CARLOS STEEL, Prolegomena to an Edition of Albert’s “Topics”

SUMMARY

Albert’s monumental paraphrase on the Topics remains terra incognita for scholars in medieval philosophy. Before its importance can be truly assessed we need a critical edition of this text. The present article offers some prolegomena for a future edition. Of the eight manuscripts transmitting Alberts Topics seven belong to the Parisian tradition (including five depending on the university exemplar). Only one manuscript, Florence Laur. Conv. Sopp. 195, copied in 1427, is independent from that tradition and makes it possible to correct the numerous errors of the Paris tradition and in particular its omissions. Parallel texts in Albert demonstrate that the supplementary texts one finds in the Florence manuscript are certainly authentic and cannot be explained as conjectural additions. A new edition will reveal Albert’s text in a form radically different from the standard Borgnet edition.