Complete Works of Diophantus of Alexandria, Vol. 1

That very famous epigram about the life of the mathematician The "arithmetic man," referring to Diophantus. is of no importance (found below on page 60). Some scholars freely grant it credit as if it were historical testimony, while others completely reject it.

6. Concerning those few scholia term: scholia; explanatory notes written in the margins of ancient manuscripts by later scholars or students. on Iamblichus (found below on page 72) which I have borrowed from the recent edition by Pistelli, I will only note this: the commentator seems to have known the same manuscript that Psellus Michael Psellus was a 11th-century Byzantine monk and scholar. used. He also seems to have twice indicated the work of Diophantus, although an ancient commentary (perhaps by Hypatia?) Hypatia was a 4th-century female mathematician from Alexandria who was rumored to have written a commentary on Diophantus. was not clearly distinguished from the main text.

7. I have taken the final fragment (pages 73 to 77) from the Paris manuscript of Nicomachus 2372 (15th century). I did this to show how a certain learned Byzantine scholar, perhaps a contemporary of Psellus, spoke of Diophantus in vain. He heard the name and mentions thirteen books by that author, but he is completely ignorant of the problems treated in those books (page 73, line 25). For other reasons as well, it seemed that this short, previously unpublished preface should not be neglected.

III.

1. I now move to the scholia which I have made public. In the Vatican Greek manuscript 116 (16th century), after the Scholia on the Arithmetic of Diophantus by the Lord Maximus Planudes, I found others under the heading "from another source" original: "ἐξ ἑτέρου". I placed these before the notes by Planudes. The author did not remain hidden from me for long. Ten years ago, I had already described the unpublished parts ¹) of the work by George Pachymeres titled "The Collection of the Four Sciences" original: "Σύνταγμα τῶν τεσσάρων μαθημάτων" or "The Four Books" original: "Τετράβιβλον". I easily recognized the chapters.

1. Charles Vincent edited the music section and a mutilated part of the introduction. He provided information on the Paris manuscripts (Notices et...)