SACROBOSCO (Johannes) [HOLLYWOOD (John, of Halifax)]. SPHAERA Iohannis de Sacrobosco. Antuerpiae. 1547.

SACROBOSCO (Johannes) [HOLLYWOOD (John, of Halifax)]. SPHAERA Iohannis de Sacrobosco. Antuerpiae. 1547.
SACROBOSCO (Johannes) [HOLLYWOOD (John, of Halifax)]
SPHAERA Iohannis de Sacrobosco. Antuerpiae: apud Iohannem Richardum, 1547.

A-E8; [40] ff., a última em br.: il.; 155 mm.

Curious and beautiful small format edition of Sacrobosco's famous treatise on the sphere. John Hollywood, from Halifax (fal. 1st half of the 13th century), English mathematician and cosmographer, normally known by his Latinized name Johannes de Sacrobosco, wrote several works that have come down to us. We know little about his life, except that he was born, probably in Halifax, Yorkshire, studied at Oxford and spent much of his life in Paris where he taught and died. He wrote "De Anni ratione", a treatise on the calendar, and "Algorismus vulgaris", a methodical and practical book on very popular arithmetic, in addition to two books on the quadrant attributed to him. However, the best known of his works is this treatise on the sphere, which first appeared in Ferrara, 1472 with the title "Tractatus Spherae Magistri Iohannes de Sacrobosco", generally known as "De Sphaera". It is based on Ptolemy's "Almagest", on Alfragano and other sources. Sacrobosco wrote this work as a school book for initiation into cosmography, greatly influencing the teaching of that discipline until the 20th century. XVII. "De Shpaera" was translated and included in the "Regiments" of Munich and Évora and in the "Treaty of Sphera" by Pedro Nunes, as a general introduction to the study of cosmography, also influencing other authors who dealt with cosmographic subjects such as Duarte Pacheco Pereira , D. João de Castro, André de Avelar, etc. A 15th century manuscript copy found in the bookstore of the Alcobaça Monastery suggests that the work was known and taught long before it was printed for the first time, extraordinarily influencing the first Portuguese navigators.