Présentation du contenu

Source des données : Mmmonk

• Manuscript 510 is a collection of twenty theological and philosophical writings, roughly divisible in three major sections. The first section includes non-Western philosophy, with the first two texts being works of Avicenna (980-1037), an Islamic scholar. Of these, the first (ff. 1v-37v) is Avicenna's commentary on the sixth book of Aristotle's De naturalibus. This book is also known individually as De anima. A later (possibly 14th-century) hand has used the originally empty f. 1v for a table of contents. The second text (ff. 37v-54r) is Avicenna's Logica. Both texts have been translated in the twelfth century by the Jewish philosopher Avendauth, working in Toledo. His dedicatory letter to the archbishop of the city, that accompanies the De anima, is found on f. 2r. The third text (ff. 54r-55v), called De unitate et uno, has traditionally been attributed to Boethius, but is now believed to have been written by the twelfth-century philosopher Dominicus Gundissalinus. This scholar was also Toledan, a colleague of Averdauth, and an important translator of Aristotelian texts. The fourth text (ff. 55v-61r), containing the De definitionibus, has similarly been ascribed to Boethius in this manuscript. In reality, the author is the fourth century Roman grammarian Gaius Marius Victorinus. The second section of this manuscript includes texts from important theologians. The fifth (ff. 62r-118r) and sixth (ff. 118r-119r) text are both copies of Ambrose of Milan's Hexameron, discussing the Creation in six days. The former is the complete text, the latter just a fragment. The section is also closed by one of Ambrose's writings, De Cain et Abel (ff. 153r-170r). In between there are five shorter works by Hugh of Saint-Victor (d. 1141) an important pre-Thomist scholastic theologian and a prolific writer. Consequently these are (ff. 120r-128r) Explicatio in Canticum beatae Mariae; (ff. 128r-140r) De virginitate beatae Mariae; (ff. 140v-142v) De septem vitiis; (ff. 142v-150r) De oratione dominica; and (ff. 150r-152r) De septem donis Spiritus Sancti. The third section consists of Western philosophy, and commences (ff. 171r-204v) with De ortu sive divisione scientiarum by the Dominican scholar Robertus Kilwardby (ca. 1200-1279). Following a few pages (ff. 204v-206r) of short treatises on a variety of subjects, five sophismata are found; sentences that are ambiguous in logic or grammar, and whose meaning and validity is based on the interpretation of the sentence. In order, these are (ff. 207r-209r) Sophisma de specie intelligibili; (ff. 210r-212v) Sophisma: Logica est scientia; (ff. 212v-214r) Sophisma Vtrum genus possit salvari in una specie; (ff. 214r-223v) Sophisma: Sorte nichil sciente scit aliquid; and (ff. 223v-226r) Sophisma Vtrum genus significet unam naturam vel plures. The first, third and final sophismata were authored by Bartholomaeus de Brugis (ca. 1285-1356); the fourth by Johannes de Gottinga (ca. 1280-1349). The latter presents an intriguing piece of information, stating that the sophisma was originally written in 1305. This is a terminus post quem for this unit of the codex. The final work in the codex (ff. 227r-237r) is Henricus of Ghent's Syncategoremata, discussing words that are not subjects or predicates in proposition Codicologically the codex holds six units, of which the first was written in the thirteenth century, and the others in the fourteenth (but not as a unity). As such, the layout of each unit is different from the others. The first unit, containing the first four texts, are written in a neat textualis, with continuous presence of paragraph marks in red and blue ink, elaborate initials at the beginning of each text and penwork initials for separate books. The second unit, containing the two copies of the Hexameron, is written in a rounder textualis script, leaning somewhat more towards a hybrid form with the Gothic cursive script. Decoration is absent, although spaces have been reserved for initials. Not only these two texts belong to this unit, this is also the case with De Cain et Abel (ff. 153r-170r). The third unit, with the texts of Hugh of Saint-Victor, is written in a highly similar hand. Unlike the previous unit, here a handful of decorated initials are found, such as at the beginning of the De virginitate. The fourth unit, containing Kilwardby's treatise and the varia, is written in a fast and less posed textualis script, reminiscent of documentary script. Red ink is present at the beginning, but restricted to highlighting certain majuscules and a few crudely drawn initials. The fifth unit, consisting of the sophismata, is written in a neat hybrid script, without any decoration, although again with spaces having been reserved for initials. The sixth unit, the Syncategoremata, is written in a textualis script, but has abundant decoration: red ink is used for initials, paragraph marks and for highlighting majuscules. The binding is medieval and consists of full brown leather over wooden boards. The fenestra has survived and is attached to the back board. Traces of clamps and mounds survive. The codex was originally owned by the Ter Doest abbey, and found its way into the collection of Ten Duinen. The cross-shaped stamp of the latter abbey is found on the first and final leaves. [Summary by Dr. Mark Vermeer]