The purpose of this article is to analyse the mathematical practices leading to Rafael Bombelli’s L’algebra (1572). The context for the analysis is the Italian algebra practiced by abbacus masters and Renaissance mathematicians of the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries. We will focus here on the semiotic aspects of algebraic practices and on the organisation of knowledge. Our purpose is to show how symbols that stand for underdetermined meanings combine with shifting principles of organisation to change the character of algebra.

Diophant was the classical Greek author who was the last to become known in Christian Europe. Figures who passed on Diophant's writings decisively were Regiomontan, Scheubel, Ramus, Joachim Camerarius the elder, and the Wittenberg mathematicians Praetorius, Dieterich and Schuler. The first Diophant edition, a translation into Latin, was published by Xylander in Basel in 1575. In the forword Xylander mentions all the details about how he managed to take possession of Dudith's mansucript. Xylander's publication is more than a mere translation (...) since he transformed Diophant's symbolism into the common symbolism of his own age and added extensive comments. Xylanders edition was the only one existing until the one of Bachet was published in 1621. (shrink)