Manuscript copies of books by Nicole Oresme

The Erfurt manuscript, sample 1

si ?? 23 et bis per istam et semel per secundam si 11 et ita ibi multifarie
multisque modis istas regulas duas copulando investigatur. Si inter numerus
datus fuerit unus numerus medius et quis sit ille, aut si 2, aut 3 ??
aut 5, aut 7, aut 8, aut 11, aut 15, aut 33, aut 26 et cetera, et
[sic per varios] numeros multipliciter discorrendo. Sia, autem, ad quodlibet media

This sample is from the middle of De proportionibus (end of chapter 2). According to Grant, the numbers "15" and "33" on the third line are scribal errors --- they are "17" and "23" in other copies.

Note that this scribe's "5"s look just like "4"s; his "7" and "8" are rather strange; and he writes "11" as "ij", dots and all.

I have profound admiration for scholars like Dr. Grant who can actually read this scrawl. Another scholar described this particular handwriting as ``a small, forceful cursive one at the beginning of the work, becoming deformed as the work progresses.'' Indeed, a later sample from this same manuscript is even worse...


Last edited on 97-09-07 by stolfi.