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Book/Printed Material Muḥammad al-Farghānī's Elements of Chronology and Astronomy.

About this Item

Title

  • Muḥammad al-Farghānī's Elements of Chronology and Astronomy.

Summary

  • Aḥmad ibn Moḥammad ibn Kathīr al-Farghānī (flourished 861) was an astronomer who worked at the court of the early Abbasid caliphs. He appears to have been active in the court of al-Ma'mun, and he may well be the same figure who is said to have been entrusted by al-Mutawakkil with the construction of the nilometer in Cairo. In that case, he would have been active from the early decades of the ninth century to his death in 861 (spanning the rules of al-Ma'mun, al-Mu'taṣim, al-Wāthiq, and al-Mutawakkil). Al-Farghānī, the name by which the astronomer would have been known at the Abbasid court, and which was Latinized to Alfraganus, indicates the Ferghana Valley (present-day Uzbekistan) as his birthplace, in the Persian or Perso-Turkic cultural realm of Central Asia. Presented here is an Arabic edition with Latin translation of al-Farghānī's influential and well-known Kitāb jawāmi' 'ilm al-nujūm wa uṣūl al-ḥarakāt al-samāwīya (Book of generalities of astronomy and bases of celestial motions). The Arabic title in this edition is slightly modified. The same work by al-Farghānī has various other titles in Arabic, including Kitāb fī uṣūl 'ilm al-nujūm (Book of generalities of astronomy and bases of celestial motions) and Kitāb al-hay'a fī fuṣūl al-thalāthīn (Book on the configuration [of the heavenly spheres] in thirty chapters). The work was originally translated into Latin by Johannes Hispalensis (John of Seville, flourished mid-12th century), and Gerard of Cremona (circa 1114--87). It was also translated into Hebrew by Jacob Anatoli (circa 1194--1256). This is the first printed Arabic edition of the book, based on the manuscript at the University of Leiden, printed in Amsterdam in 1669. It has 109 pages in Arabic and 306 in Latin, in addition to the table of contents.

Names

  • Farghānī, flourished 861 Author.
  • Golius, Jacobus, 1596-1667 Translator.
  • Janssonius van Waesberge, Johannes, flourished 1642-1681 Printer.
  • Vidua Elizei Weyerstraet Printer.

Created / Published

  • Amsterdam : Johannes Janssonius van Waesberge and Vidua Elizei Weyerstraet, 1669.

Headings

  • -  Uzbekistan
  • -  861 to 1669
  • -  Astronomy, Arab
  • -  Astronomy, Medieval
  • -  Calendars

Notes

  • -  Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
  • -  Original resource extent: 565 pages ; 20 centimeters.
  • -  Original resource at: Qatar National Library.
  • -  Content in Arabic and Latin.
  • -  Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.

Medium

  • 1 online resource.

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2021666218

Online Format

  • compressed data
  • pdf
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

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Credit Line: [Original Source citation], World Digital Library

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Farghānī, Flourished 861 Author, Jacobus Golius, Johannes Janssonius Van Waesberge, and Vidua Elizei Weyerstraet Printer. Muḥammad al-Farghānī's Elements of Chronology and Astronomy. Amsterdam: Johannes Janssonius van Waesberge and Vidua Elizei Weyerstraet, 1669. Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021666218/.

APA citation style:

Farghānī, F. 8. A., Golius, J., Janssonius Van Waesberge, J. & Vidua Elizei Weyerstraet Printer. (1669) Muḥammad al-Farghānī's Elements of Chronology and Astronomy. Amsterdam: Johannes Janssonius van Waesberge and Vidua Elizei Weyerstraet. [Pdf] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021666218/.

MLA citation style:

Farghānī, Flourished 861 Author, et al. Muḥammad al-Farghānī's Elements of Chronology and Astronomy. Amsterdam: Johannes Janssonius van Waesberge and Vidua Elizei Weyerstraet, 1669. Pdf. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2021666218/>.