Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 022: Isidore of Seville, Etymologiae, Synonyma. Bestiary
purl.stanford.edu/xd956wx5361- Title:
- Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 022: Isidore of Seville, Etymologiae, Synonyma. Bestiary
- Alternate Title:
- Isidori Etymologiae et Synonyma. Bestiarius etc.
- Language:
- Latin
- Extent:
- ff. 20 + 181
- Dimensions:
- 374 Height (mm) and 244 Width (mm)
- Approximate Date:
- [ca. 1100 - 1199]; [ca. 1300 - 1399]
- Table of contents:
-
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- Etymologiae (index)
- Etymologiae
- Descriptio terrae sanctae
- Bestiary
- Synonyma
- Description:
- The main text in CCCC MS 22 is an encyclopaedia, the Etymologiae of Isidore of Seville (c. 560-636), which is preceded by an index of its subject matter. The Etymologiae is a compilation of universal knowledge in twenty books covering topics such as grammar, medicine, theology and geography. Natural history is also extensively covered, and this is the subject of another text in the book, a Bestiary, illustrated with coloured drawings of the animals, birds, fish and reptiles. It is one of the oldest extant copies of an illustrated bestiary made in England. The book also contains one text of a very different character, the Synonyma, a devotional dialogue by Isidore of Seville between the sinful soul and a personification of reason. Recent scholarship dates the book to c. 1150-70, but its place of origin is uncertain, although possibly the North of England, perhaps Durham. There is no evidence of its medieval ownership.