Alfontii regis castelle illustrissimi celestiu[m]

From the Tomash Library on the History of Computing 

Alfonso X, of Castile (El Sabio), Alfontii regis castelle illustrissimi celestiu[m] motuu[m] tabule, 1483, Venice 

Alfontii regis castelle illustrissimi celestiu[m] motuu[m] tabule: nec no[n] stellar[um] fixaru[m] lo[n]gitudines 

ac latitudines Alfontii t[em]p[or]e ad motus veritate[m] mira dilige[n]tia reducte. Atpmo Joa[n]nis 

Saxonie[n]sis in tabulas Alfontii cano[n]es ordinati incipiu[n]t faustissime. 

Notes on the Author and this Volume 

Year: 1483 

Place: Venice 

Publisher: Erhard Ratdolt 

Edition: 1st 

Language: Latin 

Figures: printed in red and black; rubricated and illuminated 

Binding: modern speckled calf over boards; 

Pagination: ff. [93] 

Collation: a 7 b–l 8 m 6 (a1 lacking) 

Size: 213x157 mm 

Reference: 

Gingerich, Owen; Harvard Library Bulletin, p. 136; 

Goff, Frederick R.; Incunabula in American Libraries, New York, 1964, A-534; 

British Museum Catalog, 5:287; 

Gillespie, Charles Coulton, editor in chief; Dictionary of Scientific Biography, New 

York, Charles Scribners Sons, 1970, XVI vols., Vol. I p. 122; 

The Crone Library, a descriptive catalogue with annotations, Amsterdam, 

Nieuwkoop, 1989. 

Alfonso X (1221–1284), King of Castile and León from 1252 until his death in 1284, was known as El 

Sabio (the learned or the wise) because of his strong interest in scientific and intellectual matters. He founded 

schools and universities, created groups of scholars to translate Arabic writings into Spanish, and generally laid 

the foundation for Spanish science. He is not highly regarded as an administrator or organizer, nor is he noted for 

the sagacity of his civil rule, but the scientific accomplishments of his reign are universally acknowledged. 

Alfonso had a keen interest in astronomy and had many Arabic manuscripts on the subject translated. He 

also ordered that a new calculation of the Toledan astronomical tables be made to replace those compiled by 

the Cordoban astronomer al-Zarquli some two hundred years earlier. These new Tablas Alfonsinas, also done 

in Toledo, were completed by Judah ben Moses (a Spanish/Jewish physician and astronomer) and Isaac ibn Sid 

(a Spanish/Jewish astronomer and collector of instruments) about 1272. No original copies of these Alphonsine 

tables are extant; however, they were translated from Spanish into Latin in the first part of the fourteenth century 

and in this form remained a major influence on European astronomy for the next three hundred years. During the 

translation from Spanish to Latin, a number of changes were introduced into the tables (differences in the date of 

the epoch upon which they are based and also differences in the latitude of Toledo). The resulting tables remained 

in general use until superseded by Kepler’s Tabulae Rudolphinæ (Rudolphine Tables) in 1627. 

Paul Kunitzsch, in a paper discussing the origin of star names ( Kunitzsch, P.; “The Star Catalogue Commonly 

Appended to the Alfonsine Tables,” Journal of the History of Astronomy, Vol. 17, Nun. 49, May 1986, pp. 89-



98) points out that these tables were originally a set of tables for chronology, for the Sun, the Moon and planets. 

They did not, in their original form, contain a table of star positions. This star table was added by the individuals 

producing the Latin translations. The table was originally simply Ptolemy’s star table from his Almagest, in the 

Latin version created by Gerard of Cremona about 1175. The latitudes of the stars were increased from Gerard’s 

by 17°8´ to account for precession. He notes that the star names used in this edition of the Alfonsine Tables are 

identical to those used by Gerard and it was only later editions (particularly one in 1492) that included additional 

star names from Arabic and other sources. These star tables begin on p 119 of this reproduction. 

This is a particularly fine incunable edition printed by Erhard Ratdolt in Venice, with hand-colored illuminated 

capitals on almost every page of the introduction. 

General notes on the condition of older books 

Books as old as this usually suffer from some problems just because of the wear they have been subjected to 

over the many years of their existence. One usually noticeable condition item is known as browning or foxing of 

the paper - usually brown or yellow areas due to the chemical action of a micro-organism on the paper. This can 

vary dramatically from page to page, often depending on such variables as the contents of the paper used, the 

composition of the ink used by the printer, and the dampness (or lack of) that the work has been exposed to over 

the years. Where these images were badly foxed, some slight manipulation of the intensity of the colors has been 

done to ease the reading of the foxed page. Any other notable condition problem will be commented upon near 

the image concerned. 

Use of these notes and images 

This file has been made available by the generosity of Erwin Tomash and the Tomash Library. It is free for use 

by any interested individual, providing that no commercial use is made of its contents and any non commercial 

use acknowledges the source. The notes and illustrations have been produced by Erwin Tomash and Michael R. 

Williams, both of whom beg forgiveness for any errors that they might have made. 

© 2009 by Erwin Tomash and Michael R. Williams. All rights reserved.


Alfonso X, of Castile (El Sabio), Alfontii regis castelle illustrissimi celestiu[m] motuu[m] tabule, 1483, Venice



The front paste down endpaper with the label of the Tomash Library and the book plate of a previous owner 

(Cesare Malfatti).







































































































































































































































These are the star tables referred to in the introductory notes.













































































































































This set of tables gives the latitude and longitude for the major cities of the world. The latitudes are reasonably 

accurate but one must remember that the longitudes are different from modern versions because the Greenwich 

Meridian did not exist at this time.





The colophon at the end of this page indicates that the printing was finished in July of 1483.

Alfontii regis castelle illustrissimi celestiu[m]

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