Die Schriften des Johannes von Damaskos. Band 8: Sacra (Spuria). Teil 4: Liber II (De rerum humanarum natura et statu). Erste Rezension/Erster Halbband. Edited by Tobias ThumDie Schriften des Johannes von Damaskos. Band 8: Sacra (Spuria). Teil 5: Liber II (De rerum humanarum natura et statu). Erste Rezension/Zweiter Halbband. Edited by Tobias ThumDie Schriften des Johannes von Damaskos. Band 8:

Abstract

The volumes under review are the first to appear of the edition of the Hiera, often known as Sacra Parallela, for long attributed to St John Damascene (and therefore included in the PTS series, Die Schriften des Johannes von Damaskos, the first five volumes of which constituted Kotter’s meticulous edition of most of the authentic works of the Damascene) but now to an unknown monk called John, as is made clear from the Latin title: Iohannis monachi (VII saeculo ineunte) Sacra olim Iohanni Damasceno attributa. The first four volumes are in two pairs, numbered 4 to 7, each pair giving a critical text of an edition of Book II of the Hiera, which is concerned with the ‘nature and state of human matters’ (De rerum humanarum natura et statu). The editor of the second pair, José Declerck, ingenuously addresses the ‘user’ (or reader, but not very likely to be owner, given the price of these volumes) in response to two likely questions s/he will have. First, why is the editor not beginning with Book I of Hiera, following it with Book II, and ending with Book III? The answer is that the edition was parcelled out among potential editors and as the editors of Book II have finished, whereas the work on Book I has barely begun (‘kaum erst begonnen hatte’), it seemed better to publish Book II straight away, rather than face further delays. The second question is, why has Book II been, in effect, published twice: each pair of volumes devoted to a complete edition of Book II? The reason is that the state of the manuscripts is such that there is no real possibility of reconstructing a single text of Book II.