Article ID: CBB000931527

Text Production, Reproduction and Appropriation within the Abbaco Tradition: A Case Study (2008)

unapi

In this paper we present a chapter on algebra from an abbaco treatise on arithmetic. The abbaco tradition of teaching arithmetic and algebraic problem solving is situated between two major works of the Italian Middle Ages: the Liber Abbaci of Fibonacci (1202) and the Summa di Arithmetica et Geometria of Lucca Pacioli (1494). Peculiar of abbaco texts is their strong similarities and coherence within that period of almost three centuries. We will argue that this feature stems from the way texts were produced and appropriated. Problems and problem solving play a central function in abbaco treatises and the way problems were 'invented' and adapted determines this process of text production and appropriation. We will illustrate this with one chapter from a family of several manuscript copies of a single treatise, providing a critical edition and an English translation. We will also discuss the relation with other abbaco texts before and after the creation of our text. With the possible exception of Høyrup's recent book on the abbaco tradition, who calls his transcription semicritical, all publications of abbaco texts have been based on a single manuscript though several copies are usually available. We believe that a critical edition in line with the Latin scholarly tradition provides us with the necessary insights in the way the production of abbaco texts functioned.

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Authors & Contributors
De Young, Gregg
Burnett, Charles
Kwakkel, Erik
Manolova, Divna
Silvia Di Vincenzo
Chabás, José
Concepts
Manuscripts
Transmission of texts
Mathematics
Arithmetic
Geometry
Arab/Islamic world, civilization and culture
Time Periods
Medieval
12th century
Ancient
16th century
13th century
Places
Castille (Spain)
Catalonia (Spain)
Florence (Italy)
Byzantium
Spain
North Africa
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