Vernacular Traditions of Boethius’s De consolatione philosophiae

Edited by Noel Harold Kaylor Jr. Edited by Philip Edward Phillips

Book cover: Vernacular Traditions of Boethius’s De consolatione philosophiae

Extent: 435 pages

Publisher: Medieval Institute Publications

Subjects: Literary Studies, Medieval Studies

Series: Research in Medieval Culture

Language: English

Hardback (Published)

(April 2016)

ISBN: 9781580442169

6.14 x 9.21 inches

Price: $24.95

In stock

This collection critically examines translations of Boethius’s “Consolatio” not only into English and German but also into Dutch, Italian, Polish, Hebrew, Greek and Korean.


Vernacular Traditions of Boethius’s “De consolatione philosophiae” provides an overview of the widespread reception and influence of Boethius’s masterpiece in England and Germany, as well as in the Netherlands, Italy, Poland, Catalonia, and Byzantium. As this work demonstrates, Boethius is not only a significant Roman author but also a significant translator and adaptor of works written originally in Greek, placing him firmly as an important figure at the moment of transition from antiquity to the Middle Ages. As the two introductory articles in this collection affirm, Boethius is recognized as “the last of the Romans” and the “first of the Scholastics.” Attested by the articles and the edition in this volume, Boethius’s modern influence is global in its importance, not only through the dissemination of his theological and scholalry works, but through the many vernacularizations of his final testament to the world, his Consolatio.

Preface and Acknowledgments Introduction: Boethius: Last of the Romans, First of the Scholastics Boethius, Last of the Romans by John Magee Boethius, First of the Scholastics by Peter King The Dutch, Italian, Polish, Greek, Hebrew, and Korean Traditions The Dutch Translations of Boethius's De consolatione philosophiae by Jefferey H. Taylor The Reception and Adaptation of Boethius's De consolatione philosophiae in Northern Italy: An Unedited Fourteenth-Century Version by Serena Lunardi Early Polish Echoes and Translations of Boethius's De consolatione philosophiae by Wladyslaw Witalisz Maximos Planudes and his peri paramythias tes philosophias, Boethius's De consolatione philosophiae Translated into Greek by Leslie A. Taylor The Hebrew Translations of Boethius's De consolatione philosophiae by Marina L. Gorlach, Jefferey H. Taylor, and Leslie A. Taylor Korean Translations of Boethius's De consolatione philosophiae by Ji-Soo Kangv The German Tradition The German Translations of Boethius's De consolatione philosophiae: An Inventory of Translations with Extracts from the Texts by Christine Hehle and Noel Harold Kaylor, Jr. The English Tradition The English Tradition of Boethius's De consolatione philosophiae with a Checklist of Translations by Philip Edward Phillips Scribal Interpretations of Genre in the Old English Boethius by Jonathan Davis-Secord Authorial Self-Identification in the Acrostics of Walton's Boethius and the Question of John Bonejohn by Ian Johnson An Edition of an English Manuscript Boethius's Comforts and Consolations of Philosophy by Henry Somerset, Duke of Beaufort (1693), British Library, Additional MS 40693B, introduced and edited by Kenneth Hawley Selected Bibliography Notes on Contributors Index of Manuscripts General Index, Preface and Acknowledgments
Introduction: Boethius: Last of the Romans, First of the Scholastics
Boethius, Last of the Romans by John Magee
Boethius, First of the Scholastics by Peter King
The Dutch, Italian, Polish, Greek, Hebrew, and Korean Traditions
The Dutch Translations of Boethius's De consolatione philosophiae by Jefferey H. Taylor
The Reception and Adaptation of Boethius's De consolatione philosophiae in Northern Italy: An Unedited Fourteenth-Century Version by Serena Lunardi
Early Polish Echoes and Translations of Boethius's De consolatione philosophiae by Wladyslaw Witalisz
Maximos Planudes and his περι παραμυθιας της φιλοσοφιας, Boethius's De consolatione philosophiae Translated into Greek by Leslie A. Taylor
The Hebrew Translations of Boethius's De consolatione philosophiae by Marina L. Gorlach, Jefferey H. Taylor, and Leslie A. Taylor
Korean Translations of Boethius's De consolatione philosophiae by Ji-Soo Kangv
The German Tradition
The German Translations of Boethius's De consolatione philosophiae: An Inventory of Translations with Extracts from the Texts by Christine Hehle and Noel Harold Kaylor, Jr.
The English Tradition
The English Tradition of Boethius's De consolatione philosophiae with a Checklist of Translations by Philip Edward Phillips
Scribal Interpretations of Genre in the Old English Boethius by Jonathan Davis-Secord
Authorial Self-Identification in the Acrostics of Walton's Boethius and the Question of John Bonejohn by Ian Johnson
An Edition of an English Manuscript
Boethius's Comforts and Consolations of Philosophy by Henry Somerset, Duke of Beaufort (1693), British Library, Additional MS 40693B, introduced and edited by Kenneth Hawley
Selected Bibliography
Notes on Contributors
Index of Manuscripts
General Index

  • Edited by Noel Harold Kaylor Jr.
  • Edited by Philip Edward Phillips