PROLEGOMENA.

Chapter I.

Concerning the Manuscripts of the Conics.

The manuscripts of the Conics known to me are these:

1. Vatican Codex Gr. 206, about which see Vol. I, p. IV.
2. Vatican Codex Gr. 203, parchment original: "bombyc." - referring to cotton paper or silk-based paper, 13th century (cf. Vol. I, p. V); it contains folios 1—44 of Theodosius’ Sphaerics, On Habitations, On Days and Nights, Autolycus’ On the Moving Sphere, On Risings and Settings, Hypsicles’ Anaphoricus, Aristarchus’ On Distances; folios 44—55 Eutocius’ commentary on the Conics, all written with a careless and rapid hand; then, in an elegant and accurate hand, folios 56—84 of Apollonius’ Conics I—IV, folios 84—90 of Serenus’ On the Section of the Cylinder, folios 90—98 of Serenus’ On the Section of the Cone; the last three lines of this work are written in the same hand as the earlier part of the codex.
3. Vatican Codex 205, paper, 16th century, very elegantly written and magnificently decorated; it contains pp. 1—75 of Apollonius’ Conics I—II (p. 76 is blank), pp. 77—141 books III—IV (p. 142 is blank), pp. 143—168 (numbered 1—26 by an older hand) of Serenus’ On the Section of the Cylinder, pp. 169—207 (27—65) of Serenus’ On the Section of the Cone; on p. 207 (65) it is read: "I, Ioannes Honorius, born in the town of Mallia in the Diocese of Otranto original: "Hydruntinae Dioecesis", a restorer of Greek books, was transcribing this work for the use of this Palatine Library in the year of the Lord 1536, under Pope Paul III."
4. Vatican Codex Gr. 1575, paper, 16th century, written by the hand of the same Ioannes of Otranto; it contains folios 1—131 of Apollonius’ Conics I—IV, then after a blank leaf, a new series of pages, folios 1—51, containing Eutocius’ commentary.
5. Constantinople Codex, see Vol. I, p. V; it contains folios 1—55^r Theon’s commentary on Ptolemy, fol. 55^u—180 Pappus’ commentary on Ptolemy, books V—VI, fol. 181—258 Proclus’ Hypotyposes, fol. 259—281 John of Alexandria’s On the Astrolabe, fol. 283—347 Geminus’ Introduction, fol. 349—516 Apollonius’ Conics I—IV, fol. 517—549