4P Li gç(' TRANSACTIONS

VOL. 47, PT. 5, 1937] INTRODUCTION 803
E
Bihi. Nationale, Ms. franc. 24279. Parchment and
paper, 297 if.. 295 x 205 mm. Politiques, if. 1279v,
third redaction; Ycono;niques, if. 280_297 r , second
redaction. Text and commentary in full page of
thirty-nine lines. Handwriting poor lettre bâtarde of
early fifteenth century; chapter headings in red set in
right hand margin; text and glosses indicated as 'Tex
and Glo underscored in red; Latin passages generally
underscored in red. Book initials in gold and colored
capitals; frequent interlinear corrections of the carelessly
written text. Explicit, fol. 297r: "Iste liher est
Sti Victoris parisiensis." The language is Ile (le
France French.
F
Bibi. 'Nationale, Ms. franc. 208. Parchment. 383 if.,
350 x 270 mm. Politiqies, if. 1-361d, third redaction;
Yconomiqucs, if. 361c1-383a, second redaction. Text
and commentary in two columns of 44 lines. Leltre
cursive of early fifteenth century, gold and colored
capitals, no miniatures in Yconomiques. F was among
286 manuscripts given to the Bihliothèque Nationale in
1732 b y Antoine Lancelot. The language is lie (IC
France French.
Jena, Universitäts-Bibliothek, Ms. Ill qallia, f 91.
Parchment, 355 if., 340 x 250 mm. Polifiques, if., 1-
3231), third redaction; Yconoiniques, if. 323c-355a,
second redaction. Text and commentary in two columns
of forty-one, forty-two lines. Lcttrc cursive of
early fifteenth century, nine miniatures, gold and colored
capitals. The miniature at the beginning of the
Yconouuqucs is reproduced in Manuscrits francais a
pei'nturcs des bibliothèques d'Alleniagne, ed. Leo S.
Olschki, Geneva, 1932, Planche xxxiii; also in Walther
Dexel, Untersuchunqen ii her die jranzosischen llwininierten
Handschrif ten der Jenaer Universitäts-Biblioflick
von Ende des 14. his zur Mitte des 15, Jahrhunderts,
Strasshurg, Heitz. 1917, vi + 50 pp., p1. x. J
belonged to the library of the counts of Nassau and was
given to the University of Jena by the prince-elector
Frederick the Magnanimous (1503-1554) at the time
of the founding of the University in 1535. The language
of J is Tie de France French.
Lc Livre de Politiques d'Aristo/c, only printed edition
of Oresme's Pol'itiqucs and Ycononziqucs, printed
by G. Marchand for Antoine Vérard, Paris, 1489. 380
if. in two columns of thirty-six lines, Gothic characters.
text and commentary in sequence. Politiquc.r, if. 3a-
352c, second redaction; Yconamiques, if. 353a-374a,
second redaction; "Table des expositions des fors motz
de Politiqucs," if. 374a-380c. Fol. 1 recto, half-title;
verso, woodcut representing the king receiving volume
from the translator, with the legend: "Le prologue du
translateur du livre de politiques." This is a companion
volume to Le Livre de Elhique.s-, published by Vérard
in 1488. Ten of the twenty extant copies of this edition
listed in the Gesamt Kalalog der Wiegendrucke, no.
2449, are in French libraries; I have consulted the copy
in the Morgan Library in New York. 46 The position
of the "Table des fors motz de Politiques" following the
Yconomiques is unique with I. This printed edition
of the Ycononiiques is less satisfactory than any one of
the ten extant manuscript copies by reason of the frequent
omissions of words and the faulty readings and
misspellings. A few examples of readings from A cornpared
with parallel passages from I will demonstrate
the inferior character of the latter text: A (329b)
"adrecier les a bien et a vertu"; I "adrecier les a hien
et advertir.' A "qui est meurs Ott acousturnance" ; I
"qui est murs ou a acoustuniance." A (329d) "cause
de ce que quelconques chose est et est faicte"; I "cause
de quelconques choses est et est science." A (330a)
"De maison est partie ce qu'a humain entendement et
aussi possession est partie de maison"; I 'Se maison
est partie de cite selon humain entendement aussi possession
est partie de maison." A (3301)) "Elle est
(licte georgi(ue ; I "cue est (licte yconomique." A
(331a) "be et recommancle" ; I "lettre et recommande."
A (331b) "Naturalissimuni enim operum in viventibus.
Et ceteruin facere alterum quale ipsuru est" ; I
"Naturallissimuui enim operum i uventibus, facere alterum."
A (331b) "la compaignie (leulz est en communication.
Glose. Et puisque celle operation est
naturele et elle ne pent estre sans ceste communication,
il s'ensuit que ceste communication est naturele"; I "la
compaignie d'eulz est en communication ii s'ensuit que
ceste communication est naturele."
From the description of the extant texts of C)resme's
Liz'rc dc Yconoinique we derive the following classification
1st redaction: B, C, M.
2nd redaction: D, E, F, I, J. X, V.
Unique: A.
If we discount the orthographic variants characteristic
of the spelling habits of the different scribes and
also their occasional lapses—omission of words, sentences
or even entire pages—the manuscript copies of
the Yconosniquc exhibit a remarkable degree of textual
According to the Gesanit Kalalog, the present distribution
of the Vérard edition is as follows Aix-en-Provence, Bibi.
Méjanes; Blois, Bib!. Municipaic; Boulogne-sur-nier, Bihi.
Municipale Carcassonne, Bib!. Mtinicipale; The Hague, Royal
Library, Museum Mee rmanno- West reenianuni; Copenhagen
Royal Library (imperfect); Lille, Bib!. Municipale; London,
British Museum; Lyons, Bib]. i'.funicipalc; Munich, Staatbibliothek:
Oxford, New College; Paris, Arsenal, Mazarinc,
Bibi. Nationale, S" Genevieve; Salzburg, Stud. Bibliothek
Stuttgart, Landesbibliothek; Vienna, Nazionalbibliothek; New
York, Morgan Library.