Geography (Geographicae Enarrationis Libri Octo)

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TO THE MOST AMPLIFIED PRINCE AND MOST REVEREND LORD SEBASTIAN, BISHOP OF BRIXEN, BILIBALDUS PIRCKEYMHERUS SENDS GREETINGS.

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If any before us, most amplified Prince, had applied their hands to Ptolemy’s Geography in such a way as to fulfill the duty undertaken, so that nothing could seem omitted which was necessary for explaining the mind of such a famous writer, then this effort of mine would be entirely superfluous, as it would aim at nothing other than doing again what had already been done. But since it is more manifest than can be denied that, from earlier translations, hardly a shadow of Ptolemaic grace and erudition has reached Latin ears, I judged that it would be a worthwhile task if I too made the attempt to see if perhaps the undertaking might succeed more happily for me than for the previous interpreters. For although, as far as I know, there have been two who dared to translate this book—Jacobus of Florence and our countryman Johannes Berenherus—the Italian, although he might seem to have possessed some small knowledge of Greek, was so ignorant of the mathematical disciplines that he often did not understand himself. The German, meanwhile, although he excelled greatly in mathematics, sometimes hallucinated so much in Greek that he cast darkness upon matters rather than bringing any light.

I, however, although I cannot or should not boast much of my own erudition—neither in Greek nor in Mathematics—fear no good and learned man’s judgment on this translation of mine. For I dare affirm, with truth as my witness, that it is both clearer than the former ones and approaches the mind of Ptolemy more closely. In this matter, a single witness will suffice for me: Johannes Regiomontanus, easily the prince of all mathematicians of our age. I so little dissimulate that I followed his authority in most matters that I even wished to add the fragments of his annotations, which were in no one’s possession except my own, to these labors of mine. Any learned person might rather wonder why he noted so few things instead of many more, which only those will understand who intend to compare ours with the Greek or other editions. Indeed, if any unlearned or envious person dares to bark at this labor of mine, let him know that I have been worn down by so many years of both public and private business that I have learned not only not to fear the curses and slanders of the wicked but to despise them magnanimously.

At least in this business (I hope) I will avoid the sycophancy of being summoned to Rome to speak for the cause of faith and the Gospel, as happened to me before, by men who are deservedly to be praised if they were as capable of restraining this immense fire they kindled throughout Germany as they were once strenuous in inciting it. Nor does it matter to me if to some I seem to have acted in matters more trivial than my reputation or legal science might admit; I already hear some whispering this. But I know this was objected to me long ago when I was also treating sacred letters, and indeed it has been objected to far more famous men; for whom would envy spare? But since I neither desire to hunt for glory (of which I have had my fill) nor seek riches (which divine kindness has otherwise granted me in abundance), no study will be vile to me, provided it is honest. Let those sweet men, therefore, allow me to indulge my own ways and enjoy my own delights, which are not entirely to be spurned, just as I do not envy their multifarious pleasures. Perhaps my fate has decreed that, while others indulge in their own distractions, I, meanwhile, as if entirely on holiday from business, torture myself in the literary mill, not without the loss of good health, the scolding of friends, and finally the laughter and mockery of the common people. From this mockery, even the petulance of my soldiers did not abstain in the past, when they sometimes saw me holding books in my hands in the camp and applying myself to reading amidst the fury of war. For Germans are persuaded that reading effeminizes a manly spirit, and that no one can be simultaneously strong in the hand and famous for erudition. But let everyone laugh as they please, and mock my contempt for both ambition and gain, provided I am allowed to treat honest studies that no good man can blame; indeed, that my rivals may mock me even more, they should know that nothing delights me as much as sacred letters and mathematics.