Scanning the Skies: A Virtual Exhibit of Astronomy Manuscripts at the University of Pennsylvania
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Canones vel operationes in operando quadrante

Manuscript Item Type Metadata

Date

Circa 1502

Description

This elegant codex on the functions of the astrolabe quadrant includes computational methods for determining altitude, latitude, the positions of stars, and the twelve houses of the horoscope. It is open to a diagram depicting the quadrant’s use in locating a star, including an appropriately positioned astronomer in the margin, and two tables indicating the ascensions of the zodiac signs and the attributes of the fixed stars.

Other illustrations and tables in this manuscript include the back of the quadrant (fol. 5v), two diagrams showing how to measure the height of a tower (fols. 21v, 23v), a square diagram showing the computation of the astrological houses for Nov. 14, 1501 (fol. 16v), and tables providing the hours of day and night (fol. 10r) as well as sunrise and sunset (fols. 15r-15v) at 45°N. Written in Southern Italy, it is bound in a reused leaf from a twelfth-century copy of Augustine’s In Iohannis evangelium tractatus, written in the Bari form of Beneventan script.

Call Number

UPenn LJS 497

Pages Displayed

4v-5r

Video Orientation

LJS 497 Video Orientation

Full Digitization

LJS 497 on Penn in Hand

Place of Origin

Southern Italy

Language(s)

Latin

Materials

Paper

Number of Leaves

28

Dimensions

207 x 145 mm

Binding

Bifolium from a 12th-century southern Italian manuscript of Augustine's In Iohannis evangelium tractatus (text in two columns, in the Bari type of Beneventan script, with majuscule initials highlighted in red and green).

Collection

Treatises on the Astrolabe

Tags

Astrolabe, Beneventan, Geometry, Sermon, Tables

Citation

“Canones vel operationes in operando quadrante,” Scanning the Skies: A Virtual Exhibit of Astronomy Manuscripts at the University of Pennsylvania, accessed July 1, 2025, https://aylinmalcolm.com/astro/items/show/5.

Output Formats

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  • omeka-xml

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