Liber de sex rerum principiis

Lemmas:

Causa

Mundus

Category:

Main

Description

Author:

apocrifo

Translator:

Century:

XII

Form By:

Silvana Ciuonzo

The book is divided into seven parts preceded by a prologue, in which the legend of the three Hermes, dating back to the philosopher Albumasar, is narrated.

The six principles of things are described in a hierarchical order based on the emanative generation of Neoplatonic inspiration: lower realities flow from higher realities in a dynamic and continuous flux.

The presentation of the metaphysical nature of the first three principles (causa, ratio, natura) is followed by a cosmology that presents the secondary principles (mundus, machina mundi, tempus). There is no reference to the question of the origin of the cosmos, but the emphasis is on quality.

In a dynamic conception of reality, in which every element is essential qualification of deity, both transcendent and immanent, there are two types of quality: a general (forma caeli, producer of the changeable characteristics of phenomena) and a specific one (which gives things their form and movement).

The last section of the book presents the astrolabe, an instrument used to locate celestial objects and to determine, through complex calculations, the precise correspondence between the planets, zodiac signs and some parts of the human body.

The Liber de sex rerum principiis is a treatise on cosmology, where the reader can discover a profound syncretism between Eastern natural philosophy and Western scientific tradition.

Media:

Microfilm

Digital Images

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Manuscripts

Oxford, Bodleian Library, Bodl. 464, sec. XIV (ca. 1318), membr., ff. III+205: 151r-162r.

Oxford, Bodleian Library, Digby 67, sec. XII-XV, membr. e cart., ff. 124: 69r-78r (sec. XII/XIII, membr.).

Oxford, Bodleian Library, Digby 221, sec. XIV, membr., ff. 120: 88r-99r.

Utrecht, Bibliothek der Rijksuniversiteit, 4. G. 18, sec. XIV, membr., ff. 144: 95r-104v.

(#)

Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, D. 12 (66), sec. XIII-XIV, membr., ff. 58+4+238: 3v (sec. XIII, Silverstain pp. 251-252).

Herrnstein, Gräflich Nesselrodesche Bibliothek, Hertensis 192, sec. IX e XI-XII, membr., ff. 96: 93r-94r (sec. XII, Silverstein pp. 278-279).

London, British Library, Arundel 384, sec. XIV-XV, membr., ff. 248: 241v-242v (Silverstein pp. 297-302).

London, Wellcome Institute for the History of Science, 559, sec. XV, membr., ff. 57: 50rv (Silverstein pp. 278-279).

Napoli, Biblioteca Nazionale, VIII. C. 45, sec. XV, cart., ff. 332: 104v-105v (Silverstein pp. 278-279).

Oxford, Bodleian Library, Canon. Misc. 517, sec. XV, cart., ff. 182: 20r (Silverstein pp. 278-279).

Oxford, Bodleian Library, Digby 95, sec. XIV, membr. e cart., ff. 209: 95v-96r (cart., Silverstein pp. 278-279).

Vaticano (Città del), Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Reg. lat. 567, sec. X¹, membr., f. 20r.

Vicenza, Biblioteca Civica Bertoliana, 208, sec. XV (1467-1470), cart., ff. 267: 143rv (Silverstein pp. 278-279).

Antique Book

Modern Book

M. D. Delp - P. Lucentini (eds.), Hermetis Trismegisti De sex rerum principiis, Brepols, Turnhout 2006.

T. Silverstein, Liber Hermetis Mercurii Triplicis De VI rerum principiis, in Archives d'histoire doctrinale et littéraire du Moyen Age, 22 (1955), pp. 217-302.

Bibliography

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C. Burnett, "The Legend of the Three Hermes and Abu Ma'Shar's «Kitab al-Uluf» in the Middle Ages", in Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, 39 (1976), pp. 231-234.

C. Burnett, "A Group of Arabic-Latin Translators Working in Northern Spain in the Mid-12th Century", in The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (1977), pp. 62-108.

C. Burnett, "The Establishment of Medieval Hermeticism", in P. Linehan - J. Nelson (eds.), The Mediaeval World, Routledge, London - New York 2001, pp. 111-130.

C. Burnett, "John of Seville and John of Spain: A mise au point", in Bulletin de philosophie Médiévale, 44 (2002), pp. 59-63.

C. Burnett - K. Yamamoto - M. Yano (eds.), Al-Qabisi (Alcabitius): the Introduction to Astrology. Editions of the Arabic and Latin Texts and an English Translation, The Warburg Institute - Nino Aragno Editore, London - Torino 2004.

F. Carmody, Arabic Astronomical and Astrological Sciences in latin Translation. A Critical Bibliography, University of California Press, Berkeley - Los Angeles 1956.

P. Courcelle, "Etude critique sur le Commentaires de la Consolation de Boèce (IXe-XIVe siècles)", in Archives d'Histoire doctrinale et Littéraire du Moyen Age, 12 (1939), pp. 5-140.

M. D. Delp, De sex rerum principiis: a translation and study of a twelfth-century cosmology, Diss. Ph. D. The Medieval Institute, University of Notre Dame (IN) 1994, Umi Dissertation Services, Ann Arbor (MI) 1995.

V. I. J. Flint, "The Liber Hermetis Mercurii Triplicis de VI rerum principiis and the imago mundi of Honorius Augustudunensis", in Scriptorium, 35 (1981), pp. 284-287.

E. Garin, Studi sul platonismo medievale, Le Monnier, Firenze 1958.

T. Gregory, Anima Mundi. La filosofia di Guglielmo di Conches e la scuola di Chartres, Sansoni, Firenze 1955.

C. H. Haskins, Studies in the History of Medieval Science, Harward Univeristy Press, Cambridge (MA) 1927.

O. Kibre - L. Thorndike, A Catalogue of Incipits of Medieval Scientific Writings in Latin, The Mediaeval Academy of America, Cambridge (MA) 1963.

P. Kunitzsch, "Glossar der arabischen Fachausdrücke in der mittelalterlichen europäischen Astrolabliteratur", in Nachrichten der Akademie der

Wissenschaften in Göttingen, I. Philologisch-historische Klasse, 11 (1982), Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, Göttingen 1983.

R. Lemay, "L'authenticité de la Préface de Robert de Chester à sa traduction du Morienus", in Crysopoeia, 4 (1990-1991), pp. 3-32.

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P. Lucentini, "L'edizione critica dei testi ermetici latini", in V. Placella - S. Martelli (eds.), I moderni ausili all'Ecdotica, Atti del Convegno Internazionale di Studi, Fisciano - Vietri sul Mare - Napoli 27-31 ottobre 1990, Edizioni scientifiche italiane, Napoli 1994, pp. 265-285.

P. Lucentini - V. Perrone Compagni, I testi e i codici di Ermete nel Medioevo, Edizioni Polistampa, Firenze 2001.

P. Lucentini - I. Parri - V. Perrone Compagni (eds.), Hermetism from late Antiquity to Humanism. La tradizione ermetica dal mondo tardo antico all'Umanesimo, Atti del Convegno Internazionale di Studi Napoli, 20-24 novembre 2001, Brepols, Turnhout 2003.

M. Pereira, "I Septem Tractatus Hermetis. Note per una ricerca", in P. Lucentini - I. Parri - V. Perrone Compagni (eds.), Hermetism from late Antiquity to Humanism. La tradizione ermetica dal mondo tardo antico all'Umanesimo, Atti del Convegno Internazionale di Studi, Napoli 20-24 novembre 2001, Brepols, Turnhout 2003, pp. 651-679.

J. Ruska, Arabische Alchemisten. I: Chalid ibn Jazid, Winter, Heidelberg 1924.

J. Ruska, "Zwei Bücher De compositione alchemiae und ihre Vorreden", in Archiv für Geschichte der Mathematik, der Naturwissenscaften und der Technik, 11 (1928), pp. 28-37.

A. Sannino, "La tradizione ermetica a Oxford nei secoli XIII e XIV: Ruggero Bacone e Tommaso Bradwardine", in Studi filosofici, 18 (1995), pp. 23-56.

A. Sannino, "Ermete mago e alchimista nelle biblioteche di Guglielmo d'Alvernia e Ruggero Bacone (con l'edizione critica dello pseudo-ermetico Liber de quattuor confectionibus)", in Studi medievali, 40 (2000), pp. 151-209.

A. Sannino, "The Hermetic Sources in Berthold of Moosburg", in Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, 63 (2000), pp. 243-258.

A. Sannino, "Il concetto ermetico di natura in Bertoldo di Moosburg", in P. Lucentini - I. Parri - V. Perrone Compagni (eds.), Hermetism from late Antiquity to Humanism. La tradizione ermetica dal mondo tardo antico all'Umanesimo, Atti del Convegno Internazionale di Studi, Napoli 20-24 novembre 2001, Brepols, Turnhout 2003, pp. 203-221.

A. Sannino, "Le leggende di Ermete Trismegisto", in The Legends of Medieval Scientists, Micrologus. Nature, Sciences and Medieval Societies, 21 (2013), pp. 165-192.

D. E. Sharp, Franciscan Philosophy at Oxford in the Thirteenth Century, University Press, Oxford 1930.

T. Silverstein, "The Fabulous Cosmogony of Bernardus Silvestris", in Modern Philology, 46 (1948), pp. 92-116.

J. Slavenburg, The Hermetic Link: from Secret Tradition to Modern Thought, Nicolas Hays, Lake Worth (FL) 2012.

L. Stavenhagen, A Testament of Alchemy: Being the Revelations of Morienus, Ancient Adept and hermit of Jerusalem, to Khalid Ibn Yazid Ibn Mu'Awiyya, King of the Arabs, of the Divine Secrets of the Magisterium and Accomplishment of the Alchemical Art, Brandeis University Press, Hanover (NH) 1974.

K. Sudhoff, "Codex medicus Hertensis (Nr. 192). Handschriftstudie", in Archiv für Geschichte der Mathematik, der Naturwissenscaften und der Technik, 10-6 (1917), pp. 265-313.

S. J. Tester, A History of Western Astrology, Ballantine Books, New York 1987.

L. Thorndike, A History of Magic and Experimental Science, Columbia University Press, New York 1923-1958.

K. van Bladel, "Sources of the Legend of Hermes in Arabic", in P. Lucentini - I. Parri - V. Perrone Compagni (eds.), Hermetism from late Antiquity to Humanism. La tradizione ermetica dal mondo tardo antico all'Umanesimo, Atti del Convegno Internazionale di Studi, Napoli 20-24 novembre 2001, Brepols, Turnhout 2003, pp. 285-293.

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