The Love of Books: the Philobiblon of Richard de Bury

10.

CHAPTER X OF THE GRADUAL PERFECTING OF BOOKS

11.

CHAPTER XI WHY WE HAVE PREFERRED BOOKS OF LIBERAL LEARNING TO BOOKS OF LAW

12.

CHAPTER XII WHY WE HAVE CAUSED BOOKS OF GRAMMAR TO BE SO DILIGENTLY PREPARED

13.

CHAPTER XIII WHY WE HAVE NOT WHOLLY NEGLECTED THE FABLES OF THE POETS

14.

CHAPTER XIV WHO OUGHT TO BE SPECIAL LOVERS OF BOOKS

15.

CHAPTER XV OF THE ADVANTAGES OF THE LOVE OF BOOKS

16.

CHAPTER XVI THAT IT IS MERITORIOUS TO WRITE NEW BOOKS AND TO RENEW THE OLD

17.

CHAPTER XVII OF SHOWING DUE PROPRIETY IN THE CUSTODY OF BOOKS

18.

CHAPTER XVIII SHOWETH THAT WE HAVE COLLECTED SO GREAT STORE OF BOOKS FOR THE COMMON BENEFIT OF SCHOLARS AND NOT ONLY FOR OUR OWN PLEASURE

19.

CHAPTER XIX OF THE MANNER OF LENDING ALL OUR BOOKS TO STUDENTS

20.

CHAPTER XX AN EXHORTATION TO SCHOLARS TO REQUITE US BY PIOUS PRAYERS

Notes

[index]

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123

Notes

PROLOGUE

[1.7]
1, 7. Ps. cxvi. 12.
[2.8]
2, 8. the Sevenfold Spirit, "septiformis spiritus," first used by St. Augustine; cp. Isa. xi. 23, and Rev. i. 4.
[2.9]
2, 9. that it may burn, Ps. xxxix. 3.
[2.15]
2, 15. by the atonement of almsgiving, cp. Dan. iv. 27.
[2.18]
2, 18. the good will of man, cp. Phil. i. 15.
[3.1]
3, 1. a host of unhappy, nay, rather elect scholars, "grex scholarium elegorum quin potius electorum."
[3.7]
3, 7. in the cultivated field of youth, quoted from the anonymous work "De varietate carminum."
[3.9]
3, 9. bright virtue lurks buried in obscurity. Boethius, De Consol. Phil. i. m. 5,—"Latet obscuris condita virtus Clara tenebris, justusque tulit Crimen iniqui"
[3.10]
3, 10. burning lights, cp. Matt. v. 15.
[3.14]
3, 14. vines into wild vines, cp. Isa. v. 2.
[3.15]
3, 15. olives into the wild olive, cp. Rom. xi. 24.
[3.21]
3, 21. the nectared cup of philosophy, "philosophiæ nectareo poculo," cp. the De disciplina Scholarium, C. V.
[4.6]
4, 6. that little with which Nature is contented, cp. Boethius, De Cons. Ph. ii. pr. 5.
[4.8]
4, 8. athletes of the faith, cp. "athleta Dei," a common phrase for a Christian.

124

[4.9]
4, 9. how suddenly the woof is cut, cp. Job vii. 6; and Isa. xxxviii. 12.
[4.14]
4, 14. a meteor; the word used in the original "assub" is derived from the translations of Aristotle made from the Arabic; it is found in Latin-English handbooks of the middle ages glossing "sterre-slyme," i.e. the starjelly, which was supposed to be deposited by falling stars.

I

[7.1]
7, 1. cp. Prov. xxi. 20.
[7.2]
7, 2. which all men desire by an instinct of nature, cp. Aristotle, Metaphysics, i. i.: παντες ανθρωποι του ειδεναι ορεγονται φυσει.
[7.3]
7, 3. infinitely surpasses all the riches of the world, cp. Wisdom vii. 8. 9.
[7.7]
7, 7. at whose splendour the sun and the moon are dark to look upon, cp. Wisdom vii. 29.
[7.9]
7, 9. are bitter, cp. Wisdom viii. 16.
[7.10]
7, 10. that fadeth not, cp. Wisdom vi. 13.
[7.13]
7, 13. the Father of lights, James i. 17.
[8.2]
8, 2. cp. Ecclesiasticus xxiv. 29.
[8.4]
8, 4. the languishing soul, cp. Wisdom xvii. 8.
[8.6]
8, 6. by thee kings reign, Prov. viii. 15.
[8.13]
8, 13. into pruning hooks, "in ligones," cp. Joel iii. 10.
[8.20]
8, 20. every one who asks, Matt. vii. 7.
[8.23]
8, 23. the cherubim, cp. Exod. xxv. 20.
[9.4]
9, 4. celestial, terrestrial, and infernal, Phil. ii. 10.
[9.9]
9, 9. the chair of Crato; the name occurs again in Chap. XIII. In both cases the obscure reference is one of difficulty, though the reading is probably correct: in this passage, Cato rather than Crato would seem better, but the change cannot be warranted, though some MSS. read Catonis. Crato is mentioned in "the Golden Legend" and elsewhere, as well as in several liturgical hymns.
[9.13]
9, 13. all things are corrupted, cp. Aristotle, Phys. iv. 12.

125

[9.21]
9, 21. faithful Fabricius and stern Cato, cp. Boethius, De Cons. Phil. ii. m. 7.
[10.6]
10, 6. The Almagest; the Astronomy or Μεγαλη Συνταξισ was probably so called to distinguish it from the Μαθηματικη Συνταξισ or Mathematics of Ptolemy; it was preserved and communicated to Europe by the Arabs, and the name Almagest is formed of the Arabic article al, and the Greek μεγιστη.
[10.11]
10, 11. things new and old, Matt. xiii. 52.
[10.13]
10, 13. holy to honour before friendship, cp. Aristotle, Ethics, i. 6. 1.
[10.15]
10, 15. holy Boethius considers to be threefold, cp. De Interpret., Migne, lxiv. p. 297.
[10.18]
10, 18. for the meaning of the voice perishes with the sound, cp. I Cor. xiv. 11.
[10.20]
10, 20. Wisdom that is hid, cp. Ecclesiasticus xx. 30.
[11.12]
11, 12. the vestibule of perception, "vestibula sensus communis."
[12.4]
12, 4. given us by the inspiration of God, cp. 2 Tim. iii. 16.
[12.14]
12, 14. the golden pots, cp. Heb. ix. 4.
[12.15]
12, 15. rocks flowing with honey, cp. Deut. xxxii. 13.
[12.16]
12, 16. garners ever full, cp. Ps. cxliv. 13.
[12.17a]
12, 17. the tree of life, cp. Gen. ii. 9; Rev. xxii. 2.
[12.17b]
12, 17. the fourfold river of Paradise, cp. Gen. ii. 10.
[12.21]
12, 21. the troughs, cp. Gen. xxx. 38.
[12.22]
12, 22. the stones of testimony, cp. Josh. iv. 7.
[12.23]
12, 23. the pitchers holding the lamps, cp. Judges vii. 16.
[13.1]
13, 1. the arms of the soldiers, cp. 2 Cor. x. 4.
[13.3]
13, 3. darts of the wicked, cp. Eph. vi. 16.
[13.4]
13, 4. burning lamps, Luke xii. 35.

II

[15.17a]
15, 17. the wisest of men; no doubt Solomon, cp. Ecclus. vii. 15.
[15.17b]
15, 17. the chief of philosophers, "hierophilosophus," probably Aristotle (cp. note above, 10, 13).

126

[15.19]
15, 19. Zorobabel, cp. I Esdras iii. 10-12, iv. 13.
[18.1]
18, . cp. Prov. viii. 11.

III

[19.9]
19, 9. an infinite treasure, cp. Wisdom vii. 14.
[19.14]
19, 14. Solomon the sun of men; the phrase occurs in Walter Map's "De Nugis Curialium," iv. 3.
[20.5]
20, 5. the law of nature, cp. Renan, Avveroès, p. 55 f.; the passage referred to is quoted by Roger Bacon, Op. Maj. p. 27, and other mediæval writers.
[21.12]
21, 12. they are worth all that thou hast, cp. Gregory xl. Homiliarum in Evangelia, lib. 1. Hom. 5: "Aestimationem quippe pretii non habet, sed tamen regnum Dei tantum valet, quantum habes."

IV

[22.1]
22, 1. cp. Matt. xii. 34.
[22.2]
22, 2. the ungrateful cuckoo, from Pliny's Natural History, x. 11.
[22.6]
22, 6. Bring it again to mind, cp. Isa. xlvi. 8.
[22.11]
22, 11. as children, cp. I Cor. xiii. 11.
[22.13]
22, 13. partakers of our milk, cp. Heb. v. 13.
[23.4]
23, 4. the goodly garments, cp. Gen. xxvii. 15.
[23.7a]
23, 7. as a tablet to be painted on, "tabula depingenda," cp. "tabula rasa."
[23.7b]
23, 7. all the household of philosophy are clothed with garments, cp. Prov. xxxi. 21
[23.10]
23, 10. the fourfold wings of the quadrivials, the quadrivium included the four sciences—"quatuor pennas"—of music, arithmetic, geometry and astronomy, the trivium included grammar, dialectic, and rhetoric.
[23.12]
23, 12. we sent you to a friend, cp. Luke xi. 4-8.
[23.16]
23, 16. sojourner, "viator."
[23.21]
23, 21 ye are a chosen people, cp. Pet. ii. 9.

127

[23.22]
23, 22. a peculiar people, cp. Deut. vii. 6; Exod. xix. 6.
[23.23]
23, 23. chosen into the lot of God, "in sortem Domini computati"; the reference is to the derivation of clericus, of or pertaining to an inheritance, Gr. κληρικ-οσ, from κληροσ, a lot or allotment of land.
On the application of κληροσ to the Christian ministry, see Bp. Lightfoot, Philippians, 245-6, where its probable origin is seen in the use of the word in Acts i. 17, "the lot of this ministry." In the time of Jerome explanations were sought in the use of κληροσ in Deut. xviii. 2, compared with ix. 29 and parallel passages, and I Pet. v. 3 was interpreted in this sense. (New English Dict. sub Cleric.)
[23.24]
23, 24. nay, ye are called the very Church of God, "immo vos antonomatice ipsa Ecclesia Dei dicimini," antonomatici often wrongly altered to automatici.
[24.2]
24, 2. serving the altar, cp. 1 Cor. ix. 13; Heb. xiii. 10.
[24.5]
24, 5. a little higher than the angels, cp. Heb. ii. 7.
[24.7]
24, 7. thou art a priest, Ps. cx. 4.
[24.9]
24, 9. wherein it is required, cp. I Cor. iv. 2.
[24.19]
24, 19. are called of men Rabbi, cp. Matt. xxiii. 7.
[24.21]
24, 21. great lights, cp. Phil. ii. 15.
[25.6]
25, 6. two paths of Phythagoras; the letter Y as emblematic of the broad and narrow paths of vice and virtue.
[25.7]
25, 7. going backwards, cp. Jer. xv. 6.
[25.13]
25, 13. by a most shameful death, Wisdom ii. 20.
[25.14]
25, 14. your friend is put far away, cp. Ps. lxxxviii. 18.
[25.15]
25, 15. Peter swears, cp. Matt. xxvi. 72.
[25.17]
25, 17 Crucify, crucify him, John xix. 6-12.
[25.19]
25, 19. before the judgment seat, cp. 2 Cor. v. 10.
[25.22]
25, 22. the sorrowing Muses, "Camenæ laceræ," cp. Boethius, De Cons. Phil. i. Metr. 1.
[26.5]
26, 5. the gates of death, cp. Ps. cvii. 18.
[26.6]
26, 6. the book he has not forgotten is handed to him to be read; this of course refers to the benefit of the clergy—the privilege of exemption from trial by secular court allowed to or claimed by clergymen arraigned for felony; in later times, the privilege
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of exemption from sentence which in the case of certain offences might be pleaded on his first conviction by any one who could read: cp. the use of neck verse; the ability to read, being originally merely the test of the "clergy," or clerical position, came at length to be in itself the ground of privilege, so that the phrase became=benefit of scholarship. (New English Dict. sub Clergy.)
[27.4]
27, 4. cp. Ezek. iii. 1-3.
[27.6]
27, 6. the panther, cp. Pliny's Natural History, viii. 23.
[27.11]
27, 11. "O virtus infinita librorum"; virtus = a host.
[28.10]
28, 10. that biped beast; glossed in sundry old MSS. scilicet mulier, which in some editions occurs in the text (cp. Blades, "The Enemies of Books").
[28.13]
28, 13. the asp and the cocatrice, cp. Ps. xci. 13.
[28.22]
28, 22. furs; MSS. vary between furraturas, farraturas, folraturas, ferraturas, and foderaturas; probably merely stuffing or lining of any sort.
[28.25a]
28, 25. Theophrastus; the reference is to a book against marriage attributed to Theophrastus by St. Jerome.
[28.25b]
28, 25. Valerius; "Valerius ad Rufinum de uxore non ducenda," was one of the most popular of mediæval books; (cp. Chaucer's Wife of Bath, Prologue, for the whole of this passage).
[29.7]
29, 7. our soul is bowed down to the dust, "adhaesit pavimento anima nostra," from Ps. xliv. 25.
[29.8]
29, 8. our belly cleaveth unto the earth, Ps. xliv. 25.
[29.11]
29, 11. and there is no man who layeth it to heart, Jer. xii. 11.
[29.15]
29, 15. jaundice, ictericia; so called because it was supposed to be cured by the sight of the icterus, a bird mentioned by Pliny.
[29.23]
29, 23. the two Lazaruses, cp. Luke xvi. 20; John xi. 14, the one Lazarus suffering the corruption of disease, the other that of death.
[30.6]
30, 6. cp. Job ii. 8.
[30.15]
30, 15. bondmen and bondwomen, cp. Deut. xxviii. 68.
[30.19]
30, 19. such terrors as might frighten even the brave; evidently
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suggested by a legal maxim which he found in Bracton, derived no doubt through Azo from the Digest:—"Debemus accipere metum non . . . vani vel meticulosi hominis sed talem qui cadere possit in virum constantem."
[31.22]
31, 22. cp. Martial i. 39.
"Quem recitas, meus est, 0 Fidentine! libellus;
Sed male quum recitas, incipit esse tuus."
[32.8]
32, 8. Carmentis, cp. Ch. VIII.
[32.11]
32, 11. Bologna, one of the great Universities.
[32.13]
32, 13. treacherous copyists, cp. Chaucer's verses to Adam Scrivener.
[33.3]
33, 3. that which is against nature, cp. Rom. i. 25-26.
[33.10]
33, 10 sold our people for nought, Ps. xliv. 12.

V

[34]
34. The title in the original is as follows:—"Querimonia librorum contra religiosos possessionatos," i.e. "possessioners," as contrasted with the mendicant friars.
[34.5]
34, 5. between the hours of prayer, "inter horas canonicas"; the day was divided into eight periods of three hours, marked by as many acts of devotion.
[34.10]
34, 10. full of cherubic letters, "cherubicis libris plena," the reference is probably to the brilliant miniatures and ornamentations of old manuscripts; perhaps only to the general beauty— "angelical."
[34.14]
34, 14. Martha nor Mary; Martha and Mary were treated as types of the active and contemplative life; similarly, Rachel and Leah. "Ubi nec meretur Martha corripi nec Maria"; the old edd. read "corrumpi."
[35.11]
35, 11. not bread baked in the ashes, "panes non subcinericeos"; cp. Ezek. iv. 12.
[35.20]
35, 20. that we might catch the young foxes, cp. Song of Songs, ii. 15.
[36.2]
36, 2. the choioe trappings of war-horses; "dextrariorum phaleræ præelectæ."

130

[36.6]
36, 6. Liber Bacchus, etc.; "Liber Bacchus respicitur et in ventrem traicitur nocte dieque; Liber codex despicitur et a manu reicitur longe lateque."
[36.17]
36, 17 Timotheus, the famous Greek musician: the reference may be from Boethius, De Musica, bk. 1.
[37.1]
37, 1. the canons regular, as opposed to "the canons secular"; the former observed not only the "canones" or rules imposed upon all the clergy, but also the "regulæ" of St. Augustine.
[37.22a]
37, 22. like a sherd; "ut testa"; cp. Ps. xxii. 15.
[37.22b]
37, 22. cp. Wisdom xvii. 5.

VI

[38.1]
38, 1. poor in spirit; cp. Matt. v. 3.
[38.2a]
38, 2. offscourings of the world, "mundi peripsema," cp. I Cor. iv. 13.
[38.2b]
38, 2. salt of the earth, cp. Matt. v. 13.
[38.3]
38, 3. fishers of men, cp. Matt. iv. 19.
[38.5]
38, 5. to possess your souls in patience, cp. Luke xxi. 19.
[39.1]
39, 1. your sound may go forth, cp. Ps. xix. 4.
[39.9]
39, 9. to sow upon all waters, cp. Isa. xxxii. 20.
[39.10a]
39, 10. no respecter of persons, cp. Acts x. 34.
[39.10b]
39, 10. nor does the Most Holy desire the death of sinners, cp. Ezek. xxxiii. 11.
[39.14]
39, 14. in the spirit of lenity, cp. Gal. vi. 1.
[39.16]
39, 16. And having planted, cp. 1 Cor. iii. 6.
[39.19]
39, 19. the salvation of faithful souls, cp. 1 Pet. i. 9.
[39.20]
39, 20. the order of Preachers, "fratres prædicantes," was instituted by St. Dominic, who obtained the Papal sanction fiom Honorius III. in 1216, on condition of adopting the Rule of St. Augustine.
[40.9]
40, 9. the poor and needy, cp. Ps. xl. 17.
[40.21]
40, 21. strange heresies, "Hiberas nænias"; the phrase comes from St. Jerome's preface to the Pentateuch, and orginally referred to certain Iberian, or Spanish, heresies.

131

[41.2]
41, 2. The reference is to St. Augustine's Epistles, cxxxvii.
[42.1]
42, 1. if we speak according to human notions, "si per anthropospatos (codd. ανθρωποπαθειαν) sermo fiat."
[42.3]
42, 3. putting their hope, cp. 2 Cor. iii. 12; x. 15.
[42.4]
42, 4. the raven, cp. Luke xii. 24, 27.
[42.13]
42, 13. reliance, "innisum;" cp. Prov. iii. 5; the passage is corrupt in the MSS. and previous editions.
[42.20]
42, 20. with summer fruit, cp. Amos viii. 1.
[43.13]
43, 13. against the law, cp. Deut. xxii. 10.
[43.16]
43, 16. the oxen were ploughing, cp. Job i. 14.
[43.21]
43, 21. the heap of Mercury; Mercury was the patron of merchants; "acervus Mercurii" (the heap of Mercury) was used for counters; the phrase here seems to mean "merely worthless counters."
[43.23]
43, 23. blind watchman, cp. Isa. lvi. 10.
[44.24]
44, 24. he beats the air, cp. 1 Cor. ix. 26.
[45.19]
45, 19. with the cunning steward, cp. Luke xvi. 3, 8.

VII

[46.2]
46, 2. scatter the nations that delight in war, cp. Ps. lxviii. 30.
[46.8a]
46, 8. Apollo becomes the Python's prey; in reference to the fight of Apollo and Python, the serpent produced from the mud left on the earth after the deluge of Deucalion; it lived in the caves of Mount Parnassus, but was slain by Apollo, who founded the Pythian games in commemoration of his victory.
[46.8b]
46, 8. et tunc Phronesis pia mater in phrenesis redigitur potestatem. "Phronesis," i.e. practical wisdom, prudence, "the virtue concerned in the government of men," is personified in Martianus Capella, De Nuptiis Philologiæ et Mercurii, as the mother of philology.
[47.2]
47, 2. master of the master of the world; Aristotle was the tutor and adviser of Alexander the Great.

132

[47.5]
47, 5. from his sacred home, "a sacratis ædibus"; some MSS. read "Socratis." The reference has not been explained. Sacratis ædibus occurs in 2 Macc. vi. 4.
[47.9]
47, 9. O most wicked power of darkness, cp. Luke xxii. 53; Col. i. 13.
[47.10]
47, 10. the approved divinity of Plato, "Platonis ... deitatem probatam"; cp. De disciplina Scholarium, iv., "Platonis probata divinitas."
[47.13]
47, 13. before form had put on its garb or matter, "ante quam hylen entelechia induisset"; Arist. Met. xi. 8, 13: το τι ην ειναι ουκ εξει υλην το πρωτον εντελεξεια γαρ.
εντελεξεια, the actual being of a thing; according to Aristotle, the soul is the ε. of the body, that by which it actually is, though it had a δυναμισ or capacity of existing before.
This is the famous word which so puzzled Hermolaus Barbarus that he is said to have summoned the devil to his assistance.
[47.20]
47, 20. to some rascal robber, "vitiosi vispilionis", vispilio, a robber; cp. the classical vespillo, a pauper's undertaker.
[47.21]
47, 21. We bemoan Pythagoras, the reference is to the death of Pythagoras in consequence of political disturbances at Crotona.
[47.23]
47,23. the wailings of a dove, cp. Isa. lx. 8.
[47.24]
47, 24. We mourn, too, for Zeno; De Bury has confounded Zeno the Stoic, who died of old age, with Zeno of Elea, of whom the story mentioned in the text is told. The authorities vary the name of the tyrant. "Diomedon" (corrupted in the MSS. and texts) is from the version as told by Hermippus.
[48.11]
48, 11. Cp. Aulus Gellius, vi. 17. De Bury wrote "secundo bello Alexandrino"; Aulus Gellius, "bello priore Alexandrino"; the number varies in the MSS., but according to Gellius it was "millia ferme septinginta," hence the rendering in the text.
[48.21]
48, 21. innocents in whose mouth was no guile, cp. Rev. xiv. 5.
[48.25]
48, 25. a pious daughter; the text reads "filia virgo."
[49.3]
49, 3. on his unyielding neck, "collo irreflexo"; the phrase was derived from Boethius, De Cons. Phil. iv. metr. 7.
[49.4]
49, 4. now for the second time; the first time being when
133

poisoned by the shirt of Nessus, he ascended a pile of wood and ordered it to be set on fire.
[49.6]
49, 6. Jonithus; according to Methodius, a fourth son of Noah, who was supposed to have invented astronomy.
[49.8]
49, 8. his brother Zoroaster; cp. Gervase Tilbury, Otia Imper. i. 20. "Zoroaster alio nomine Cham filius Noæ vocabatur."
[49.9]
49, 9. Enoch; cp. Ecclus. xliv. 16.
[49.13]
49, 13. caught up in an extasy, cp. 2 Cor. xii. 4.
[49.16]
49, 16. the book of the Perfect Word; "liber Logostilios"; the reference is to the lost treatise of the quasi-mythical Hermes Trismegistus, extant only in the Latin translation of Apuleius, which was entitled Λογοσ τεγειοσ, or, as St. Augustine renders it, Verbum Perfectum.
[49.17]
49, 17. the older Athens, cp. the Timæus and Crito of Plato, for the account of the Egyptian Athens supposed to be given to Solon by a priest of Sais.
[50.5]
50, 5. Nay, Aristotle would not have missed, etc.; "Numquid Aristotelem de circuli quadratura syllogismus apodicticon latuisset."
[51.2]
51, 2. like sheep, cp. Ezek. xxxiv. 5.
[51.5]
51, 5. the gates of death; Ps. cvii. 18.
[51.8]
51, 8. that translation of books; the story is taken from Aulu5 Gellius, Noctes Atticæ, vi. 17.
[51.11]
51, 11. O glad and joyful return; "O postliminium gratiosum."
[52.3]
52, 3. the Gades; i.e. limit. Originally a Punic word meaning boundary, in which sense the place-name was used in mediæval Latin.
[52.5]
52, 5. the ruler of Olympus, "rector Olympi"; Ovid. Met ix. 498.

VIII

[54.22]
54, 22. Aumbries, "armaria"; "armarium" was a monastic term for a book-chest, hence also `a library'; and the librarian was called "armarius" ("The Care of Books" by Mrs. J.W. Clark).

134

[55.6]
55, 6. in purple and fine linen, cp. Exod. xxxv. 6.
[55.7]
55, 7. in sackcloth and ashes, cp. Matt. xi. 21.
[55.8]
55. 8. given up to oblivion, cp. Ps. xxx. 13.
[55.11]
55, 11. his stores of gums and spices, "aromatum apothecas," cp. Isa. xxxix. 2.
[56.1]
56, 1-4. "Sed revera libros non libras maluimus, codicesque plus dileximus quam florenos, ac panfletos exiguos incrassatis prætulimus palefridis." "Panfletos" appears to be one of the earliest recorded instances—if not the earliest instance—of the word.
[57.1]
57, 1. the lounges of Athens. "Athenarum diverticula"
[57.9]
57, 9. Dionysius the Areopagite,to whom were attributed a number of treatises, now believed to be the later productions of some Christian Neo-Platonists.
[57.10]
57, 10. the Virgin Carmentis, "Virgo Carmenta"; Cadmus the Phoenician is supposed to have introduced the alphabet into Greece, whence it was carried into Italy by Evander the Arcadian. His mother Carmenta accompanied him, and she is said to have turned the Greek into Roman characters.
[57.15]
57, 15. cp. Prov. xx. 14.
[59.14]
59, 14. high schools, "generalia studia."
[59.19]
59, 19. nets and snares, cp. Ezek. xii. 13.
[60.20]
60, 20. all that is delicious, cp. Wisdom xvi. 20.
[61.2]
61, 2. cp. Exod. xxxi. 4.
[61.4]
61, 4. cp. Exod. xxxv. 35.
[61.7]
61, 7. cp. Exod. xxvi. 1-7.
[61.8]
61, 8. cp. Exod. xxvi. 14.
[61.10]
61, 10. oxen treading out corn, cp. 1 Cor. ix. 9.
[61.11]
61, 11. stars remaining, cp. Judges v. 20.
[61.14]
61, 14. cp. Matt. xx. 6.
[61.24]
61, 24. the preachers and Minors, "prædicatores et minores," cp. Chap. VI.
[62.3]
62, 3. tabulation, "tabulationibus," possibly indexes or summaries.
[62.13]
62, 13. stationers, the "stationarii" of the Middle Ages were originally rather lenders than sellers of books.
[62.24]
62, 24. with usury, "cum usuris," cp. Luke xix. 23.

135

IX

[66.12]
66, 12. Phocas, one of the favourite grammars of the middle ages:—
"Omnia cum veterum sint explorata libellis,
Multa loqui breviter sit novitatis opus."
[67.3]
67, 3. De Vetula, erroneously assigned to Ovid; the passages quoted run as follows:—
"Omnes declinant ad ea, quæ lucra ministrant,
Utque sciant discunt pauci, plures ut abundent;
Sic te prostituunt, 0 virgo Scientia! sic te
Venalem faciunt castis amplexibus aptam,
Non te propter te quærentes, sed lucra per te,
Ditarique volunt potius, quam philosophari.
* * * * * * *
Sic Philosophia
Exilium patitur, et Philopecunia regnat."
[69.23]
69, 23. Perihermenias; the De Interpretatione of Aristotle; called by this name in the Middle Ages.
[70.1]
70, 1. with baneful haste and a harmful diploma, "dispendioso compendio damnosoque diplomate."
[70.8]
70, 8. papal provisions; the Statute of Provisors, 1350, was directed against this practice.
[70.11]
70, 11. building up Sion in blood, cp. Micah iii. 10.
[71.4]
71, 4. and reacheth from end to end, etc., cp. Wisdom viii. 1.
[71.14]
71, 14. so her soldiery are unmanned and languishing. This was written a year or two before the battle of Creĉy.

X

[73.12]
73, 12. lynx-eyed, "oculis lynceis"; the phrase originally referred to Lynceus, the Argonaut, who was famed for the keenness of his vision; then it was transferred to the lynx, and gave rise to the fable that it could see through a wall.

136

[73.24]
73, 24. Pandects. The term Pandects, from the Greek πανδεκται, was applied to encyclopedic works, and the term is used by Justinian in referring to the digest of Roman law made by his orders from the writings of the Roman jurists.
[73.25]
73, 25. Tegni; the writings of Galen were known in Middle Ages through the Arabian physicians, and the title of his τεχνη Ιατρικη, his best known work, was corrupted into Tegni or Tegne.
[74.1]
74, 1. Avicenna, the famous Arabian philosopher and physician of the eleventh century, drew largely from the writings of the Greeks.
[74.2]
74, 2. Almagest, cp. Chap. I. 10. 6.
[74.17]
74, 17. Parthenius, a Greek poet, of whom a single line has come down to us in consequence of its adoption by Virgil into the Georgics (i. 437).
[75.17]
75, 17. Mother of God, "Theotokos." Nestorius, the Bishop of Constantinople, refused to apply the name Θεοτοκοσ to the Virgin Mary, and this heresy led to his deposition and to the separation of the Eastern and Western Churches. A great part of the life of S. Cyril, the bishop of Alexandria, was devoted to the contest with Nestorius, whose deposition at the Council of Ephesus he brought about in 431.
[76.16]
76, 16. Clement V. At the Council of Vienna in 1312, Raymond Lully obtained from the Council a decree for the establishment of professorships of Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, and Chaldee in Rome, Paris, Oxford, Bologna, and Salamanca, at the expense of the Pope and the prelates. Roger Bacon had urged Clement IV. to cause Greek, Hebrew and Arabic to be taught in the Universities. His Greek Grammar, together with a fragment of his Hebrew Grammar, has recently been edited by E. Nolan and S.A.Hirsch (Cambridge,l902): these were perhaps the grammars referred to by De Bury (cp. also, "The Cambridge Modern History," vol. i., chapter xvii.).

XI

[77.4]
77, 4. the children of this world, "hujus sæculi filiis," cp. Luke xvi. 8.

137

[78.10]
78, 10. the over-mastering love of books, "librorum amor hereos"; nearly all the MSS. read hereos, one MS. herous, ereus. The word is one of the few unsettled cruces, if not the only crux, in the Philobiblon, and baffled even Mr. Thomas's efforts; he proposed δεινοσ, in view of the difficulty of hereos, "of which no trace is to be found in the dictionaries." But surely the MSS. are correct; "amor hereos" reminds one of Chaucer's phrase, "the loveres maladye of Hereos," i.e. the lover's disease of Eros (Knight's Tale, 515); amor hereos=love-passion, "hereos" being used in apposition to amor or adjectively.
[78.16]
78, 16. the scorpion in treacle, cp. Arist. Opp. Lat. 1496 f. 573: "Hæc scientia utilis est, ut est utilis scorpio in tyriaca; quæ licet sit toxicum tamen si datur patienti dolorem minuit et præstat remedium." The De Pomo, a treatise on the immortality of the soul, was falsely attributed to Aristotle, being really translated from the Hebrew by Manfred, son of the Emperor Frederick II.
[79.1]
79, 1. cp. Luke xi. 34-36.
[79.4]
79, 4. for the regulation of social life, cp. Wisdom viii. 9.
[79.6]
79. 6. synteresis, "a naturall power of ye soule, set in the highest part thereof, mooving and stirring it to good, and abhorring evil" (the Doctor and Student, dialog. 1. c. 13).

XII

[82.3]
82, 3. royal roads, "stratas regias."

XIII

[84.18]
84, 18, 21. Horace, A.P. 333, 343:—
"Aut prodesse volunt aut delectare poetæ."
"Omne tulit punctum qui miscuit utile dulci."
[85.1]
85, 1. Pons Asinorum, the original reads "elefuga," cp.
138

Roger Bacon, Op. Tert. ii. 21: ("Quinta propositio geometriæ Euclidis dicitur Elefuga, id est fuga miserorum."
[85.3]
85, 3. cp. John vi. 60.
[85.4]
85, 4. The child of inconstancy; Mr. Thomas discovered the source of this passage in the De disciplina scholarium, a work long attributed to Boethius.
[86.7]
86, 7. Gratian collected the decrees and constitutions of the Popes into a body of canon law.
[87.3]
87, 3. cp. Donatus' life of Virgil, c. xviii.

XIV

[88.11]
88, 11. Aristotle, cp. Met. i. 2.
[89.1]
89, 1. Sceptre in her left hand, cp. De Cons. Phil. i. pr. 4.
[89.5]
89, 5. cp. the passage in the 5th Bk. of the Republic, cited by Boethius.
[89.20]
89, 20. the charioteer of his father's car, "currus auriga paterni," cp. Ovid, Met. ii. 327.

XV

[91.4]
91, 4. Though one should speak, cp. 1 Cor. xiii. 1.
[91.10]
91, 10. cp. Wisdom xvii. 18.
[92.6]
92, 6. cp. Ovid, Remed. Am. 139.
[93.4]
93, 4. No iron-stained hand, etc., from the Eutheticus, or introductory verses to the Policraticon of John of Salisbury:—
"Nulla libris erit apta manus ferrugine tincta,
Nec nummata queunt corda vacare libris.
Non est ejusdem nummos librosque probrare;
Persequitur libros grex, Epicure, tuus.
Nummipetæ cum libricolis nequeunt simul esse;
Ambos, crede mihi, non tenet una domus."
[93.10]
93, 10. Mammon, cp. Matt. vi. 24.
[93.14]
93, 14. The demon who derives his name from knowledge, cp.
139

Aug. De Civ. Dei, ix. 20: Δαιμονεσ enim dicuntur, quoniam vocabulum graecum est, ob scientiam nominati."
[94.1]
94, 1. cp. Wisdom xiii. 5; Rom. i. 25.
[94.6]
94, 6. Charity is not puffed up, cp. I Cor. xiii. 4.
[94.19]
94, 19. as well as those that are not, cp. Rom. iv. 17.
[95.12]
95, 12. which eye hath not seen, cp. I Cor. ii. 9.
[95.15]
95, 15. to separate substances, probably the reference is to the angels.
[96.20]
96, 20. cp. Acts viii. 27.

XVI

[98.2]
98, 2. arms, "arma Vulcania."
[99.6]
99, 6. seed to its dead brother, cp. Deut. xxv. 5; Matt. xxii. 24.
[99.7]
99, 7. cp. Ecclus. xxx. 4.
[99.14]
99, 14. Cassiodorus, De institutione divinarum litterarum, Ch. 30.
[100.19]
100, 19. cp. Job xxxi. 35.
[100.22]
100, 22. cp. Jer. xxxvi. 18.
[101.5]
101, 5. Being dead, etc., cp. Heb. xi. 4.
[101.17]
101, 17. the longevity of the ancients, "polychronitudinem antiquorum," corrupted in some MSS. "ppolicritudinem," "policrotudinem," "pulcritudinem," "sollicitudinem."
[101.23]
101, 23. cp. Josephus, Antiq. Jud. i. 3, 9.
[102.3]
102, 3. energy, the better MSS. seem to point to the reading ευεξια "euechia," rather than energia.

XVII

[105.20]
105, 20. as black as jet, "gagati simillimum."
[106.6]
106, 6. wallet, "eleemosynarium," i.e. alms-bag.
[106.15]
106, 15. Now the rain is over and gone, etc., cp. Song of Songs ii. 11, 12.
[107.11]
107, 11, 12. the Latinist and sophister; the students were
140

enjoined to use Latin in ordinary conversation; hence they might be called Latinistæ. In the third year of his residence the student of the liberal arts was allowed to become a "sophister," and to take part in logical disputations.
[108.1]
108, 1. the clasps, "signacula," cp. Rev. v. 2.
[108.11]
108, 11. he who walketh without blemish, cp. Ps. xv. 2.

XVIII

[110.7]
110, 7. with singleness of eye, "oculo simplici," cp. Matt. vi. 22.
[107.7]
107, 7. the right hand, etc., cp. Matt. vi. 3.
[110.8]
110, 8. the lump is uncorrupted by leaven, cp. 1 Cor. v. 6; cp. Gal. v. 9.
[110.9]
110, 9. Nor is the garment woven of wool and linen, cp. Deut. xxii. 11.
[111.9]
111, 9. now for excess of curiosity, "nunc de curiositate superflua," cp. 1 Tim. v. 13.
[111.14]
111, 14. the heart and reins, cp. Ps. vii. 9.
[111.19]
111, 19. the ultimate springs of which they cannot see, "quorum fontale non vident principium," cp. "virtutis et sapientiæ fontale principium," used of the University of Paris by the Cistercians in 1322.
[112.9]
112, 9. the chief nursing mother, etc., "omnium artium nutrice præcipua."
[112.22]
112, 22. to the lovers of pelf, "nummicolis."
[113.7]
113, 7. under the aspect of Mercury, cp. Roger Bacon, Op. Maj. p. 121. "Mercurius est significator scripturæ et scriptorum et profunditatis scientiarum."

XIX

[114.13]
114, 13. in—Hall at Oxford, the best MSS. read—N—; probably for Nomen, signifying that some name was to be filled in. Most modern editors print nostra.
[115.7]
115, 7. Five of the scholars, "quinque de scholaribus," nearly equivalent to "Fellows."

141

XX

[118.7]
118, 7. in the dust of vanity, cp. Mic. i. 10.
[118.14]
118, 14. unprofitable servants, cp. Luke xvii. 10.
[118.15]
118, 15. the most holy Job, etc., cp. Job ix. 28.
[119.1]
119, 1. as filthy rags, cp. Isa. lxiv. 6.
[119.7]
119, 7. as Dionysius, cp. Op. cit. iv. 30:— Συνελοντι δε φαναι το αγαθον εκ τησ ολησ αιτιασ, το δε κακον εκ πλλων και μερικων ελλειψεων.
[120.13]
120,13. our spirit may desire to be dissolved, cp. Phil. i. 23.
[120.15]
120,15. our conversation may be in Heaven, cp. Phil. iii. 20.
[120.18]
120, 18. returning from the husks, cp. Luke xv. 16-17.
[120.19]
120, 19. the piece of silver that has been lately found, cp. Luke xv. 8-9.
[120.23]
120, 23. that old serpent, cp. Rev. xii. 9.
[121.1]
121, 1. the awful judgment-seat, "terrendum tribunal," cp. 2 Cor. v. 10-11.
[121.5]
121, 5. the frame of our carnal nature, "carnalis naturæ figmentum," cp. Ps. ciii. 14.
[121.19]
121, 19. the bottomless pit, cp. Rev. xx. 3.
[121.21]
121, 21. the most deserving Confessor Cuthbert, St. Cuthbert, the patron Saint of the Cathedral at Durham, Bishop of Lindisfarne in 685; his final resting-place became the seat of the Palatine See.
[122.1]
122, 1. his assessor, "concessorem," cp. Eph. ii. 6, "consedere fecit in cælestibus"; other MSS. and texts "confessorem."

University of Virginia Library

Notes

PROLOGUE

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

VII

VIII

IX

X

XI

XII

XIII

XIV

XV

XVI

XVII

XVIII

XIX

XX