De modo addiscendi by Gilberto di Tournai (review)

214FRANCISCAN STUDIES columns, as in the quarto-edition of Saint Bonaventure. One might also wish that the binding, especially the hinge between book and cover, were stronger for such a large volume. A few references seem to have been overlooked: e. g., Ambrose (p. 46, 70); Homer (p. 50, 63; yet Horace is given, p. 634, 31); Jerome as the source for Ariel leo Dei (p. 23, 26; cf. p. 318, 32); while the note to p. 63, line 87, is not very clear. Above all, however, both editors and readers should be warned that through inadvertence two editions of the Patrología Latina have been used. Thus, throughout the Postillae all references to Saint Jerome's commentaries on Isaias and Jeremías (P. L. 24) are to the second edition and not to the first edition of 1865. On the other hand, for the Prologue on Isaias of Saint Jerome (P. L. 28; cf. Postillae, pp. 5 ff.), the editors have used the first edition and not that of 1889. Since the pagination varies considerably in the two editions, some confusion will be inevitable unless a note be given to this effect. Ignatius Brady, O.F.M. Franciscan Institute Gilberto di Tournai, De modo addiscendi, Introduzione e testo inédito a cura di E. Bonifacio (Pontif. Ath. Salesianum — Facultas Phüosophica — Theses ad Lauream, n. 19), Torino, (1953) ; 320 pp. The literary work of Gilbert of Tournai, O. F. M., is still largely unpublished. This is one of the reasons why we are happy to review for our readers his pedagogical treatise, De modo addiscendi. In his Introduction, pp. 8—57, E. Bonifacio describes the life of Gilbert, enumerates his works and analyzes the Rudimentum doctrinas to which the De modo addiscendi is related (four out of the five manuscripts containing the latter work consider it as a part of the Rudimentum); thereupon foUow an analysis of the De modo addiscendi and a study of its sources; and finally there is a description of the five manuscripts used and a general evaluation of GUbert and his work. Gilbert was born at Tournai before 1213, probably in 1209. Around 1240 he gave up his chair of Theology at the University of Paris to become a Franciscan . As a Friar he had friendly relations with the royal family of France as well as with the famUy of the count of Flanders, Guy de Dampierre. According to Dr. Bonifacio, it is not reaUy proven that he accompanied Louis IX on his crusade against Mohamedans. Gübert died at Paris on the feast day of Saint Francis, 1284. The extent of Gübert's Uterary activity takes in works on pedagogy, oratory, hagiography, asceticism, apologetics and history. The authenticity of the theological works formerly attributed to him remains a doubtful matter. Composed between 1264 and 1268, the De modo addiscendi was written for the benefit of a son of the count of Flanders, John, provost of St. Donatian's at Brugghe and later bishop of Metz and Liege. In it education is considered partly from the viewpoint of the teacher, but mainly from the viewpoint of Book Reviews215 the pupil. The chief sources of this treatise are parallel works of classic Antiquity and the Patristic era. A number of writings of the early scholastic period are also utilized. There is a striking simiUtary between the De modo addiscendi and the work of the Dominican Vincent of Beauvais, De eruditions filiorum nobilium. Bonifacio, however, beüeves that this similarity and partial identy is actually due to the fact that both Vincent and GUbert used the same florilegium of pedagogical excerpts. GUbert has been accused of being a perennial plagiarist. Dr. Bonifacio thinks that this accusation is an exaggeration. While Gilbert uses a large number of authors and writings, still he always indicates his sources. An originality in arranging his material is clearly evident, and as a logical thinker, Gübert surpasses others, for instance, Vincent of Beauvais. The present edition is based upon five fourtheenth-centary manuscripts: Florence, Paris, Edinburgh, and Cracou (two). The Florence and Paris manuscripts are older and more reliable than the other three, which are from the second half of...