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''The equatorie of the planetis'' is a scientific work, discovered in 1952 by Derek J. Price, which has sometimes been ascribed to [[Geoffrey Chaucer]] because of its language and handwriting. It is written in English and contains astronomical tables; its ultimate source is Arabic. Price published an abstract in 1953,<ref name=price1>{{cite journal |title=The Equatorie of the Planetis (Abstract |first=Derek J. |last=Price |journal=[[Bulletin of the British Society for the History of Science]] |volume=1 |issue=9 |year=1953 |pages=223-26 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4024774}}</ref> and the whole text (facsimile, transcription, and studies of the manuscript) in 1955.<ref name=blake/> Price maintained the possibility that Chaucer authored the ''Equatorie'', possibly as the missing part of his ''[[Treatise on the Astrolabe]]'', which describes the form and use of the [[Astrolabe]] in detail, and is sometimes cited as the first example of technical writing in the English language. The ''Equatorie'' seems to make direct reference to it.<ref name=price1/>
'''''The equatorie of the planetis''''' is a scientific work, discovered in 1952 by Derek J. Price, which has sometimes been ascribed to [[Geoffrey Chaucer]] because of its language and handwriting. It is written in English and contains astronomical tables; its ultimate source is Arabic. Price published an abstract in 1953,<ref name=price1>{{cite journal |title=The Equatorie of the Planetis (Abstract |first=Derek J. |last=Price |journal=[[Bulletin of the British Society for the History of Science]] |volume=1 |issue=9 |year=1953 |pages=223-26 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4024774}}</ref> and the whole text (facsimile, transcription, and studies of the manuscript) in 1955.<ref name=blake/> Price maintained the possibility that Chaucer authored the ''Equatorie'', possibly as the missing part of his ''[[Treatise on the Astrolabe]]'', which describes the form and use of the [[Astrolabe]] in detail, and is sometimes cited as the first example of technical writing in the English language. The ''Equatorie'' seems to make direct reference to it.<ref name=price1/>


Since then, other articles, including a widely-reviewed monograph by Kari Anne Rand Schmidt, published in 1993, claim that the evidence for Chaucer's authorship is very weak, and that the case is not proven.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Reviewed Work(s): The Authorship of ''The Equatorie of the Planetis'' by Kari Anne Rand Schmidt |first=Jeremy J. |last=Smith |journal=[[The Modern Language Review]] |volume=90 |issue=2 |year=1995 |pages=405-406 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3734556}}</ref><ref name=blake>{{cite journal |title=Reviewed Work(s): The Authorship of ''The Equatorie of the Planetis'' by Kari Anne RandSchmidt |first=N. F. |last=Blake |journal=[[The Review of English Studies]] |volume=47 |issue=186 |year=1996 |pages=233-34 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/518116}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Reviewed Work(s): The Authorship of the ''Equatorie of the Planetis'' by Kari Anne Rand Schmidt |first=Linne R. |last=Mooney |journal=[[Speculum (journal)|Speculum]] |volume=71 |issue=1 |year=1996 |pages=197-98 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2865248}}</ref>
Since then, other articles, including a widely-reviewed monograph by Kari Anne Rand Schmidt, published in 1993, claim that the evidence for Chaucer's authorship is very weak, and that the case is not proven.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Reviewed Work(s): The Authorship of ''The Equatorie of the Planetis'' by Kari Anne Rand Schmidt |first=Jeremy J. |last=Smith |journal=[[The Modern Language Review]] |volume=90 |issue=2 |year=1995 |pages=405-406 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3734556}}</ref><ref name=blake>{{cite journal |title=Reviewed Work(s): The Authorship of ''The Equatorie of the Planetis'' by Kari Anne RandSchmidt |first=N. F. |last=Blake |journal=[[The Review of English Studies]] |volume=47 |issue=186 |year=1996 |pages=233-34 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/518116}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Reviewed Work(s): The Authorship of the ''Equatorie of the Planetis'' by Kari Anne Rand Schmidt |first=Linne R. |last=Mooney |journal=[[Speculum (journal)|Speculum]] |volume=71 |issue=1 |year=1996 |pages=197-98 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2865248}}</ref>
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Derek J. Price found the text in 1952 when he investigated a manuscript from the library of [[Peterhouse, Cambridge]], MS 75.I. The manuscript featured 78 leaves of astronomical tables and text in English; the library's catalog assigned it to [[Simon Bredon]], the astronomer of [[Merton College]]. Throughout the text and in many of the tables the year 1392 occurs, and the MS must be written around this year. How it came to Peterhouse isn't known, but it probably happened during the 15th century; around 1540 it is entered in Peterhouse catalog, as ''Tab. aequ. planetarum autore Simon Bredon''.<ref name=price1/> The ''Equatorie'' occupies eight pages in the MS; the phrase ''Radix chaucer'' appears on fol. 5v.<ref name=blake/>
Derek J. Price found the text in 1952 when he investigated a manuscript from the library of [[Peterhouse, Cambridge]], MS 75.I. The manuscript featured 78 leaves of astronomical tables and text in English; the library's catalog assigned it to [[Simon Bredon]], the astronomer of [[Merton College]]. Throughout the text and in many of the tables the year 1392 occurs, and the MS must be written around this year. How it came to Peterhouse isn't known, but it probably happened during the 15th century; around 1540 it is entered in Peterhouse catalog, as ''Tab. aequ. planetarum autore Simon Bredon''.<ref name=price1/> The ''Equatorie'' occupies eight pages in the MS; the phrase ''Radix chaucer'' appears on fol. 5v.<ref name=blake/>


That the MS is a [[holograph]] is confirmed, according to Price, by heavy corrections and interlineations (in the original hand) that appear to be alterations of style rather than copy edits--as if the original author were polishing their work. Price's linguistic analysis also suggests that the MS has no evidence of any other scribe or author having worked on it. If it is a holograph, then Bredon, who died in 1372, cannot have been its author. It is possible that the text is a translation of a now-lost Latin original, but either way, the text is based on an Arabic original.<ref name=price1/>
That the manuscript is a [[holograph]] is confirmed, according to Price, by heavy corrections and interlineations (in the original hand) that appear to be alterations of style rather than copy edits—as if the original author were polishing their work. Price's linguistic analysis also suggests that the MS has no evidence of any other scribe or author having worked on it. If it is a holograph, then Bredon, who died in 1372, cannot have been its author. It is possible that the text is a translation of a now-lost Latin original, but either way, the text is based on an Arabic original.<ref name=price1/>


==Chaucer's authorship==
==Chaucer's authorship==
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[[File:Äquatorium 01.jpg|thumb|right|Equatorium indicating the orbit of Saturn, 1551.]]
[[File:Äquatorium 01.jpg|thumb|right|Equatorium indicating the orbit of Saturn, 1551.]]
{{main|Equatorium}}
{{main|Equatorium}}
The text describes the construction of an [[equatorium]], an instrument similar to the [[astrolabe]]--but where an astrolabe calculates the positions of the stars, an equatorium does that for the planets, according to the [[Geocentric model]] of [[Ptolemy]]. The instrument is constructed from two discs, six feet in diameter. One of them is solid, and is marked with characteristics of the orbits of the various planets: their [[apogee]], their [[equant]]s, and other centers. The other disc consists of "a ring, a diametral bar, and a rule pivoted at the centre of the bar". The two discs are joined and simulate the motions of each of the planets. A divided circle around the rims of the two discs allow for the transferal of information from sets of tables (the [[Alfonsine tables]], from a Parisian document) that contain the data for each planet.<ref name=price1/>
The text describes the construction of an [[equatorium]], an instrument similar to the [[astrolabe]]—but where an astrolabe calculates the positions of the stars, an equatorium does that for the planets, according to the [[Geocentric model]] of [[Ptolemy]]. The instrument is constructed from two discs, six feet in diameter. One of them is solid, and is marked with characteristics of the orbits of the various planets: their [[apogee]], their [[equant]]s, and other centers. The other disc consists of "a ring, a diametral bar, and a rule pivoted at the centre of the bar". The two discs are joined and simulate the motions of each of the planets. A divided circle around the rims of the two discs allow for the transferal of information from sets of tables (the [[Alfonsine tables]], from a Parisian document) that contain the data for each planet.<ref name=price1/>


===Cipher===
===Cipher===
A [[cipher]] is used for some comments on the tables, and Price gave the key. He could not, however, discern what the rationale of or the ordering behind the key was--whether it was perhaps based on some medieval version of the Greek alphabet, or whether there was "some key-phrase or sentence such as a name or family motto" behind it.<ref name=price1/>
A [[cipher]] is used for some comments on the tables, and Price gave the key. He could not, however, discern what the rationale of or the ordering behind the key was—whether it was perhaps based on some medieval version of the Greek alphabet, or whether there was "some key-phrase or sentence such as a name or family motto" behind it.<ref name=price1/>


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 20:38, 8 December 2019

The equatorie of the planetis is a scientific work, discovered in 1952 by Derek J. Price, which has sometimes been ascribed to Geoffrey Chaucer because of its language and handwriting. It is written in English and contains astronomical tables; its ultimate source is Arabic. Price published an abstract in 1953,[1] and the whole text (facsimile, transcription, and studies of the manuscript) in 1955.[2] Price maintained the possibility that Chaucer authored the Equatorie, possibly as the missing part of his Treatise on the Astrolabe, which describes the form and use of the Astrolabe in detail, and is sometimes cited as the first example of technical writing in the English language. The Equatorie seems to make direct reference to it.[1]

Since then, other articles, including a widely-reviewed monograph by Kari Anne Rand Schmidt, published in 1993, claim that the evidence for Chaucer's authorship is very weak, and that the case is not proven.[3][2][4]

Discovery and description

Derek J. Price found the text in 1952 when he investigated a manuscript from the library of Peterhouse, Cambridge, MS 75.I. The manuscript featured 78 leaves of astronomical tables and text in English; the library's catalog assigned it to Simon Bredon, the astronomer of Merton College. Throughout the text and in many of the tables the year 1392 occurs, and the MS must be written around this year. How it came to Peterhouse isn't known, but it probably happened during the 15th century; around 1540 it is entered in Peterhouse catalog, as Tab. aequ. planetarum autore Simon Bredon.[1] The Equatorie occupies eight pages in the MS; the phrase Radix chaucer appears on fol. 5v.[2]

That the manuscript is a holograph is confirmed, according to Price, by heavy corrections and interlineations (in the original hand) that appear to be alterations of style rather than copy edits—as if the original author were polishing their work. Price's linguistic analysis also suggests that the MS has no evidence of any other scribe or author having worked on it. If it is a holograph, then Bredon, who died in 1372, cannot have been its author. It is possible that the text is a translation of a now-lost Latin original, but either way, the text is based on an Arabic original.[1]

Chaucer's authorship

Price offered five points as indicators of Chaucerian authorship:

  1. Style and scientific treatment of the material are similar to A Treatise on the Astrolabe;
  2. The text mentions that the year 1392 is the "Radix" (or "root") of Chaucer;
  3. The main hand (including that of the "Radix" note) resembles a document likely written in Chaucer's hand;
  4. Linguistic similarities between the Equatorie and Chaucer's work, including "verbal echoes of the Astrolabe;
  5. The author is influenced by Merton's school of astronomy but lives in London, and the writing is that of an amateur, not a professional astronomer; in addition, the writer is familiar with "the diplomatic cipher methods of his time"--all elements that correspond with Chaucer's biography.[1]

Following the publication of the facsimile and transcription, G. Herdan published an article in which he concluded, based upon the percentage of words in the Equatorie of "Romance vocabulary" (which includes words from Old French, Anglo-Norman French, and Latin), that Chaucer was indeed the author: "The agreement between observation and expectation, or between fact and theory, is so striking that without going further into the question of statistical significance we may conclude that by the token of Romance vocabulary the Equatorie is to be regarded as a work by Chaucer".[5]

Content

Equatorium indicating the orbit of Saturn, 1551.
Main article: Equatorium

The text describes the construction of an equatorium, an instrument similar to the astrolabe—but where an astrolabe calculates the positions of the stars, an equatorium does that for the planets, according to the Geocentric model of Ptolemy. The instrument is constructed from two discs, six feet in diameter. One of them is solid, and is marked with characteristics of the orbits of the various planets: their apogee, their equants, and other centers. The other disc consists of "a ring, a diametral bar, and a rule pivoted at the centre of the bar". The two discs are joined and simulate the motions of each of the planets. A divided circle around the rims of the two discs allow for the transferal of information from sets of tables (the Alfonsine tables, from a Parisian document) that contain the data for each planet.[1]

Cipher

A cipher is used for some comments on the tables, and Price gave the key. He could not, however, discern what the rationale of or the ordering behind the key was—whether it was perhaps based on some medieval version of the Greek alphabet, or whether there was "some key-phrase or sentence such as a name or family motto" behind it.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Price, Derek J. (1953). "The Equatorie of the Planetis (Abstract". Bulletin of the British Society for the History of Science. 1 (9): 223–26.
  2. ^ a b c Blake, N. F. (1996). "Reviewed Work(s): The Authorship of The Equatorie of the Planetis by Kari Anne RandSchmidt". The Review of English Studies. 47 (186): 233–34.
  3. ^ Smith, Jeremy J. (1995). "Reviewed Work(s): The Authorship of The Equatorie of the Planetis by Kari Anne Rand Schmidt". The Modern Language Review. 90 (2): 405–406.
  4. ^ Mooney, Linne R. (1996). "Reviewed Work(s): The Authorship of the Equatorie of the Planetis by Kari Anne Rand Schmidt". Speculum. 71 (1): 197–98.
  5. ^ Herdan, G. (1956). "Chaucer's Authorship of the Equatorie of the Planetis: The Use of Romance Vocabulary as Evidence". Language. 32 (2): 254–59.
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