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MPIWG_PROJECTS:
Global Perspectives of Knowledge
Abstract:
Leonardo Fibonacci's Liber abbaci has so ht been known only from Baldassarre Boncompagni's edition from 1857, based on a single 14th-century manuscript. In 2008, however, an editorial project was started at Università Federico II in Naples, which has now produced an edition of the introductory matters and the first four chapters of the work - in total 5% of Fibonacci's complete Book on Calculation. Unfortunately, the edition is problematic on several accounts. Firstly, the two editors know little about the subject matter dealt with by Fibonacci or about the historical context, which means that the commentary does not go much beyond conventional wisdom. Secondly, the editorial work itself is not always precise. Apart from presenting a translation into a modern vernacular (Italian), the new edition is unfortunately no decisive step forward compared to Boncompagni's edition of the Latin text.
