This is a print on demand publication. The early recognition of Ptolemy's major astronomical writings, the "Almagest" (or "Syntaxis") & the later "Handy Tables," has become a commonplace in histories of ancient astronomy. But the crucial century & a half between Ptolemy & the commentator Pappus, during which Ptolemy's works were first circulated & gained preeminence, is for mathematical astronomy as nearly barren of documents as the three centuries...