A critical edition of the medieval French prose translation and commentary of De Consolatione Philosophiae of Boethius contained in ms 2642 of the National Library of Austria, Vienna

688 Pages·1990·33.417 MB·English

by  Margaret Bolton-Hall

A CRITICAL EDITION
OF THE MEDIEVAL FRENCH PROSE TRANSLATION AND
COMMENTARY OF
DE CONSOLATIONE PHILOSOPHIAE OF BOETHIUS
CONTAINED IN MS 2642 OF
THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRIA, VIENNA.
Thesis submitted to the School of French
in fulfilment of the requirements for the
Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
in the University of Queensland.
Submitted by Margaret Bolton-Hall, B.A. Dip. Ed.
1989
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
In the preparation of this work, I am indebted to a number of people.
For their interest and support, and practical assistance in the technical
aspects of production, I wish to thank the Academic and Administrative
staff and my fellow post-graduate students of the French Department of the
University of Queensland. Special thanks are due to Dr. Keith Atkinson, for
his time, advice, and unfailing encouragement, and for his generosity in
making available to me many of his own resources. I also wish to express
my gratitude to my husband, children, and friends for their support and
forbearance over a lengthy and sometimes arduous period, with particular
thanks to my daughters Barbara and Penny for the gift of their time in the
final printing and copying process.
STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY
The work presented in this thesis is, to the best of my knowledge and
belief, original except as acknowledged in the text. I hereby declare that I
have not submitted this material, either in whole or in part, for a degree at
this or any other university.
ABSTRACT
The object of this thesis is to present an edition of the medieval
French translation and commentary of Boethius' De Consolatione
Philosophiae contained in the ms. 2642, National Library of Austria, Vienna.
The work is presented in three parts, in two volumes, part one in
Volume one, and parts two and three and a short appendix in Volume two.
Part one consists of an Introduction of five chapters. In Chapter one, the ms.
Vienna is described, and an outline of our critical apparatus given. In
Chapter two, we present an extensive language study, to include both
features of general interest and specific features more relevant to the
location and dating of the text. As a result of the dialect study, we have been
able to propose south-eastern Burgundy as the probable place of origin of the
text; with a selection of other language features, we demonstrate that, as
concluded by A. Thomas, it was probably composed in the first half of the
thirteenth century. Chapter three consists of an examination of the
translation, which we have measured against the most recent edition of the
Consolado, that of Ludovic Bieler. Since the translation has proved to be
extremely literal, it has here been possible to suggest for the translator a
number of probable variant readings, and to investigate his technique of
dealing with certain Latin expressions. The text of both translation and
commentary is of particular interest with regard to the vocabulary, which
includes a considerable number of early or rare usages, as well as a number
of previously unattested words; these are presented in Chapter four. Finally,
in Chapter five, we examine the additions to the translation, which are
presented in italics in the edited text. The relationship of the additions to the
Latin Boethian tradition is demonstrated, with regard to the Prologue, the
Latin Epitaph, and the commentary itself. The function and sources of the
additions are discussed, particular consideration being given to the
"Mythological Metres," Book III, metre xii, Book IV, metres iii and vii, and
to the "Boethian Hymn to the cosmos," Book III, metre ix.
The edited text is presented in Volume two, part two. This is followed,
in part three, by a comprehensive glossary, a series of critical notes which
relate primarily to syntax, omissions, misinterpretations, scribal errors etc.
not already dealt with in the Introduction, and a glossary of names. The
work concludes with a list of works consulted, followed by a brief appendix
in which are presented photographic reproductions of the miniatures and
diagrams appearing in the manuscript.
Part One
INTRODUCTION
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter One Description and Treatment of the Manuscript 1-23
Description 1-11
Treatment 11-23
Chapter Two Language Study 24-76
Introduction 24-27
Phonology 28-55
Morphology 55-69
Dialectal 69-70
Vocabulary
Location 71-75
of the Text
Date of the 75-76
Text
Chapter Three The Translation 77-128
The Source 77-83
of the Translation
The Greek 83-86
Quotations
Translation 86-128
Techniques
Chapter Four Vocabulary 129-56
Introduction 129-31
Neologisms 131-48
and Rare Usages
Possible Haoax 149-56
X
Chapter Five The Additions to the Translation 157-245
The Prologue 157-64
The Epitaph 165-66
The Commentary 166-245
—Function 166-77
—Sources 178-88
—The Mythological
Metres 188-221
—The Boethian Hymn
to the Cosmos: IIIzix 221-45
1
Chapter One
Description and Treatment of the Manuscript
Description 1
The prose translation of the Consolatio Philosophiae, here edited for
the first time, is contained in a single manuscript: V = Vienna, National
Library of Austria, 2642. The manuscript is homogeneous, containing solely
the anonymous Boethian translation and commentary. Probably dating
from the mid-thirteenth century, it would appear to have originated in the
south of France.2
The manuscript is of parchment, and consists of 92 folios measuring
227mm x 147mm, numbered 1-91, with 78a. The folios are grouped into
twelve quires, of which the first eleven are quaternions; the twelfth is a
binion. Signatures in Roman notation appear on the backs of folios 2-11; the
base of folio 91 has been cut, with no damage to the text itself. The
justification is 175mm x 100 mm, ruled with a dry point; there are thirty-one
lines to the page, each line covering the full width. The script is a textualis,
closely resembling the script of the ms.678, Municipal Library of Lyon (1249-
1. We are indebted to L'Institut de recherche et d'histoire des textes. Paris, for many of
the details included in the physical description of the ms.: this material has been
supplemented by our own examination of the ms. during a brief visit to Vienna in
1986.
2. Llnstitut de recherche... notes that the ancient Tabulae Codicum II. 110 of the
Vienna Library dates the manuscript as fourteenth-centuiy. but that the mid­
thirteenth is favoured by H.J.Hermann, who describes the ms. in Die romanischen
Handschriften des Abendlandes, t.3, no.31 (Leipzig, 1927) 37-38 and flg.41. Of similar
opinion is Antoine Thomas, who discusses the ms. in "Traductions françaises de la
Consolatio Philosophiae de Boèce", HLF 37 (1938): 423-32, and Charles-Victor
Langlois, La Vie en France au moyen âge t.IV, La Vie spirituelle (1928. Geneva:
Slatkíne, 1970) 273.