Abstract
Prologues of medieval texts in particular, and more broadly by authors of new books from the thirteenth century forward have been studied by Malcolm B. Parkes, Richard Rouse, and Nigel Palmer; continuing their work in this present study, I will concentrate on how prologues are explicit on effectively presenting their texts. In part, this is done by means of a newly developing vocabulary : paragraphus, rubrica, and especially certain verbs (notare, adnotare, praenotare, signare, intitulare) first appear in these books. I approach authors of these new books, such as William of Montague, Stephen of Bourbon, Thomas of Ireland, Bartholomew of Urbino, Hermannus de Scildis, Michael Scot, Arnold of Liège, and anonymous authors such as the person who wrote the Pharetra. In particular, we study the anonymous author of a text, albeit in a slightly varied format, that is shared in two manuscripts : New Haven, Yale University, Beinecke Library, Marston 119 and Oxford, Balliol College, MS 281. Although it is clear that an exhaustive study of the vocabulary surrounding the compilation of study books cannot take place in this present context, we can show how magnificently a study of prologues can pull us towards answers.
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