Astronomical Knowledge Transmission Through Illustrated Aratea Manuscripts / by Marion Dolan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dolan, Marion., Author.

Series:

Historical & Cultural Astronomy, 2509-3118

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Astronomy—Observations.

Science—History.

Literature, Medieval.

Physics—Philosophy.

Astronomy, Observations and Techniques.

History of Science.

Medieval Literature.

Philosophical Foundations of Physics and Astronomy.

Local Subjects:

Astronomy, Observations and Techniques.

History of Science.

Medieval Literature.

Philosophical Foundations of Physics and Astronomy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (XXIV, 464 p. 113 illus., 98 illus. in color.)

Edition:

1st ed. 2017.

Place of Publication:

Cham : Springer International Publishing : Imprint: Springer, 2017.

Summary:

This carefully researched monograph is a historical investigation of the illustrated Aratea astronomical manuscript and its many interpretations over the centuries. Aratus' 270 B.C.E. Greek poem describing the constellations and astrological phenomena was translated and copied over 800 years into illuminated manuscripts that preserved and illustrated these ancient stories about the constellations. The Aratea survives in its entirety due to multiple translations from Greek to Latin and even to Arabic, with many illuminated versions being commissioned over the ages. The survey encompasses four interrelated disciplines: history of literature, history of myth, history of science, and history of art. Aratea manuscripts by their nature are a meeting place of these distinct branches, and the culling of information from historical literature and from the manuscripts themselves focuses on a wider, holistic view; a narrow approach could not provide a proper prospective. What is most essential to know about this work is that because of its successive incarnations it has survived and been reinterpreted through the centuries, which speaks to its importance in all of these disciplines. This book brings a better understanding of the history, changes and transmission of the original astronomical Phaenomena poem. Historians, art historians, astronomy lovers, and historians of astronomy will learn more specialized details concerning the Aratea and how the tradition survived from the Middle Ages. It is a credit to the poetry of Aratus and the later interpreters of the text that its pagan aspects were not edited nor removed, but respected and maintained in the exact same form despite the fact that all sixty Aratea manuscripts mentioned in this study were produced under the rule of Christianity.

Contents:

Chapter 1: Background and Objectives

Chapter 2: Possible Classical Models for Aratea Illustrations

Chapter 3: Astronomical Knowledge Transmission Through Illustrated Aratea Manuscript

Chapter 4: The Transmission of Astronomy and Astrology in the Medieval Islamic World

Chapter 5: Introduction of Arabic Astronomy and Illustrative Traditions to the Latin West

Chapter 6: Astronomical Symbolism in the Carolingian Period

Chapter 7: Ninth-Century Aratea Manuscripts

Chapter 8: Analysis and Conclusions

Appendices

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references at the end of each chapters and index.

ISBN:

3-319-56784-5