Library shelfmark: 8 QB 16 R33 1496 SCDIRB

The Epitome of the Astronomicon by Georg von Peuerbach and his disciple Johannes de Regio Monte Commonly known as Regiomontanus., based on the Great Construction original: "ἰὸ μέγα λιν σύνταξιν" (to megalin syntaxin). This is a Greek title for the work better known by its Arabic-derived name, the Almagest. of Claudius Ptolemy of Alexandria, the prince of astronomers.

To the most Reverend Father in Christ and Lord, Lord Bessarion: Bishop of Tusculum, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, Patriarch of Constantinople: Johannes the German of the Royal Mountain original: "Johannes germanus de Regio monte." This is the Latinized form of the author's name, Johannes Müller von Königsberg. offers himself most devotedly.

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Often I wonder—or rather, I bear it with grief and indignation—why in our age teachers of the best disciplines are so rare, and students even rarer. It seems clear enough that this happens more because of the corrupted nature of men who, being prone to vice, hold virtue and the liberal arts as nothing, than because the difficulty of the subjects themselves scares them away. Indeed, our ancestors were never deterred by any difficulty, whether in handing down what had already been discovered or in finding new things; for they always worked with great zeal so that they might leave posterity rich, not so much in gold and wealth, but in virtue and the good arts.

For ambition and other desires had not yet begun to infect and weaken the minds of men. Virtue alone was prized; each person was satisfied with his own; no one sought external honors. But when the desire for possession gradually crept into the minds of mortals, it was inevitable that the good arts should flow away and virtues should cease. Hence, nothing was believed sweet except gold; disciplines were held in disgrace. And finally, we have arrived at such misery that not only do we not devote effort to promoting new arts, but rather, so that we may err with more impunity, we pass over things once discovered and handed down through sloth and laziness, or even as if in a sleep. This, therefore, is the reason why few in our age are learned, why there are few students, and why the studies of the good arts lie neglected, and as if buried, cannot emerge or be revived.

Meanwhile, it can happen that people are terrified by the difficulty of the thing to be learned, yet there should be some room for excuse. For the entrances to some disciplines are beyond measure difficult and steep, such as that discipline which promises mastery of the stars Astronomy., both because of the greatness and excellence of the subjects it treats, and because of the harshness of the books which—having been translated into Latin from foreign languages This refers to the "Old Almagest," which was often translated from Greek to Arabic and then into clunky Latin, making it very hard to read.—carry a level of difficulty that is incredible to state; for very few editions published in Latin even exist. To be sure, this outstanding and remarkable discipline has an excellent subject matter that is very difficult to know: namely, the celestial body. If you direct your sight into it as if into a mirror, you will behold a certain immense and truly admirable power of the Creator. The Maker of things commanded the chorus of stars to be watched when he gave mortals sublime faces A reference to the Roman poet Ovid, who wrote that while animals look down at the ground, God gave humans an "upright face" to look at the heavens.; he surely judged it worthy that man, whom he had placed over all creatures, should sit in the middle of them, so that while treading with his foot he might seem to command earthly things, but with a sublime and erect forehead...