Ptolemaeus, [Ptolemy] Claudius

[Tetrabiblos] Hoc in libro nunquam ante typis aenis in lucem edita haec insunt. [Greek text:]Claudii Ptolemaei Plusiensis libri quatuor compositi Syro fratri. Eiusdem frucus librorum suorum, sive Centum dicta, ad eundem Syrum. Traductio in ligua(m) libror

      Johannes Petreius, Nuremberg:: Johannes Petreius,, 1535.. Editio Princeps. First Greek/Latin edition.. Contemp. vellum over boards, rebacked with old spine laid-on, label gilt (rubbed);a.e.g., t.p. soiled, small wormhole in blank inner margin of first three leaves; wormtrack in blank margin of last three leaves; wormtrack in last text leaf affecting a few letters; one old marginal notation in Greek; occ. light spots and minor edge stain but a very good copy with ample margins.. 4to. 2 vols in 1.. The first edition of the Greek text of Ptolemy's 'Tetrabiblos' or Quadripartium (consisting of four books) and the of the 'Karpos' (Centiloquium-- a collection of 100 astrological aphorisms erroneously attributed to Ptolemy. [The Karpos has been attributed to Ahmad ben Yusuf al-Misri (835-912). See: Sholomo Sela's Abraham Ibn Ezra and the Rise of Hebrew Science,2003; p321-2)]. These are followed by the first edition of Joachim Camerarius' Latin translation of the first two books and of passages from the third and fourth of the Tetrabiblos, and by Giovanni Pontano's Latin version of the Karpos. Next come seven pages of annotations by Camerarius on the first two books of the Tetrabiblos, Matteo Guarimberto's 'Opusculum de Radiis et Aspectibus Planetarum', Ludovicus De Rigius' 'Aphorismi Astrologici', and, finally, Camerarius' complete translation of the third and fourth books of the Tetrabiblos. #11; 'Ptolemy ... regards the Tetrabilblos as the natural complement to the Almagest: as the latter enables one to predict the positions of the heavenly bodies, so the former expounds the theory of their influences on terrestrial things. The introductory chapters are devoted to a defense of astrology against chrages that it cannot achieve what it claims and that even if it can, it is useless ... From the obvious terrestrial physical effects of the sun and moon, he infers that all heavenly bodies must produce physical effects... By careful observation of the terrestrial manifestations accompanying the various recurring combinations of celestial bodies, he believes it possible to erect a system which, although not mathematically certain, will enable one to make useful predictions... Book I explains the technical concepts of astrology, book II deals with influences on the earth in general ('astrological geography' and weather predictions), and book III and IV with influences on human life.' [DSB]#11;"Ptolemy's treatise on astrology, the Tetrabiblos, was the most popular astrological work of antiquity and also enjoyed great influence in the Islamic world and the medieval Latin West. The Tetrabiblos is an extensive and continually reprinted treatise on the ancient principles of horoscopic astrology in four books (Greek tetra means "four", biblos is "book"). That it did not quite attain the unrivalled status of the Almagest was perhaps because it did not cover some popular areas of the subject, particularly electional astrology (interpreting astrological charts for a particular moment to determine the outcome of a course of action to be initiated at that time), and medical astrology.#11;The great popularity that the Tetrabiblos did possess might be attributed to its nature as an exposition of the art of astrology and as a compendium of astrological lore, rather than as a manual. It speaks in general terms, avoiding illustrations and details of practice. Ptolemy was concerned to defend astrology by defining its limits, compiling astronomical data that he believed was reliable and dismissing practices (such as considering the numerological significance of names) that he believed to be without sound basis.#11;Much of the content of the Tetrabiblos may well have been collected from earlier sources; Ptolemy's achievement was to order his material in a systematic way, showing how the subject could, in his view, be rationalized. It is, indeed, presented as the second part of the study of astronomy of which the Almagest was the first, concerned with the influences of the celestial bodies in the sublunar sphere. Thus explanations of a sort are provided for the astrological effects of the planets, based upon their combined effects of heating, cooling, moistening, and drying.#11;Ptolemy's astrological outlook was quite practical: he thought that astrology was like medicine, that is conjectural, because of the many variable factors to be taken into account: the race, country, and upbringing of a person affects an individual's personality as much if not more than the positions of the Sun, Moon, and planets at the precise moment of their birth, so Ptolemy saw astrology as something to be used in life but in no way relied on entirely." [Wkpd] VD 16 P5248. Cantamessa 3646. Hoffmann III,309. Schweiger I,279. Zinner 1605 & 329. Roller/Goodman II,332. Burmeister, Rhetikus, III,31. BM STC (Ger.) 719. Brunet IV, 948 'rare'. Graesse V, 497. Bibl. Magica 1016. Wightman 544n. Houzeau & Lancaster 3636. DSB 11 p. 198. Thorndike V,364. Haskins p. 110.