Warburg Institute Surveys and Texts 25, 27, 28 and 29

Edited by Margaret Gibson†, Lesley Smith and Marina Passalacqua

Codices Boethiani is a catalogue of all the Latin manuscripts of the works of Boethius, including his translations of Aristotle and Porphyry.  When completed, it is expected to comprise seven volumes arranged geographically, and a general index (although each volume will also be indexed separately). The conspectus includes fragmentary texts, as witnesses to once-complete versions, but not excerpts, abbreviations and vernacular translations. Each entry comprises a short physical description of the manuscript, a complete list of contents, a note of any glosses present, a brief summary of any decoration, the provenance of the manuscript and a select bibliography. Particular attention is paid to the use of the manuscripts. Since Boethius was a pillar of artes teaching, these manuscripts give a particularly interesting insight into who was taught what, where, to what level, and in what way. The three volumes published so far are:

I           Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland (WI Surveys & Texts 25) - £28.00
II         Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden   and Switzerland  (WI Surveys & Texts 27) - £30.00
III        Italy and the Vatican City  (WI Surveys & Texts 28) - £55.00

We can now announce the publication of volume IV

Portugal and Spain (WI Surveys & Texts 29)

The number of Boethian manuscripts in the Iberian Peninsula is modest compared with those in the British Isles and Italy, partly, perhaps, because of the Arab domination there; the oldest manuscripts come from Ripoll in Catalonia, which was always under Christian control. The Portuguese manuscripts contain 5 Boethian items, the Spanish, 153, of which the De Consolatione Philosophiae occurs most often. Some of these manuscripts are of exceptional quality, and many of them include extensive glosses.

164pp        2010           Price: £32.00           ISBN 978 0 85481 150 2       ISSN 0266 1772

The Warburg Institute, London – Nino Aragno Editore, Turin

It is expected that the remaining volumes covering France, Germany, Eastern Europe, Japan, Australia and the USA will appear in due course – as funds permit.