Albertus Magnus, Commentarii super libris De Generatione et Corruptione and Metheororum, both by Aristotle, in Latin, manuscript on vellum

Estimate

6,000 - 8,000 GBP

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Description

104 leaves (2 blank), 301mm. by 223mm., complete, collation: i-iii^{8, iv-v^{12, vi^{8, vii^{6, viii^{12, ix^{6, x-xii^{8, with horizontal catchwords, double column, 49 lines, written-space 223mm. by 152mm., written in dark brown ink in a small gothic bookhand, headings in red, paragraph-marks in red or blue, decorated initials throughout in red or blue with contrasting penwork, mostly 2-line (a few larger),}}}}}}} historiated initial ‘I’ on fol.27r, 48mm. by 17mm., showing a standing Dominican friar (Albertus Magnus) with his finger raised as he explains the text, many medieval side-notes and additions attesting to extensive and careful study, upper edges very defective from damp throughout and nearly every page defective in its upper part, with loss of text (sometimes considerable), now repaired throughout with blank vellum, a few wormholes at ends, other wear and signs of use, paper boards, vellum spine

Provenance

provenance

Written in the context of a medieval university. The vellum and penwork look Italian; the historiated initial appears to be French. It was commonly assumed once that manuscripts were often written in Bologna and sent to Paris for illumination and sale, which would explain books with mixed styles, but probably it is simpler to envisage an origin in one of the university towns of southern France, such as Toulouse (cf. F. Avril in L’Art au temps des rois maudits Philippe le Bel et ses fils, 1285-1328, 1998, pp.329-30, esp. no.229, Paris, BnF., ms. n.a. lat. 2511). Folios 81r-85r here have lines numbered in arabic numerals on every fifth line, in the Oxford manner.

Catalogue Note

text

The manuscript comprises commentaries on two of the great scientific texts of Aristotle, on biology, geology and cosmography, written by Albertus Magnus (c.1206-1280), one of the most important scientists of the Middle Ages. The first is the Commentarium super duobus libris de generatione et corruptione Aristotelis, for which cf. P. Glorieux, Répertoire des maîtres en théologie de Paris aux XIIIe siècle, I, 1933, p.66, no.6ae, and C.H. Lohr, ‘Latin Aristotle Commentaries, I, Medieval Authors’, Traditio, XXIII, 1967, p.342, no.15. The text was first printed in Venice in 1485 and the standard edition is A. Borgnet, ed., Albertus Magnus, Opera Omnia, IV, 1890, pp.345-476. Ten manuscripts are listed by Thorndike and Kibre, 1963, col.295; to judge from the Schoenberg database, no manuscript of the text appears to have come onto the market since 1925. The opening here is partly defective, but begins on fol.1r, “C[um due sint considerationes de mobile simplici] …”, continuing with Book I, tractates ii (fol.6v), iii (fol.7r), iv (fol.9v), v (fol.10v) and vi (fol.13v), and Book II, tractates i (fol.15v), ii (fol.17r) and iii (fol.20v), ending on fol.24v, “… de celo et mundo dicta sunt, Explicit deo gracias, Explicit liber de Generacione et Corruptione secundum fratrem albericum thotonicum de ordine fratrum predicatorum”.

The second text, here divided into two parts, is the Commentarium in libris IV Meteorum, for which cf. Glorieux, op. cit., p.67, no.6af, and Lohr, loc. cit., p.342, no.16. It often accompanies the De generatione, and was first printed in Venice in 1488. It is pp.477-808 in the Bourget edition, cited above, IV, 1890. Only five manuscripts are listed by Thorndike and Kibre, col.717. It opens on fol.27r, “In scientia naturali corpus mobile subiectum est …”, preceded by a table of chapters (fols.25r-27r), continuing with Book II, tractates i (fol.36v), ii (fol.42v) and iii (fol.46v), Book III, tractates i (fol.52r), ii (fol.58r), iii (fol.64r), iv (fol.70v), v (fol.79r); and Book IV, tractates i (fol.81r), ii (fol.89v), iii (fol.95v) and iv (fol.100r), ending on fol.103r, “… sciencia in tria dividetur, Explicit deo gracias, Explicit liber metheororum compositus per fratrem albertum theutonicum de ordine fratrum predicatorum”.