Top of page

Book/Printed Material The Recension of Euclid's "Elements".

About this Item

Title

  • The Recension of Euclid's "Elements".

Summary

  • This work is a printed edition of Kitāb taḥrīr uṣūl li-Uqlīdus (The recension of Euclid's Elements) by one of the intellectual luminaries of the Islamic world, the Persian polymath Nasir al-Din Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Tusi (1201--74). After his death al-Tusi was referred to as al-mu'allim al-thalith (the third teacher, with Aristotle and Farabi referred to as the first and second teachers, respectively). An extraordinarily prolific author, al-Tusi made notable contributions to most of the intellectual fields of his era, writing on theology, mysticism, logic, astrology, astronomy, geomancy, mathematics, physics, mineralogy, medicine, and jurisprudence. The structure of his recension on Elements follows that of the book on which it is based. It consists of 13 chapters: the first six on plane geometry, the next four on arithmetic and the theory of numbers, and the final three on solid geometry. It was completed near the end of 1248, several years after another of his extremely influential mathematical works: his critical revision of Ptolemy's Almagest. Al-Tusi's mathematical works also include recensions, commentaries, or elaborations of the mathematical works of Autolycos, Aristarchus, Apollonius, Archimedes, Hypsicles, Theodosius, and Menelaus. In many cases al-Tusi's recensions supplanted in their popularity the original texts that he set out to edit, i.e., the Arabic translations of these authors. The present version of this work was printed by the Medici Oriental Press in Rome, in 1594, making it among the earliest books printed in Arabic. It includes many woodcut diagrams embedded in the text. The last page of the book contains the text of a royal decree in Ottoman Turkish issued by Sultan Murad III (reigned 1574--95) in October 1588. It concerns the shipments of "a certain number of authoritative books in Arabic, Persian, and Turkish" into the Ottoman domains by Anton and Horatio Bandini, and it stipulates that henceforth these merchants should be allowed to bring their wares into the Ottoman domains without molestation or disturbance. The decree indicates Ottoman Turkey as the nominal destination for this volume of al-Tusi's work.

Names

  • Euclid Contributor.
  • Ṭūsī, Naṣīr al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad, 1201-1274 Author.

Created / Published

  • Rome : Typographia Medicea, 1594.

Headings

  • -  1248
  • -  Mathematics, Arab
  • -  Mathematics, Greek

Notes

  • -  Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
  • -  Original resource extent: 454 pages : illustrations ; 29 centimeters.
  • -  Original resource at: Qatar National Library.
  • -  Content in Arabic and Turkish.
  • -  Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.

Medium

  • 1 online resource.

Source Collection

  • Arabic and Islamic Science and Its Influence on the Western Scientific Tradition: Mathematics

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2021666217

Online Format

  • compressed data
  • pdf
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress is unaware of any copyright or other restrictions in the World Digital Library Collection. Absent any such restrictions, these materials are free to use and reuse. Researchers are encouraged to review the source information attached to each item. For information on contacting WDL partner organizations, see this archived list of partners

The Library asks that researchers approach the materials in this collection with respect for the culture and sensibilities of the people whose lives, ideas, and creativity are documented here.

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

More about Copyright and other Restrictions

For additional information and contact information for many of the partner organizations, see this archived capture of the World Digital Library site from 2021.

For guidance about compiling full citations consult Citing Primary Sources.

Cite This Item

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

Chicago citation style:

Euclid Contributor, and Naṣīr Al-Dīn Muḥammad Ibn Muḥammad Ṭūsī. The Recension of Euclid's "Elements". Rome: Typographia Medicea, 1594. Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021666217/.

APA citation style:

Euclid Contributor & Ṭūsī, N. A. M. I. M. (1594) The Recension of Euclid's "Elements". Rome: Typographia Medicea. [Pdf] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021666217/.

MLA citation style:

Euclid Contributor, and Naṣīr Al-Dīn Muḥammad Ibn Muḥammad Ṭūsī. The Recension of Euclid's "Elements". Rome: Typographia Medicea, 1594. Pdf. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2021666217/>.