Nativitatibus De Navitatibus. Henricus Bate: Magistralis compositio astrolabii

AUCTION 9 | Tuesday, March 28th, 2000 at 1:00

Fine Judaica: Books, Manuscripts and Works of Art

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Lot 241

IBN EZRA, ABARAHAM.

Nativitatibus De Navitatibus. Henricus Bate: Magistralis compositio astrolabii

FIRST EDITION. Woodcut initials and 16 diagrams. Gothic letter, 38 lines ff.30. Trace stained, upper corner of f.29 repaired alonf with 3 tiny worm-holes, outer third of final text page laid down. Later mottled sheep, a.e.g. 4to Goff A-7; BMC V, 291; H. Friedenwald, Jewish Luminaries in Medical History-Catalogue (1946) p.85

Venice: Erhard Ratdolt 1485

Est: $10,000 - $12,000

PRICE REALIZED $19,000

As a Biblical exegete, ibn Ezra’s commentaries contributed to the celebrated Golden Age of Spanish Judaism. As a Neoplatonic philosopher and astronomer he was one of the leaders of the movement which caused the Jews of Provence, Spain and Italy to become the transmitters of Moslem Science to the Christian West. This work of astronomy was known to have been owned by Christopher Colombus. See R. Levi, Johns Hopkins Studies in Romance Literature and Languages, vol. VIII: The Astrological Works of Abraham ibn Ezra (1927); A. Freimann, Incunables about Jews and Judaism in: Essays Presented to J.A. Hertz (c.1940) p.162. And see also A. Marx, The Scientific Work of Some Outstanding Mediaeval Jewish Scholars, in: Essays and Studies in Memory of L.R. Miller (1938) p.140 “The versatility of ibn Ezra...in all branches of mathematics is astonishing.”