INGEN, Marsilius van, et al. [with] AEGIDIUS ROMANUS.

Excellent, clean copies of early medico-philosophical commentaries on Aristotle. The first gathers together four medieval commentaries on Aristotle’s ‘De generatione et corruptione’, by Marsilius van Ingen, a C14 Dutch Scholastic philosopher, Aegidius Columna, a C13 Augustinian theologian and philosopher, and Albert of Saxony, a C14 German philosopher and mathematician. ‘As far as we know, most of these commentaries were written for use in a university setting. As a consequence, the choice of texts commented upon and the degree of detail given to a certain passage is often due, at least in part, to its use in a classroom, a universitarian debate or its relevance for exams’ (Stan. Enc. Phil.). One of Aristotle’s most empirical writings, ‘De generatione et corruptione’ examines how natural substances come into being or come to be dissociated/destroyed. He provides a definition of the Four Elements, which had long-lasting influence on philosophy, astrology, medicine and physiology well into the early modern period. Aristotle also analyses the difference between generation (ex-novo) and alteration (change that transforms one substance into another, without destruction), and substance mixtures. Structured traditionally in the form of quaestio and expositio, the commentaries of Marsilius van Ingen and Albert of Saxony were generally published together, especially in Italy. The second work, by Aegidius Columna, is a commentary on Aristotle’s ‘De anima’, which has been called the first book of scientific psychology. It was read by medical students to understand how a creature could be defined as ‘living’ or ‘having a soul’, the nature and kinds of soul (vegetative, animal, rational, etc.), reproduction, nutrition, the senses and the concept of sensation, the intellect, and movement according to the number of senses possessed. These fundamental questions were argued by physicians, for instance, when determining whether/when a foetus was ‘alive’ or how movements are generated through the brain and nerves. The C16 annotator of this copy was a careful scholar who noticed and corrected mistaken references to chapters and sections, cross-referenced other works by Aristotle or John Scotus, and noted Averroist readings. He glossed sections on the substance of the soul, and its connection with the body, and in the intellect, among others. 

An interesting, genuine example of inexpensive mid-C16 binding, obtained from a C15 ms bifolium, reversed to hide the text and with the gutter positioned over the spine to provide blank space for the ms title. The slotted spine and band covers are ‘an entirely Italian phenomenon, probably northern Italian’ (see Ligatus). This binding also testifies to the evolution of storage methods during the C16: the various ms titles show this book was stored both horizontally and vertically, with the spine or lower edge facing the viewer.