University of Pittsburgh Library System

This research is focused on the Latin annotations made in the 1572 edition of Euclid’s Elements. By transcribing and translating these annotations, this edition is made a more accessible archival resource and shows how contemporary readers utilized this edition. This edition of Elements was translated by Federico Commandino, a noted scholar of his time, and it was the most popular edition of its time. The annotations in this manuscript were made by Johannis Gabrielis and they include comments, corrections, and mathematical cross-references to the text. There is not much known about Gabrielis, but these annotations make it clear that he had mathematical skill and a knowledge of Euclidean geometry. This project focuses on describing what Gabrielis references in the Euclidean text as well as any external resources he may have been using. For example, through my research it has become clear that Gabrielis was referencing Franciso Flussate Candalla’s 1566 edition of Elements in his annotations. The annotations in this manuscript extend all the way through Book XI of thirteen, though most of them stop around Book VIII. All these annotations have been at least catalogued. As this project continues, it becomes easier to identify Gabrielis’ style and orthography in the annotations, and therefore translating and contextualizing them also becomes much easier. Future research possibilities for this manuscript include further translation of Gabrielis’ annotations and the creation of a scholarly apparatus keyed to the text. An apparatus such as this would put together the manuscript and the research done on it thus far into one accessible resource.