Joseph ben Solomon Ṭaiṭaṣaq on the Construction of an Astrolabe: Study, Diplomatic Edition, and Annotated Translation

Abstract

This article presents the Hebrew edition and English translation of a treatise on the construction of an astrolabe composed by Joseph ben Solomon Ṭaiṭaṣaq in the last quarter of the fifteenth century, extant in a single manuscript never previously studied. This article ties the astrolabe described by Ṭaiṭaṣaq to a specific tradition of astrolabe construction, which is reflected in two components of the rete and is also witnessed in the Middle Ages in a single Latin/Catalan astrolabe preserved at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Ṭaiṭaṣaq's instrument and the Catalan astrolabe share two remarkable and unique characteristics which may suggest a common literary source for their construction, a common astrolabe workshop, or a common craftsman tradition.