Mathematical Treasure: Erasmus's Greek Edition of Ptolemy's Almagest

Erasmus Reinhold (1511-1553) was a German astronomer and mathematician. The most eminent astronomer of his time, he was a firm Copernican and a professor at Wittenberg University. His Ptolemaei mathematicae (1549) was the first Greek language edition of Claudius Ptolemy's Almagest published in Europe. Actually, the book is a both Greek and Latin edition, but expositions in these languages are not given side-by-side.

The text is introduced with a brief forward by Philipp Melanchthon, a noted scholar and Reinhold’s colleague at Wittenberg.

The opening page of text:

These images are supplied through the courtesy of the University of Oklahoma Library.

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