Abstract
With Computational Astronomy in the Middle Ages José Chabás has created a handbook and valuable reference work of medieval astronomical sets of tables in Latin. More than 350 manuscripts were evaluated, in addition to the already edited sets. The sets of tables thus cataloged are listed in chronological order and assigned to the following chapters: Before Al-Andalus, From East to West, The Making of Alfonsine Tables, and From about 1350 to 1500. This clear structure makes it possible to study in more detail the epochs of development of computational astronomy in the European Middle Ages. However, I see an even greater benefit in using the book as a reference tool to identify astronomical tables witnessed in manuscripts.
For each set of tables, the state of research and a short characterization is given. Especially valuable is the detailed and reliable listing of the individual tables. In particular, the indications of characteristic numerical values allow a quick orientation when it comes to assigning a hitherto unknown table. In addition, selected manuscript illustrations (48 in total, mostly in color) give an impression of the mise-en-page of the plates, which can also be an aid in assignment. Often, even after the listing of the individual panels there is a summary section in which the further reception of the set is discussed or its underlying sources are presented. A useful bibliography of the transmitted manuscripts and secondary literature concludes the subchapters on each of the table sets discussed.
The special achievement of this approach lies not only in the clear structuring and the handbook-like compilation of all previous research, but especially in its expansion through the evaluation of the manuscripts. The in-depth examination of the manuscripts and prints justifiably revises decisions of the present editions (see, e.g., p. 257), so that it will be essential for future researchers to consult Chabás’s volume in addition to the manuscripts.
The handbook also includes preparatory remarks that may spur further research. In the chapter on John of Lignères, for example, 11 different manuscripts with related tables are presented (pp. 193–196), whose exact relation to each other still needs further examination.
In a sense, the book offers a chronological catalog of the development of the sets of tables, a history of progress in Latin astronomy. What the presented material does not allow, however, is a reconstruction of the reception of the individual sets. While it is clear for each set what tradition it is in, or how it has influenced the tradition, one cannot trace how long sets were used or where they continued to be copied. This would have been possible if the dating and provenance of considered manuscripts had been given. However, this information, which might be quite relevant for further research questions, would need to be assembled.
The volume is written in a fluid, readable style. Complex content is presented in an understandable way. In particular, clarifying summaries, such as the discussion of the relationships between the Castilian and Parisian Alfonsine tables and the Alfonsine corpus (see pp. 238–239), are very illuminating and go far beyond a mere compilation of individual sets of tables. Technical definitions are interspersed only occasionally and rather unsystematically (e.g. the explanation of sidereal and tropical coordinates is given on p. 78 but the first use of the term can be found on p. 22). Since the book is aimed at a highly specialized audience and is primarily intended for use as a reference work, this approach is unproblematic; an explanatory glossary would probably have overloaded the book. The accompanying useful glossaries include lists of manuscripts, printed editions, incipits, and parameters and a combined index of persons and things. The latter allows for quick orientation, but it would have been desirable to highlight the most important references in bold, especially with the high-frequency keywords. But this wish is a marginal point and does not question the undisputed high value of this book, which is extremely useful for further research in the Latin manuscripts of late medieval Europe.