Description

The commentary on the Prologue of the Gospel of John (John 1:1-18) by Albert the Great (ca. 1200-1280) is part of one of the great speculative texts of the medieval Latin tradition. The Super Iohannem of the Dominican of Cologne was previously available as Enarrationes in Ioannem only in Pierre Jammy's Editio Lugdunensis of 1651 and in the Editio Parisiensis by Auguste and Emile Borgnet of 1899. The aim here is to offer a scholarly specimen-edition of the Prologue aiming, on the one hand, at editing the Albertian commentary that comes closer to its origin and, on the other hand, at revealing the different stages of its reception. This edition is carried out on the basis of the nine manuscripts currently known, which transmit the text in its entirety, as well as on the basis of printed editions. The Latin text is accompanied by a translation of it into French. The introduction considers the authenticity of the work as well as its dating by historical documents and relative chronology; it analyses its structure and proposes a description of the witnesses and, finally, bases the principles of edition on a stemmatic discussion. The text edition itself is equipped with three apparatus (biblical quotes, variants, sources) and four indices (biblical quotes, authors alleged by Albert the Great and authors alleged by the editor, parallel texts, thematic index). Two separate appendices provide a commentary on incorrect readings and variants.