Ars Astronomica – English translations of rare Hebrew and Latin astronomy texts

A scholarly imprint producing first English translations of historical Hebrew and Latin works in astronomy, cosmology, and natural philosophy.

These texts span centuries, and most have never appeared in English. One – Gersonides’ 136-chapter mathematical astronomy – was never printed and survives only in manuscript. They cite and answer one another, addressing the same cosmological questions, yet until now no one could read them side by side in a single language.

| Date | Author | Work | Source | Description | Translator Version | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | 1665 | Athanasius Kircher | Mundus Subterraneusfootnotes | Internet Archive — athanasiikircher12kirc | A vast attempt to explain the whole hidden world beneath our feet. | 2 | | c. 1613 | David Gans | Nechmad ve-Na’imfootnotes | National Library of Israel — Rosetta IE32709375, shelfmark 35 V 1770 (catalog NNL_ALEPH990011964030205171). | A Hebrew textbook of astronomy that presents the Ptolemaic model of the heavens for a Hebrew-reading audience, weaving the cutting-edge European science of its day together with the medieval Jewish cosmological tradition — its author having personally visited the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe. | 2 | | 1592 | David Gans | Tzemach Davidfootnotes | National Library of Israel — Rosetta IE90688593 | A Hebrew historical chronicle in two parts by David Gans: the first traces Jewish history from creation to the sixteenth century; the second surveys world history. | 2 | | 1665 | Giovanni Battista Riccioli | Astronomia Reformatafootnotes | e-rara ETH-Bibliothek Zürich — title-info 141744 | A mature reckoning with the heavens as the telescope was revealing them — a sequel to the vast Almagestum Novum (1651). | 2 | | c. 1123 | Jacob ben Samson (attrib.) | Perush Sod ha-Ibburfootnotes | OPenn UPenn-hosted digitization — British Library Add MS 11639 | An early Ashkenazi commentary on the secret of the calendar — the computation of the Hebrew calendar. | 2 | | 1629 | Joseph Solomon Delmedigo | Sefer Elimfootnotes | Internet Archive — seferelim00delmuoft | A wide-ranging Hebrew scientific compendium, framed as a reply to questions put by the Karaite scholar Zerah ben Nathan. | 2 | | 1640 | Longomontanus | Astronomia Danicafootnotes | Internet Archive — astronomiadanica00long | A comprehensive textbook of astronomy and the definitive technical account of the Tychonic system. | 2 | | 1654 | Pierre Gassendi | Tychonis Brahei Vitafootnotes | Internet Archive — den-kbd-pil-130018157889-001 | A life of the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546–1601). | 2 | | c. 1136 | R. Avraham bar Ḥiyya ha-Nasi | Cheshbon Mahalechot ha-Kochavimfootnotes | HebrewBooks.org — ID 22072 | A medieval Hebrew treatise on mathematical astronomy and the computation of the Jewish calendar. | 2 | | c. 1122 | R. Avraham bar Ḥiyya ha-Nasi | Sefer HaIbburfootnotes | HebrewBooks.org — ID 21292 | The earliest systematic Hebrew treatise on the science of the calendar. | 2 | | c. 1132 | R. Avraham bar Ḥiyya ha-Nasi | Sefer Tsurat ha-Aretsfootnotes | NYPL Digital Collections Dorot Jewish Division | A foundational work of medieval cosmology that lays out the shape of the cosmos. | 2 | | c. 1148 | R. Avraham ibn Ezra | Keli ha-Nechoshetfootnotes | HebrewBooks.org — ID 20850 | The earliest surviving Hebrew treatise on the astrolabe. | 2 | | c. 1500 | R. Eliyahu Mizrahi | Kitsur ha-Melakhat ha-Misparfootnotes | NYPL Digital Collections Dorot Jewish Division | A Hebrew arithmetic textbook by Rabbi Eliyahu Mizrahi. | 2 | | c. 1365 | R. Immanuel Bonfils | Shesh Kenafayimfootnotes | University of Pennsylvania — Kislak Center | One of the most widely copied Hebrew astronomical handbooks of the late Middle Ages. | 2 | | late 14th c. | R. Isaac ibn al-Aḥdab | Keli Ḥemdafootnotes | Gallica / BnF — Hébreu 1031 | Description of the construction and use of an equatorium. | 2 | | c. 1396 | R. Isaac ibn al-Aḥdab | Orah Selulahfootnotes | Gallica / BnF — Hébreu 1086 | A set of astronomical tables for computing the true conjunctions and oppositions of the Sun and Moon. | 2 | | c. 1288 | R. Jacob ben Machir ibn Tibbon | Roba’ Yisraelfootnotes | Gallica / BnF — Hébreu 1031 | Treatise on the improved astronomical quadrant of his own invention. | 2 | | c. 1329 | R. Levi ben Gershom | Milchamot HaShemfootnotes | Internet Archive — sefermilamothash00leviuoft | The Wars of the Lord is the philosophical and theological masterwork of Levi ben Gershom. | 2 | | c. 1328 | R. Levi ben Gershom | Sefer HaTechunahfootnotes | Gallica / BnF — MS Hébreu 724 | A complete medieval system of mathematical astronomy. | 2 | | 15th c. | R. Mordecai Comtino | Sefer ha-Ḥeshbon ve-ha-Middotfootnotes | Gallica / BnF — Hébreu 1031 | An instructional treatise on arithmetic and practical geometry. | 2 | | 1797 | R. Pinchas Eliyahu Hurwitz | Sefer HaBrit HaShalemfootnotes | HebrewBooks.org — ID 43670 | A sweeping Hebrew encyclopedia of science and mysticism. | 2 | | c. 1310 | R. Yitzchak Yisraeli | Yesod Olamfootnotes | Digital Bodleian — MS. Huntington 299 | One of the great medieval Hebrew treatises on astronomy. | 2 | | 1602 | Tycho Brahe | Astronomiae Instauratae Mechanicafootnotes | Internet Archive — gri_tychonisbrah00brah | A sumptuously illustrated catalog of the most accurate astronomical instruments built before the telescope. | 2 |