A Treatise on the Astrolabe: Addressed to His Son Lowys by Geoffrey Chaucer, A.D. 1391 |
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Common terms and phrases
Alhabor Almagest almuri Almykanteras altitude altitudinem Aries artyke assendent Astrelabie Astrol Astrolabe astrology azimuth bordure Brae Brae's Cancer capitulum Capricorn cercle Chaucer circle cleped cognoscendum conclusioun declaracioun degre degree diei ecliptic Ecliptik edition eius equinoctial equinoxial euene euery figure forseide fuerit Gemini gradus haue heued heyhte horas horizon hour howre latitude Libra linea longitude lyne Meridional maner Meridional Messahala miswritten mone moon nombre numbers nyht omit Orisonte ouer owre Pisces planete plate point of Aries pone poynt prikke primum mobile Rete rewle right ascension riht Sagittarius Saturn scire sect sections senyth seyn shal shew signes solis sonne sothly sowth St John's College star stellarum sterre fix sun's sunt super tables Taurus thanne ther thilke thin thise thow thy label thyn treatise tyme Umbra uolueris Venus verrey vmbra vn-to vnder vp-on whan words wyrke zodiac žat
Popular passages
Page xiv - The barber spent much time in opening his case and preparing his razors ; instead of putting water into the basin, he took a very handsome astrolabe out of his case, and went very gravely out of my room to the middle of the yard to take the height of the sun ; then he returned with the same grave pace, and entering my room, Sir...
Page xliv - As sore wondred som of cause of thonder, On ebbe and flood, on gossomer, and on myst, And on alle thing, til that the cause is wist. Thus janglen they, and demen and devyse, Til that the kyng gan fro his bord arise. Phebus hath left the angel merydyonal, And yit ascendyng was a best roial, The gentil Lyoun, with his Aldryan...
Page 1 - IT & by this co?«clusiouw maistow take ensample in alle the signes, be they moist or drie, or moeble or fix ; rekenyng the qualite of the planete as I furst seide.
Page 2 - ... of thy sonne. Ensample as thus: — The yeer of oure Lord 1391, the 12 day of March at midday, I wolde knowe the degre of the sonne.
Page 25 - And nota,, fat this forseid rihte orisonte, fat is clepid orison rectum / diuideth the 20 equinoxial in-to riht Angles ; & the embelif orisonte, wher as the pol is enhawsed vp-on the orisonte, ouerkeruyth the eqwinoxial in Embelif Angles, as shewith in the figure. IT & for the more declaraciouw, lo here the figure. 24 27. This is the conclusioun to knowe the Assenciouns of signes in the riht cercle, fat is, circulus directus, &c.
Page xxiii - English astrolabes, he says, are very heavy, and six or seven inches broad. He recommends that more of the southern stars should be represented on the " Eete," such as the Southern Cross, the Southern Triangle, Noah's Dove or Pigeon, and another called Polophilax, lately found out by mariners. Blagrave's Astrolabe had 71 stars on the Eete, which Blundevill enumerates. He alludes to the division of the mariner's compass into 32 parts, as in Chaucer's time, each part being termed
Page lxxx - I prey mekly euery discret persone fat redith or herith this litel tretis, to haue my rewde endytyng for excused, & my superfluite of wordes, for two causes.
Page xlviii - eight and twenty," never "twenty-eight." see Astrol. ii. 44. 2'2. Next come the lines, which in the Harleian MS. are as follows : — " And by his thre speeres in his worching, He knew ful wel how fer Allnath was schove Fro the heed of thilk fix Aries above, That in the fourths speere considred is.
Page xiv - They have a kind of Astrolabe on which are inscribed the planetary signs, the hours and critical points of the whole year. And every year these Christian, Saracen, and Cathayan astrologers, each sect apart, investigate by means of this astrolabe the course and character of the whole year...
Page 24 - All these circumstances however depend much on the atmospheric circumstances of the year. The preceding explanation does not serve for the tropical climates; the days and nights are here so nearly equal throughout the year, that seasons are caused more by the effect of the winds (which are very regular, and depend mainly on the sun's position) than by the direct action of the sun's light and heat. The seasons are not a summer and a winter, so much as recurrences of wet and dry periods, two in each...