Royal MS 12 C XX

WORKS by, or attributed to, Aristotle, in Latin; with other translations, &c., viz:

1. 'Yconomia Aristotelis sic incipit': an abridgement of the two books contained in Harley MS. 5004, f. 181b. Of these the former is a version of the existing Greek Oeconomica, lib. i, the second is a translation (made according to some MSS. in 1295 by William de Moerbeke) from a lost tract which Hesychius calls (see Valentin Rose, Aristotelis Pseudepigraphus, Leipzig, 1863, p. 644). Lib. i beg. 'Yconomia et politica differunt plus quam domus et ciuitas'; lib. ii, 'Bonam mulierem eorum que intus sunt dominari oportet, indecens enim'. f. 2.

2. 'Liber Aristotelis de moribus' (so colophon): the Isagogicon in libros morales Aristotelis of Leonardus Aretinus [Leonardo Bruni, of Arezzo, d. 1444] printed in the Fontana ed. of Aristotle (Gregori, Venice, 1496), fol. 123, and elsewhere. Beg. 'Sicut uiuendi, Galeote, sic etiam bene uiuendi'. f. 5.

3. 'Opusculum Enee Siluii de duobus amantibus scilicet Eurialo Francone et Lucresia Etrusca, (so colophon): a romance by Enea Silvio Piccolomini, Imperial Secretary and Poet Laureate, elected Pope in 1458 as Pius II. Dated 'Ex Vienna, v Non. Jul. [3 July], 1444'. Preceded by two letters, one to the Imperial Chancellor Caspar Schlick, who appears to be the original of Eurialus, the other to Marianus Zosinus [al. Sosinus] of Siena. Both these are contained in the Cologne (1490 ?) edition; many of the other editions have the second letter only. See a fuller account in Ward, Cat. of Romances, i, p. 801. The letters beg. 'Magnifico et generoso militi' and 'Eneas Silvius poeta'; the text, 'Urbem Senas vnde tibi et mihi origo'. f. 17.

4. 'Mafei Vegei dialogus inter Alithiam et Philaliten'; by Maffeo Vegio of Lodi (d. 1458). Printed at Cologne, 1470, and elsewhere. Prologue beg. 'Mafeus Vegeus Eustochio fratri'; text, 'Quenam es tu mortalium'. f. 47.

5. 'Epistola optima de obediencia et fide vxoria Grisildi apposita' (to which the table of contents adds 'secundum Franciscum', sc. Petrarcham) : the story of Patient Grisel, the last novel of the Decamerone of Giovanni Boccaccio, translated into Latin by Petrarch. Printed (with a prefatory letter) at Ulm, 1473, and elsewhere. Beg. 'Est ad Ytalie latus occiduum'. f. 58b.

6. 'Secreta Secretorum Aristotelis': the common Pseudo-Aristotelian work (cf. 9 B. II, art. 11). The person addressed in Philip's preface appears as 'Gwido u[er]e deuallen[cia] ciuitatis Tropal. gloriosus pontirex'. The contents include two of the four passages wanting in 9 B. II, which are present in 12 D. III. f. 66.

7. 'Vita Aristotelis': the anonymous life edited first in the Fontana Aristotle (1496), afterwards by P. J. Nunnez (Leiden, 1631) and (with the original Greek text, contained in a MS. at S. Mark's, Venice) by L. Robbe, Leiden, 1861. Beg. 'Aristotiles philosophus de gente quidem fuit Macedo'. f. 111.

8. 'Aristoteles de Pomo': an Arabic compilation of aphorisms translated into Hebrew by Abraham Bar- Chasdai, a Barcelona Rabbi, and from Hebrew into Latin by Manfred, a natural son of the Emperor Frederic II, Viceroy of Sicily (1250-1254, King 1254- 1266). Printed in the Fontana Aristotle, fol. 370; the Hebrew by J. J. Losius (Giessen, 17O6) and J. Musen (Lemberg, 1873). Manfred's preface beg. 'Cum homo creaturarum dignissima'; text, 'Cum clausa esset via ueritatis'. f. 114.

9. 'De intelligencia Aristotelis': the introduction of an unknown commentator to the [spurious ?] treatise, De mundo. Printed, 'ex antiqua translatione', in the Fontana Aristotle, fol. 373 b. Beg. 'Cum rerum quidem, omnium esse'. f. 121.

Vellum ; ff. 124. 9³/₄ in. x 6³/₄ in. Second half of XV cent. Gatherings of 8 leaves (i⁴), with catchwords. Sec. fol. 'diligencius' or (art. 2) 'moralium'. Initials not inserted. On f. 124 b are names, 'Amen quod Iohannes Robynson' (15th cent), 'Pilkington me possidet', and 'Gardiner me tenet teste Addams' (16th cent.), cf. f. 123 b, 'Daniell Gardiner his book'. Belonged later to John Theyer (f. 5, monogram, with number 6). Theyer sale-cat. nos. 134, 135; CMA. 6572.

includes:

• f. 114 Abraham Bar Chasdai, of Barcelona: Aristoteles de Pomo, transl. from Arabic to Hebrew by: 15th cent.: Lat.