The \textit{Liber restauracionis}: a newly discovered copy of a mediæval algebra in Florence

DOI10.1016/J.HM.2018.07.001MaRDI QIDQ2631819zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors Marc Moyon

Publication date 16 May 2019

Published in Historia Mathematica (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hm.2018.07.001

zbMATH Keywords

\textit{Liber restauracionis}algebraalgebraic symbolismcritical editionmanuscriptmedieval studiestranslation

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

History of mathematics in the Golden Age of Islam (01A30) History of mathematics in Late Antiquity and medieval Europe (01A35) Collected or selected works; reprintings or translations of classics (01A75)

Review text

This is a contribution to ``the appropriation of the sciences of Islamic countries by European scholars. It presents a new critical edition of the Latin text of the (according to Jens Høyrup) anonymous \textit{Liber restauracionis} (Book of restoration). The first critical edition is due to \textit{W. Kaunzner} [Arch. Hist. Exact Sci. 32, 1--16 (1985; Zbl 0572.01006); ``Die lateinische Algebra in MS Lyell 52 der Bodleian Library, Oxford, früher MS Admont 612, in: Aufsätze zur Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften und Geographie. Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. 47--89 (1986)]. The matter has been treated in the author's work [Rev. Hist. Math. 23, No. 2, 233--299 (2017; Zbl 1406.01008)] as well, where a French translation of the text can found. The main novelty vis-à-vis Kaunzner consists in the recent discovery of a new manuscript. There are now three manuscripts of the \textit{Liber restauracionis}: in the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, in the University of Oxford, Bodleian Library, and in the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale of Florence. Taking into account this last manuscript produces a more extensive critical apparatus than that presented by Kaunzner. The hypothesis is put forward ``that this text is an original Latin adaptation, rather than a possible Arabic-Latin translation of a version/adaptation of al-Khwārizmī's \textit{Algebra}.

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Cited in

(4)

• The geometry of the \textit{Liber ysagogarum alchorismi}
• Restoration and comparison, or the art of solving quadratic equations in Latin Europe
• The legacy of al-Khwārazmī in history of algebra
• Jacopo da Firenze's \textit{Tractatus algorismi} and early Italian abbacus culture

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