Who was Boethius?
Anicius Manilus Severinus Boethius (c480-c525) was born in or near Rome to a consular family. Orphaned at an early age, he was brought up in the household of Symmachus, a wealthy Roman aristocrat. Boethius’ earliest works were probably written as a student, and include texts on the four mathematical disciplines of music, arithmetic, astronomy and geometry. De musica, Boethius’ only musical treatise, and a treaty on arithmetic are the only early writings that survive.
The origins of De musica
De institutione musica is a translation of the musical writings of the Greek philosopher Nicomachus. It became the most copied musical treatise of the 9th century Carolingian Renaissance, and continued to be reproduced for the next 700 years. During this period the emphasis in music shifted from the theoretical to the practical, and Boethius came to be viewed as the primary authority on Greek musical thought.
The Library's copy of De musica
Of the 137 manuscripts or fragments of De musica which have survived, the Library's copy is one of the earliest. Unlike many of the Library’s other medieval manuscripts, it is a working manuscript with very few illustrations. In fact the only colours found in the book are a number of green, brown and orange ink diagrams. There are also numerous additions and corrections to the text where diagrams have been redrawn and paragraphs rewritten, suggesting some reworking by scribes both at the time of the manuscript’s creation and later. |
