Liber de natura rerum (Thomas of Cantimpré)

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The Liber de natura rerum (the "book about the nature of things") is a scientific encyclopedia by Thomas von Cantimpré (= Thomas Cantimpratensis). The work was written between 1225 and 1241, is written in Latin and was considered a standard natural history work in the Middle Ages.

The Liber de natura rerum originally comprised 19 books, a twentieth was added later. Books 4–9 deal with animal science topics. They are sorted alphabetically. In some places Thomas goes into the properties ascribed to animals, which are interpreted in the theological context. The 20th book ( de ornatu celi et motu syderum ) presumably goes back almost entirely to the second book of Wilhelm von Conches ' Philosophia mundi .

Thomas used many different sources, which cannot always be traced in detail. The most important are Aristotle , whose texts were rediscovered when the work was written, Pliny the Elder , whose Naturalis historia had a great impact on the Middle Ages, Solinus , who mainly used Pliny 's work as a template for his Collectanea rerum memorabilium , and Ambrosius .

The work is preserved in over 100 manuscripts, of which only two represent the original text. Many of the manuscripts are incomplete or have been supplemented. The manuscript Thomas III (after Chr. Freckel) was probably created while Thomas was still alive in southern Germany. It is an abridged version that was probably used by Konrad von Megenberg for his book on nature . It seems to have a wider circulation than the original text.

German editing of the text created Conrad of Megenberg with his Book of Nature , Peter King Schlacher with his Buoch of the natures of the thing and Michael Baumann with the book of the natuer vnd eÿgenschafft the dingk .

expenditure

  • Thomas Cantimpratensis: Liber de natura rerum. Editio princeps secundum codices manuscriptos. Edited by Helmut Boese, part 1 (text). Berlin / New York 1973.

Secondary literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Annemarie Brückner: Source studies on Konrad von Megenberg. Thomas Cantipratanus “De animalibus quadrupedibus” as a template in the “Book of Nature”. Phil. Diss. Frankfurt am Main 1961.
  2. ^ Book of Nature . August 20, 1481. Retrieved August 28, 2013.