YALE UNIVERSITY
BEINECKE RARE BOOK AND MANUSCRIPT LIBRARY
GENERAL COLLECTION OF RARE BOOKS AND
MANUSCRIPTS
PRE-1600 MANUSCRIPTS
Marston MS 88 Northern France, s. XIII 2/4
Aristotle, Opera varia, in Lat. tr.
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1. ff. 1r-31r Primum oportet dicere circa quid et de quo est
intencio. quoniam circa demonstracionem...cui autem b. a. omni et
non pluribus sed convertitur si autem non: non erit unum vnius
signum. Explicit liber priorvm analeticorum [followed by a diagram].
f. 31v blank
Aristotle, Priora analytica, Lat. tr. Boethius. L. Minio-Paluello,
ed., Analytica priora: Aristoteles latinus v. III, 1-4 (Bruges-
Paris, 1962) pp. 5-139 (this manuscript cited on p. xxxvii, no. 265);
translation identified by the editor (Intro., p. liii) as a mixture
of the recensio Florentina and the recensio Carnutensis. Text is
accompanied by extensive marginalia.
2. ff. 32r-51r Omnis doctrina et omnis disciplina intellectiua ex
preexistenti fit cognicione...utique erit intellectus scientie
principiorum et principium principiis. hoc autem omne similiter se
habet ad omne genus rerum. Explicit liber posteriorum analeticorum.
f. 51v blank
Aristotle, Posteriora analytica, Lat. tr. Jacobus Veneticus (ca.
1130-40). L. Minio-Paluello and B. G. Dod, eds., Analytica posteriora:
Aristoteles latinus v. IV, 1-4 (Bruges-Paris, 1968) pp. 5-107 (this
manuscript cited on p. xxxiii, no. 287). Text is accompanied by
extensive marginalia.
3. ff. 52r-66r [Part I:] Omnis ars et omnis doctrina. Similiter
autem et operacio et proheresis boni alicuius operatrix esse uidetur...
[f. 57r:] habitum autem eos qui laudabiles uirtutes dicimus
intellectuales. [Part II, beginning on line 8:] Duplici autem
uirtute existente hac quidem intellectuali illa uero consuetudinali
...[f. 66r, line 20:] nomen autem incontinencie et ad puerilia
peccata transferimus. [Additional paragraph, beginning with line 21:]
habet enim simile...de castitate in tantum dictum sit. Explicit liber
ethicorum.
Although written as a single work in this manuscript, the text consists
of two distinct parts. Part I is the "Ethica nova" (Bk. I of the Ethica
Nicomachea) in an anonymous translation produced s. XIII#i#n; R. A.
Gauthier, ed., Ethica Nicomachea: Aristoteles latinus v. XXVI, 1-3.2
(Leiden, 1972) text: pp. 65-95; detailed analysis of Marston MS 88,
which was used to establish this edition, on pp. lxxi-lxxv.
Part II is the "Ethica vetus, editio longior" (Bks. II and III of the
Ethica Nicomachea) in an anonymous translation produced s. XII#e#x.
Gauthier, op. cit., text: pp. 5-48, 130-131; Marston MS 88 discussed
on pp. xx, xxxvii-xxxviii, xlii. The text in this manuscript is called
the "editio longior" because of the additional paragraph at the
conclusion (cf. Gauthier, op.cit., Appendix on pp. cxlvii-cli).
Text is accompanied by extensive marginalia; in addition, a long
continuous text on the ontological structure of forms was written
into the margins of ff. 56v-66r.
4. ff. 66v-84r [In upper margin:] Incipit liber de anima.
[text:] Bonorum et honorabilium notitiam opinantes magis autem
alteram altera que est secundum certitudinem aut ex eo quod meliorum
...auditum autem ut significet aliquid sibi ipsi linguam uero
quatenus significet aliquid alteri.
Aristotle, De anima, Lat. tr. Jacobus Veneticus as identified by
L. Minio-Paluello, "Le texte du De anima d'Aristote: la tradition
latine avant 1500," Autour d'Aristote: Receuil d'etudes...offert
a Mons. A. Mansion (Louvain, 1955) pp. 217-43. The text is
accompanied by extensive marginalia.
5. ff. 84r-86r Reliquorum autem primo considerandum de memoria et
memorari quid est et propter quas fit et cui anime...memorantur
animalia et de reminisci quidem et quo modo fit et propter quas
causas dictum est. f. 86v blank
Aristotle, De anima ([Greek] from the Parva naturalia), Lat.
tr. Jacobus Veneticus; this treatise follows art. 4 directly without
break or rubric. See L. Minio-Paluello, "Jacobus Veneticus Grecus:
Canonist and Translator of Aristotle," Traditio 8 (1952) pp. 265-304.
Parchment (thin, pliable), ff. i (paper) + 86 + i (paper), 202 x 150
(117 x 80) mm. Ca. 32 long lines. Single vertical and double
horizontal bounding lines; ruled faintly in lead.
I-II 8, III 8 (-7, no loss of text), IV-VII 8, VIII 10, IX-X 8,
XI 8 (-6 through 8, blanks, stubs remain). Faint traces of catchwords,
lower edge near gutter.
Written in a small neat gothic text script, above top line and
with uncrossed tironian et. Marginal and interlinear annotations,
contemporary or slightly later, in a variety of scholarly hands;
annotations written in ink, crayon and lead, some very faded and
barely legible.
Attractive flourished initials, red and blue divided with
penwork designs in the same colors, mark the beginning of arts. 1-4;
first few words of each of these texts written in red and blue
alternating majuscules. For minor text divisions 2-line initials red
or blue with designs in the opposite color. Paragraph marks in red
(or sometimes alternating red and blue). Headings and instructions to
rubricator in red.
Binding: Germany, s. xix. Parchment case binding made from a
bifolium of a missal (Germany, s. xv) containing text for the end of
the Secret for the 11th Sunday after Pentecost through part of the
Gospel reading for the 12th Sunday. Remains of title, in ink, on
spine. Pink (faded red?) edges.
Written in Northern France in the second quarter of the 13th
century; given the extensive contemporary annotations, it was
probably produced as a school text. Contemporary inscription on
f. 86v: "pro duodecim sol. emptus fuit;" remainder illegible.
Belonged in the 18th century to the library of the Benedictine
monastery of St. Georgenberg, now Fiecht, in Austria (inscription
in upper margin, f. 1r: "Bibliothecae Montis Sancti Georgij. II.
68"); Gauthier, op.cit., p. xx (Marston MS 88 listed incorrectly
as Marston MS 11 and assigned to Germany, s. XIII#e#x). For a
brief history of this monastery, pertinent bibliography, and a
catalogue of its present holdings see P. Jeffery and D. Yates,
Descriptive Inventories of Manuscripts Microfilmed for the Hill
Monastic Manuscript Library, Austrian Libraries, Vol. II: St.
Georgenberg-Fiecht (Collegeville, Minn., 1985). Traces of large
bookplate, now missing, on front pastedown. Pencil notes on front
pastedown and front flyleaf: "II c. 20" and "M. II. c. 20;" in ink
on front flyleaf: "14." Clipping, in German, from unidentified sale
catalogue glued to front pastedown. Two modern pencil notes on back
pastedown: "66 fl [?]W" and "M. Z. Sanders." Purchased from C. A.
Stonehill (inv. no. 3034) in 1954 by Thomas E. Marston (bookplate).
secundo folio: non album
Bibliography: Faye and Bond, p. 74, no. 88.
Barbara A. Shailor