Michael Seymour
Ashgate Variorum
Hardback
272
1992
The present volume offers the first systematic investigation of the encyclopedia of Bartholomaeus Anglicus prepared by the Anglo-American team of scholars who previously published the edition of John Trevisa?s English translation of the text. The encyclopedia De Proprietatibus Rerum was written by the Englishman Bartholomaeus in about 1245 while lector in the Franciscan studium of Magdeburg. His aim was to provide a synthesis of current knowledge in a form that could be used for novice friars and university students in order to promote a greater understanding of the Bible by explaining all its references to the phenomena of natural science. The encyclopedia opens with a survey of the nature of God then proceeds to treat the spiritual and physical nature of man the heavens and time the four elements of the physical world its geography and all the minerals and beasts contained within it ending with the accidentals of colours numbers and music. The work achieved a popularity far beyond its intended audience (as can be seen from the quantity of copies that survive) especially in England where it remained the most popular work of its kind into the 16th century.
Ashgate Variorum
Hardback
272
1992
The present volume offers the first systematic investigation of the encyclopedia of Bartholomaeus Anglicus prepared by the Anglo-American team of scholars who previously published the edition of John Trevisa?s English translation of the text. The encyclopedia De Proprietatibus Rerum was written by the Englishman Bartholomaeus in about 1245 while lector in the Franciscan studium of Magdeburg. His aim was to provide a synthesis of current knowledge in a form that could be used for novice friars and university students in order to promote a greater understanding of the Bible by explaining all its references to the phenomena of natural science. The encyclopedia opens with a survey of the nature of God then proceeds to treat the spiritual and physical nature of man the heavens and time the four elements of the physical world its geography and all the minerals and beasts contained within it ending with the accidentals of colours numbers and music. The work achieved a popularity far beyond its intended audience (as can be seen from the quantity of copies that survive) especially in England where it remained the most popular work of its kind into the 16th century.