The Richard Rufus of Cornwall Project

Preparing Critical Editions of Rufus' Extant Works

Supported in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities

Variants (Variantes)

Variants to the Redactio brevior posted here are color coded and float near the text when you mouse over them. The shorter redaction (Redactio brevior) of Richard Rufus' commentary on Aristotle's De anima, In De anima Aristotelis, survives in only one manuscript, E: Erfurt, Collectio Amplonia (CA), Quarto 312, folios 19ra-20va and 22va-28ra. So variants posted here are remarks about scribal corrections, doubtful readings, and emendations. Most of the emendations were supplied from the longer redaction of the same work.

Where we judge that differences between Erfurt and the other manuscripts are redactional, the Erfurt reading appears without variants. Where differences appear to result from errors in the Erfurt manuscript, we have corrected them, and the original manuscript reading appears as a variant.

Since what is posted here is a critical edition of the shorter redaction, readings from the longer redaction do not normally appear except in book 2. In books 1 and 3, they appear only where they indicate the basis for an emendation. When a word omitted from the Erfurt manuscript has been supplied from manuscripts of the longer redaction, that word does not appear in brackets as a simple editorial emendation would. Instead there is a variant that includes both the readings in the longer and shorter redactions. Variants are color coded.

Red is a serious warning indicating emendation. It marks readings that are not actually in E or readings from E that have been omitted. We have not noted unclear or illegible marks. We have added readings that do not appear in E but seem to be required.

Yellow suggests caution. Variants highlighted in yellow include repetitions, possible alternative readings, sometimes more common expansions of abbreviations than the readings we have adopted, editorial exclamations, and editorial suggestions.

Green is for variants that are probably safe to ignore. Green variants include indications that the manuscript has been expunged or corrected in some way; most often they indicate that a reading appears above the line or in the margin. Also here are doubtful readings about which the editors have no further suggestions. In book 2, we have also noted in green possible variants with closely related meanings – chiefly, such readings as ‘ille’ for ‘iste’ where the abbreviation is ambiguous and would often be expanded as ‘ille’, but does not exclude ‘iste’.

Blue coded variants appear only in book 2 and they indicate places where the reading in the redactio longior is interestingly different from the reading in the redactio brevior published here.

Lilac coded variants also appear only in book 2. Such variants provide indications of redactional differences.

Abbreviations employed here are:

E: Erfurt, Bibl. Univ., Collectio Amploniana (CA), Quarto 312.

F: Florence, Bibl. Nazionale. Conv. soppr., G.4.853.

M: Madrid, Bibl. Nacional. 3314, fol. 68ra-89rb.

Square brackets   [...]   enclose words added by the editors,
          (includunt verba ab editoribus addita)