Nativitatibus De Navitatibus. Henricus Bate: Magistralis compositio astrolabii

IBN EZRA, ABRAHAM.

Erhard Ratdolt

Venice

1485

FIRST EDITION. Woodcut initials and 16 diagrams. Gothic letter

Goff A-7; BMC V, 291; H. Friedenwald, Jewish Luminaries in Medical History-Catalogue (1946) p.85

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 important work of astronomy is known to have been consulted 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.”