Endnote 15
Part I, §17, l. 6. Ptholome. The St.
Jolm's MS. has ptolomeys almagest. `Almagest, a name
given by the Arabs to the megalh suntaxiz, or .great collection,
the celebrated work of Ptolemy, the astronomer of Alexandria [floruit A.D.
140-160]. It was translated into Arabic about the year A.D. 827,
under the patronage of the Caliph Al Mamun, by the Jew Alhazen ben Joseph,
and the Christian Sergius. The word is the Arabic article al
prefixed to the Greek megistus, "greatest", a name probably derived
from the title of the work itself, or, as we may judge from the superlative
adjective, partly from the estimation in which it was held.' -- English
Cyclopaedia; Arts and Sciences, i. 223. The Almagest `was in thirteen
books. Ptolemy wrote also four books of judicial astrology.
He was an Egyptian astrologist, and flourished under Marcus Antoninus.
He is mentioned in the Sompnour's Tale [D 2289], and the Wif of Bathes
Prologue, ll. 182, 324.' -- Warton, Hist. E. P. ii. 356, ed. 1871.
The word almagest occurs in the Milleres Tale, near the beginning
(A 3208), and twice in the Wif of Bathes Prologue (D 183, 325).
Chaucer says the obliquity of the ecliptic, according to Ptolemy, was
23° 50'. The exact value, according to Ptolemy, was 23° 51'
20"; Almagest, lib. i.c. 13. But Chaucer did not care about
the odd degree, and gives it nearly enough. See note to ii 25. 19.