Treatise on the Astrolabe by Geoffrey Chaucer, trans. Anna Wojtyś

The publication is the first Polish translation of A Treatise on the Astrolabe by Anna Wojtyś. Written in the 1390s, this work is considered the earliest known text in English on a complex scientific instrument. The author of the treatise is the famous English medieval poet Geoffrey Chaucer, known primarily for The Canterbury Tales.

The treatise is a manual describing the elements and applications of the astrolabe – an astronomic instrument crucial in the mediaeval period for various tasks including determining time, finding the position of celestial bodies, identifying stars and planets, and performing more complex calculations such as the height of a distant object.

To enhance the reader’s understanding, the translated text is illustrated with diagrams from MS Cambridge University Library Dd.3.532. Astronomical matters were consulted upon by Marcin Banaś from Jagiellonian University Museum.

Detailed information regarding this publication is available on the Æ Academic Publishing website. Additionally, an article on the challenges of translating a text originating from a different era and culture has been published in the journal Prace Językoznawcze (link).