Nomina instrumentorum hec sunt'; including Chapters 1-2 (imperfect at the end), 13 (imperfect at the beginning)-14, followed by further short texts on the Astrolabe.

The manuscript contains a few later additions:

f. 1v: An inscription in English (poorly legible, untranscribed): written in the 16th or 17th century.

Decoration:

12 large 'KL' letters in colours and gold with sprouting foliage, one including grotesque heads (ff. 1r-7v). 1 small letter in gold (f. 2r). Initials and letters in blue with pen-flourishing in red. Written in red, blue, brown and green. Tables ruled in red and green. Ascenders in the top line occasionally decorated, some with a face.

Collection Area:

Western Manuscripts

Project / Collection:

Harley Collection

Hierarchy Tree:

[{ "id" : "040-002053257", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Harley MS 7402: Astronomical tables, including Toldean tables; Pseudo-Robert Grosseteste, Ars Kalendarii; Pseudo-Mā Shā' Allāh ibn Athari, De…" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]

Hierarchy Record Ids:

032-002045828
040-002053257

Is part of:

Harley MS 1-7661 : Harley Manuscripts

Harley MS 7402 : Astronomical tables, including Toldean tables; Pseudo-Robert Grosseteste, Ars Kalendarii; Pseudo-Mā Shā' Allāh ibn Athari,…

Hierarchy:

032-002045828[7413]/040-002053257

Container:

View / search within Archive / Collection: Harley MS 1-7661

Record Type (Level):

File

Extent:

1 volume

Digitised Content:

Languages:

Latin

Scripts:

Latin

Start Date:

1300

End Date:

1349

Date Range:

1st half of the 14th century

Era:

Access:

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User Conditions:

Physical Characteristics:

Materials: Parchment.

Dimensions: 280 x 180mm (text space: 200/210 x 130/140 mm).

Foliation: ff. 104 (+ 2 unfoliated paper flyleaves at the beginning and 3 at the end; f. 36 is fragmentary).

Script: Gothic.

Binding: British Museum in-house; green half leather binding with the Harleian arms gold stamped on the outside covers; rust stains of metal fastenings of a previous binding (f. 1r); marbled endleaves.

Custodial History:

Origin:

Eastern England (? East Anglia).

Provenance:

John Marshall, 17th century: his name inscribed on f. 26v: 'John Mearchall' and with penwork decoration and his monogram on f. 46v: 'John Marshall', followed by the Roman numeral 'vi' [this number appears twice on f. 2r] (see Wright, Fontes Harleiani (1972), p. 235).

John Batteley (b. 1647, d. 1708); acquired from him for the Harley Collection through John Batteleys's nephew, John Batteley (of the Court of Augmentations); the negotiations for the purchase were completed on 5 November 1723 (see Diary, ed. by Wright and Wright (1966), II, p. 263 n. 1; Wright, Fontes Harleiani (1972), p. 67).

The Harley Collection, formed by Robert Harley (b. 1661, d. 1724), 1st earl of Oxford and Mortimer, politician, and Edward Harley (b. 1689, d. 1741), 2nd earl of Oxford and Mortimer, book collector and patron of the arts, inscribed as usual by their librarian, Humfrey Wanley ‘5 die Novembris, A.D. 1723’ (f. 1r).

Edward Harley bequeathed the library to his widow, Henrietta Cavendish, née Holles (b. 1694, d. 1755) during her lifetime and thereafter to their daughter, Margaret Cavendish Bentinck (b. 1715, d. 1785), duchess of Portland; the manuscripts were sold by the Countess and the Duchess in 1753 to the nation for £10,000 (a fraction of their contemporary value) under the Act of Parliament that also established the British Museum; the Harley manuscripts form one of the foundation collections of the British Library.

Publications:

A Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts in the British Museum, 4 vols (London: Eyre and Strahan, 1808-12), III (1808), p. 530 (no. 7402).

The Diary of Humfrey Wanley 1715-1726, ed. by Cyril Ernest Wright and Ruth C. Wright, 2 vols (London: Bibliographical Society, 1966), II: 1723-1726, p. 263 n. 1

G. J. Toomer, 'A Survey of the Toledan Tables', Osiris, 15 (1968), 5-174 [without this manuscript].

Cyril Ernest Wright, Fontes Harleiani: A Study of the Sources of the Harleian Collection of Manuscripts in the British Museum (London: British Museum, 1972), pp. 67, 235.

Material Type:

Archives and Manuscripts

Legal Status:

Not Public Record(s)

Names:

Mā Shā’ Allāh ibn Athari [Messahalla], Persian Jewish astrologer, astronomer, and mathematician, c 740-815,
   see also http://isni.org/isni/0000000108888241,
   see also http://viaf.org/viaf/37256856
Robert Grosseteste, Bishop of Lincoln, c 1170-1253,
   see also http://isni.org/isni/0000000123212063,
   see also http://viaf.org/viaf/86920837

Places:

East Anglia, England
Eastern England