Note: This bibliography is incomplete: it contains mainly literature that can be downloaded for free.
W.H. Morley, Description of a planispheric astrolabe, constructed for Shah Sultan Husain Safawi, King of Persia, and now preserved in the British Museum, London 1856, 50 S. 21 Plates, reprinted in Sezgin, AIOS vol. 1, pp. 249-325. Still a very good and detailed description of an astrolabe with all Arabic technical terminology explained. Download.
Al-Farghani (ninth c.): R.Lorch, Al-Farghani on the astrolabe, Arabic Text edited with translation and commentary, Wiesbaden 2005, scan (archive.org). The basic work on astrolabe design and construction in the Islamic tradition.
Two Arabic manuscript (British Library Or 14720 ff. 21b-73a, Or. 5479 ff. 37b-85a) of al-Farghani's work on the astrolabe are online, scan of Or 14270 (pdf) (archive.org) or go to Qatar Digital Library, link, for the other manuscript see link. On al-Farghani see the article by Gregg de Young in html and pdf.
Al-Biruni (973-ca. 1050): The most prolific writer on astrolabes in the Islamic tradition. See
Pouyan Rezvani, Two treatises on the astrolabe by Mohammad ibn Ahmad Biruni (973-1048 AD), Utrecht, PhD dissertation (2019), available online at https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/381551. A revised and improved version of the PhD thesis appeared in Pouyan Rezvani, Two treatises on the astrolabe by Abu Rayhan Biruni (d. ca. 1050): Editions, Translations, Commentary. Frankfurt, Institute for the History of Arabic-Islamic Science, 2020; Islamic Mathematics and Astronomy no. 115.
Al-Biruni, Exhaustive discussion of all possible ways to construct an astrolabe (IstI`Ab al-wujUh al-mumkina fI .sanat al-as.turlAb) [in Arabic], edition by
Mohammad Akbar Jawadi al-Hosseini, Meshed, 1422 A.H. (lunar), scan. An Arabic manuscript (London, India Office 5593) of this work by al-Biruni is online, see scan (pdf) (archive.org) or go to Qatar Digital Library. For editions and translations of the works of al-Biruni in general see www.albiruni.nl
Studies: J. Frank, Zur Geschichte des Astrolabs, Habilitationsschrift (Auszug), Erlangen 1920, scan here or here (zobodat.at)
E. Wiedemann, J. Frank, Allgemeine Betrachtungen von al Biruni in einem Werk über die Astrolabien, Beiträge zur Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften LXI,
Sitzungsberichte der physikalisch-medizinischen Sozietät in Erlangen 52-53 (1920-21), pp. 97-121, scan here or here (zobodat.at)
On al-Biruni and the astrolabe see pp. 35-40 in Eilhard Wiedemann, Beiträge zur Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften XVIII, Sitzungsberichte der Physikalisch-Medizinische Sozietät zu Erlangen 41 (1909), pp. 26-78,
scan (zobodat.at)
A very old Islamic astrolabe by Hamid al-Wasiti, dated A.H. 343/A.D. 954-955 was in Palermo in the nineteenth century but is now lost. See the drawings in Vincenzo Mortillaro, Illustrazione di un astrolabio del nono seculo, pp. 110-137 in volume 4 of Opere di Vincenzo Mortillaro, Palermo 1848, which can be downloaded here, google books). On this lost astrolabe see King, In Synchrony with the Heavens vo. 2 pp. 496-500.
Alphonsine treatises (written for King Alfons X of Castilia, ca. 1250 CE): manuscript of the Libros del Saber de Astronomia at the Library of the Universidad Complutense in Madrid is available online, p. 157 is approximately the beginning of the part on the Universal Astrolabe.
Alphonsine books: Edition by M. Rico y Sinobas, Libros del Saber de Astronomia del Rey D. Alfonso X de Castilla, vol. 3, Madrid 1864.
Download vol. 3, the two parts (by clicking on the images). The first part contains the preface by Rico y Sinobas plus p. 1-234 of the editions:
p. 1-132, Libros de la Lamina Universal, , the first book (p. 1-10 with nice pictures) is by Rabicag, the Libro Segundo (p. 11-132) is by Ali ibn Khalaf.
p. 133-234 plus 235-237 Libro de Acafeha by Azarquiel (pictures on p. 143 of the back side with the orthographic projection; between p. 147 and 149 both sides of the Zarqaliyya plate). The second part includes the last two pages of al-Zarqalluh's work plus a treatise on equatoria which does not concern us here.
Volume 3 was reprinted in F. Sezgin, Islamic Mathematics and Astronomy vol. 111, Frankfurt 2002.
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Pseudo-Mashallah (author identified as Maslama al-Majriti by Kunitsch), The astrolabe by Messehallah (Latin manuscript and text, with English translation) printed in Gunther, Early Science in Oxford, vol. 5, Oxford 1920., pp. 137-231. Download in pdf or other formats(archive.org). The same volume 5 contains on pp. 1-136 the treatise on the astrolabe by Geoffrey Chaucer (ca. 1340-1400).
Note that Gunther's translation of the text by pseudo-Mashallah contains many errors, because Gunther did not understand all the details of the construction of an astrolabe.
New edition of the pseudo-Mashallah text by Ron B. Thomson available here (University of Oklahoma)
Julio Samsó, Maslama al-Majriti and the Alphonsine book on the construction of the astrolabe,
Journal for the History of Arabic Science, 4 (1980) pp. 3-8. Available online: the first page (3) is at
https://hdl.handle.net/10079/digcoll/2926833, the next pages can be accessed from there, or also here: 4 5 6 7 8.
Ptolemy (ca. 150 AD), Planispherium, the oldest extant treatise on the principle of stereographic projection. The Greek original is lost,
Medieval Arabic translation in Nathan Sidoli and J. Lennart Berggren, The Arabic Version of Ptolemy's Planisphere or Flattening the Surface of the Sphere: Text, Translation, Commentary, SCIAMVS 8 (2007), pp. 37-139, download (sciamvs.org)
Latin translation by Hermann of Carintia (from the Arabic), edition by Heiberg (1907) with preface by Charles Burnett (1978), here (ptolemaeus.badw.de)
Notes to the Arabic translation by Maslama ibn A.hmad al-Majri.ti (from Madrid), an 11th century Islamic astronomer, see Paul Kunitzsch and Richard P. Lorch, Maslama's Notes on Ptolemy's Planisphaerium and Related Texts, München: Verlag der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1994, download here (publikationen.badw.de) or here (zobodat.at)
Arabic transcription by Paul Hullmeine of notes by Maslama ibn Ahmad al-Majriti, with images of the manuscriupt (Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, Fonds Arabe 4821) https://ptolemaeus.badw.de/work/206
Paul Kunitzsch, Mittelalterliche astronomisch-astrologische Glossare mit arabischen Fachausdrücken, Sitzungsberichte der philosophisch-historische Klasse der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften München 1977, pp. 1 - 58, scan (zobodat.at)
See also the references and links in the page on the ancient history of the astrolabe by Dr Rob van Gent.
Ad Davidse, Dutch translation of the construction of the astrolabe according to Hendrik Bate (ca. 1246-1310)
https://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/epact: Website on Scientific Instruments of Medieval and Renaissance Europe in four museums: Museum of the History of Science, Florence; Museum of the History of Science, Oxford; British Museum, London; Museum Boerhaave, Leiden.
Photos of the astrolabe by Pibo Gualtheri (ca. 1600, Leeuwarden, Netherlands). (ariederuiter.nl)
Koenraad van Cleempoel, Artikel: de Leuvense school van instrumentmakers in de 16e eeuw. [Dutch] (with photos of astrolabes)
Emilie Savage-Smith, and Andrea P. Belloli, Islamicate Celestial Globes: Their History, Construction, and Use. Washington 1985, free download via this webpage (Smithsonian Institute)
Eilhard Wiedemann, Joseph Frank, Die Gebetszeiten im Islam, Sitzungsberichte der Physikalisch-Medizinischen Sozietät zu Erlangen 58-59 (1926-27), pp. 1 - 32.
scan (zobodat.at)
J.M.A. Würschmidt, Die Schriften Gedosis über die Höhenparallelen und über die Sinustafel. (Zum Gebrauch des Quadranten im Islam.) Sitzungsberichte der Physikalisch-Medizinischen Sozietät zu Erlangen 60 (1928), pp. 127 - 154, scan (zobodat.at)
See David King's online Catalogue of Medieval Astronomical Instruments.
Oxford, History of Science Museum, Astrolabe Homepage: https://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/astrolabe/ (use the browse function to see what they have)
Chicago, Adler Planetarium, Collections Home Page https://www.adlerplanetarium.org/explore/collections/ (gives access to a search function)
2024