Gregor Reisch was a Carthusian prior. He lived between ca. 1470 and 1525 and he is famous because of his work Margarita Philosophica, the first encyclopedia by a German. This work was extremely popular in the 16th century. Sixteen editions came out; the first one appeared in Freiburg 1503, the second one in Strassburg 1504; in 1508 one edition was printed in Basel, another in Strassburg.[[1]]
Andreini's book does not contain many new discoveries but is rather a compilation of results other scholars have arrived at.[[2]] She has also limited herself to only a few aspects of Reisch and his work. These are the chapters: "I. La vita di Gregor Reisch; II. I rapporti di Gregor Reisch con gli umanisti e gli studiosi contemporanei; III. L'opera di Gregor Reisch: La Margarita Philosophica (1. Gli antecedenti della Margarita Philosophica. Lo scopo ed il contenuto dell'opera. Le edizioni del testo; 2. La partizione del testo; 3. Le xilografie della Margarita Philosophica; 4. Sintesi dei codici libri); IV. La cosmografia nella Margarita Philosophica."
The bibliography is valuable.
New are several translations from Latin to Italian. It is a sad sign of our times that now not only Americans but also Italians believe that Latin texts cannot be understood by fellow scholars without translators. It is still more regrettable that Andreini's translations are often wrong. I shall illustrate this by her translation of an introductory poem by professor Adam Werner of the University of Heidelberg.[[3]] The poem begins as follows (it is composed in disticha; p. 8):
Tu cohibere paras Epitoma: tui monumentum Ingenii clarum ne exeat illud opus Falleris et vano merito frustrabere voto Auctore invito tale legetur opus Docte vir ignoras: Servata magis capiuntur Et magis irritant queque negata putas Indignere licet cupidus prodire in apertum In lucem veniet mox tuus ille liber.
Andreini translates:
Tui sei impegnato a compilare un'Epitome; ti sbagli a non diffondere quest'opera illustre segno di reconoscimento del tuo ingegno, e sarai deluso a buon diritto nel tuo vano desiderio. O dotto uomo, tu ignori che l'opera sara' letta contro il desiderio dell'autore: tu retieni che le opere riservate per l'avvenire siano piu desiderate e che suscitano un maggiore interesse quelle che non vengono diffuse fra il pubblico. Per quanto desideroso, giudichi sconveniente mostrarti pubblicamente, ma ben presto il tuo libro verra' stampato.
Rather than correcting every single error, I shall give a new English translation:
You try to contain your epitome, so that that work, a shining monument of your genius, will not come out. You are mistaken, and your wish will rightly not be fulfilled. Such a work will be read against the will of the author. My learned scholar, don't you know: That which is put away is more desired, and that which you think you are denying people becomes more exciting. Although you are angry, your book is eager to come out into the open and will soon be published.
There is still much to be done concerning Margarita Philosophica. It would, for example, be interesting to investigate which changes were made in the various editions. Another important task is to track down the sources Reisch has used and which authors and passages he has quoted. In the preface of the first edition he writes:
epitoma . . . ex diversis et Philosophorum et Theologorum et Sanctorumque (!) Patrum commentariis excussum . . . nonnullorum tamen neotericorum nomina in opinabilibus obticentur, ne quempiam nomen absterreat quem tamen sententia delectat.[[4]]
Who are these neoterici and where are they quoted?[[5]]
Hopefully, somebody will tackle these tasks and hopefully he knows Latin.
NOTES:
1. See further W. Eames, A list of Editions of the Margarita Philosophica, New York, 1886.
2. The most important works on Reisch and his Margarita Philosophica are: K. Hartfelder, Der Karthaeuser Prior Gregor Reisch, Verfasser der Margarita Philosophica, Freiburg, 1890; G. Muenzel, Der Karthaeuser Prior Gregor Reisch und die Margarita Philosophica, Freiburg, 1937; R. Srbik, Die Margarita Philosophica des Gregor Reisch, Vienna, 1941.
3. Concerning him see Andreini, p. 7, n. 24. The poem is printed not only in the first two editions of Margarita Philosophica (from 1503 and 1505), as Andreini states in note 25, but also in the edition printed in Strassburg 1508.
4. Cited by Andreini, p. 52, n. 160. It is interesting that Reisch expressis verbis acknowledges that he only mentions the names of famous Church Fathers and not those of recent, less known sources he is using, in order not to deter anybody. The same policy can be noted in both exegetical and grammatical treatises from the Middle Ages. See Eranos 92 (1994), p. 50, n. 1.
5. Srbik, op. cit., p. 96, thinks they are the Nominalists. Now and then it is stated in the Margarita that whole chapters are lifted from a recent author. The last chapter, e.g. Panepistemon, is taken from Angelo Poliziano (see his Opera, reprinted by Ida Maier, Torino, 1971, p. 462 ff.).