London Brit. Lib. Royal 12 F XIX
London Brit. Lib. Royal 12 F XIX: 14th century
LOGICAL TREATISES by Walter de Burley [fellow of Merton College, Oxford, 1306, prebendary of Wells 1332] and others, with several tracts on grammar, &c., in Latin. The title on the fly-leaf is 'Liber Ysagoge Porfirii'. Contents:
1. 'Tractatus datus a magistro Waltero de Burley super librum Predicamentorum' (so colophon): a commenta on the Praedicamenta proper, i. e. on capp. 5-9 of Aristotle's Categories only. Differs considerably from the printed text (Venice, 1481, 1497, &c.). Beg. ' Substancia autem est que proprie , &c.: Hec est secunda pars huius libri'. f. 3.
2. 'Tractatus libri Peryarmenyas datus a mag. Waltero de Burley': a commentary on the De interpretatione of Aristotle. Differs, like the preceding, from the text printed ib. Beg. ' Primum opodet constituere : Cum cognicio sillogismi sit finis logice'. f. 14.
3. Commentary [by the same] on the Liber de sex principiis of Gilbertus Porectanus [of la Porrée, Bishop of Poitiers 1142-1154]. Differs somewhat from the text printed ib. Beg. ' Forma est composioni contingens : Quamuis Aristoteles in libro Predicamentorum sufficienter'. Imperf. at end by loss of leaves after f. 33. f. 23.
4. Treatise on moods and tenses. Imperf. at beginning. Ends 'ablatiui naturaliter a passiuis exiguntur'. f. 34.
5. Treatise on grammar (theoretically treated). Preface beg. 'Strenuum negociatorem mecum non iudico'; text, 'Primo querendum est itaque causa inuencionis litterarum'. Imperf at end by loss of leaves after f. 44, breaking off in the chapter on nouns, 'nisi inueneris Priscianum appeilere . . .'. f. 35.
6. Treatise on syntax (De constructione), apparently by Petrus Helias, Dean of Poitiers (12th cent.), cf. 2 D. XXX, art. 3. Preface beg. 'Absoluta cuiuslibet discipline perfectio'; text, 'Primum igitur quid sit constructio'. Ends 'studio bene'. f. 45.
7. Fragmentary beginning of a commentary on Aristotle's Physics. Beg. 'Intencio mea in hoc est glosare librum Aristotelis qui dicitur Auditus naturalis'. Incomplete. f. 76.
8. 'Formaciones verborum, &c.' (so colophon): a table of the perfect and supine of over 1,600 Latin verbs. Alphabetically arranged. Beg. 'Attestor, attestatus sum'. f. 77.
9. Compendium of Aristotle's Organon with commentary. This abridgement, contained also in Add. MS. 8167, f. 189, and in MSS. (Digby 2, 24) at Oxford (cf. also art. 11 below), is based, like those of William Sherwood, Petrus Hispanus, and Lambert of Auxerre, on the Synopsis of the Byzantine logician Michael Psellus. It does not appear to be mentioned by Prantl ( Gesch. der Logik ). Neither author nor commentator is named. Beg. ' Cum sit nostra presens intencio ad artem dialecticam primo oportet scire , &c.: Quare magis dicit presens'. f. 90.
10. Two tracts (or two editions of the same tract ?) on fallacies, viz.:-(a) Beg. 'Vt dicit Aristoteles in libro elencorum, quatuor sunt genera disputacionum'. f. 98;- (b) Beg. 'Secundum philosophum primo elencorum quatuor sunt genera disputacionum'. f. 104. The latter is shorter and has colophon 'Expliciunt fallacie breues'.
11. Another commentary (or fuller edition of the same commentary ?) on the same compendium as art. 9. Beg. ' Cum sit nostra presens intencio : Queritur quare magis dicit cum quam si'. Incomplete. f. 106.
12. Tract on logical consequence. Beg. 'Consequentia est habitudo inter antecedens et consequens'. f. 111.
13. Tract on sophisms. Beg. ' Nulla esi affirmacio in qua uniuersale uniuersaliter sumptum predicatur , ut habetur ab Ar. in primo Periherm. Hec autoritas communiter glosatur'. f. 112 b.
14. Logical treatise (De conclusiuis, exclusiuis, exceptiuis, condicionalibus, regulis Aristotelis, &c.), without title. Beg. 'Quia in sophismatibus probando et improbando conclusiuis utimur'. f. 116.
15. 'Exclusiue magistri W. de Burleye' (so colophon). Beg. 'Circa dictiones exclusiuas est sciendum quod dictio exclusiua addita subiecto'. f. 123.
16. 'Exceptiue magistri W. de Burleye' (so colophon). Beg. 'Hoc signum preter aliquando tenetur exceptiue'. f. 126 b.
17. 'Supposiciones date a mag. W. de Bourleye' (so colophon). Beg. 'Eorum que dicuntur quedam dicuntur cum complexione'. f. 130.
18. Tract De insolubilibus, without author's name. Beg. 'Circa insolubilia queruntur duo, primo circa insolubilo simplex'. f. 133 b.
19. 'Optimus tractatus de obligacionibus datus a mag. Waltero de Burleye anno dom. millesimo tercentesimo secundo' (so colophon). Beg. 'In disputacione dialectica sunt due partes sc. opponens et respondens'. f. 138.
20. 'Abstracciones cum obligacionibus et insolubilibus' (so colophon): a logical tract 'datus a mag. Ricardo de Kiluinctoun' [perhaps the Dean of St. Paul's 1353-1361]. Beg. ' Soluere non est ignorantis uinculum , iii. Metaph. cap. i: Qui igitur insolubilium'. f. 149. The remaining articles are roughly scribbled on a separate quire at the end, and are preceded (f. 175) by a few logical notes.
21. Anonymous commentary on the treatise on spherical astronomy of Johannes de Sacro Bosco (cf. 8 A. XVIII, art. 4). Beg. ' Tractatum autem , &c.: Auctor huius operis principali proposito suo'. Spaces are left for diagrams. f. 175.
22. Treatise on the calendar, called Compotus philosophicus, by the same author (cf. 12 C. IX, art. 1, &c.). Without commentary. Beg. 'Compotus est sciencia considerans tempora'. f. 177 b.
23. Mnemonic verses on the same subject:-(a) Beg. 'Circumcisus Adam facit Epiphania feritur' (cf. above, 12 E. XIV, f. 92);-(b) Beg. 'Bis senos menses tenet annus, nomina quorum'. f. 182.
24. Extracts from a commentary on the Compotus of Johannes de Sacro Bosco (cf. art. 22). Beg. ' Ne wlgarem incuramus dubitacionem , &c.: Ad probandum hanc inequalitatem'. f. 182 b.
25. Commentary on the Algorismus metricus (cf. 12 E. I, art. 1). Beg. ' Hec algorismus ars presens , &c.: Dicente Boecio in principio arsmetrice sue Omnia que aprimsua'. f. 183.
26. Collection of about thirty arithmetical problems (Cautelae or astuciae algorismi). Beg. 'Si tu diuinare uelis quot denarios socius tuus habet in bursa'. Many of them are the same as in 12 C. XII, art. 9, and others will be found in Add. MS. 30380, f. 133 b, Sloane MS. 3281, f. 54, or in the Propositiones ad acuendos iuuenes attributed to Alcuin. f. 184.
27. Eulogy on Aristotle, possibly for some University commemoration. Beg. ' Istum nobis natura , &c.: Commentator tertio de anima, cap. 14. Predecessorum nostrorum longis temporibus antiquata consuetudo'. f. 185. The fly-leaf (f. 187) is from a late 13th cent. MS. of Aristotle's Nicomachean ethics in Latin , containing part of lib. i, pp. 1100 a. 2- 1102 b. 28. Vellum; ff. 187. 12 in. x 8 in. XIV cent. Gatherings (excl. fly-leaves), i l2 , ii 7 , iii 12 , iv 11 , v 10 , vi 12 , vii 10 , viii, ix 12 , x 14 , xi, xii 12 , xiii 10 , xiv 4 , xv 12 , xvi, xvii 10 . Sec. fol. 'essenciam subiecti'. Initials flourished in red and blue, some with a little gold. Belonged (f. 2b) to Reading Abbey, 'Hic est liber sancte Marie Radyng', and in another hand 'Liber Ysagoge Porfirii'; cf. f. 1 b, 'Istum librum dedit frater Willelmus de Harlestone claustralibus in claustro, quem qui alienauerit vel scienter uiolauerit anathema sit.' On f. 186 is the name (14th cent.) Willelmus de Dene. Old Royal press-mark 'no. 411' (Westm. invent. of 1542, Add. MS. 25469, f. 30); cat. of 1666, f. 8 b; CMA. 8490.
