15. PTOLEMY: FOOTNOTES
2 musyke, music; arsmetyque, arithmetic.
3 oon, one.
4 Alysaundre, Alexandria; stondeth, stands.
6 Roodes, Rhodes.
8 doute, fear.
10 stablyssheth, establishes.
12 enclyned, inclined.
13 nerre, nearer.
16 felawes, fellows.
17 deye, die.
18 herte grene, heart green.
20 knowelechinge, knowing.
21 Ho, Who.
23 merveilles, marvels; rightwosly, righteously.
24 nedes be wrothe, need be angry.
25 to, too.
26 covertures, coverings.
27 othir, another.
29 erreth, errs.
30 habundaunce, abundance.
32 pece of yren, piece of iron.
33 lettith, abates.
34-35 to moche meete or drynke dothe hem, too much meat or drink does to them.
35 seeke, sick.
37 conne, can.
39 leese, lose.
41 science, learning.
42 feoble, feeble.
43 holly, wholly.
44 bonde, bound; esclave, slave; areysed, raised.
46 certeynté, certainty; reffews, refuse; caytef, churl.
47 mayste, may.
49 rightwos, righteous.
50 can, are capable of.
51 his, its.
52 Folye, Folly.
53 foundemente, foundation.
54 tother, other.
55 leveth, leaves; dothe, does.
15. PTOLEMY: EXPLANATORY NOTES
ABBREVIATIONS: B = Dicts and Sayings of the Philosophers, ed. Bühler (1941); CA = Gower's Confessio Amantis; CT = Chaucer's Canterbury Tales; G = Pierpont Morgan Library MS G.66; MED = Middle English Dictionary; OED = Oxford English Dictionary; S = Scrope, Dicts and Sayings of the Philosophers, ed. Schofield (1936).
These explanatory notes cannot hope to provide a complete accounting for the source of every proverbial statement in Dicts and Sayings. That task would be a separate book in its own right. Instead, I have attempted to contextualize this rather heterogeneous body of lore by identifying the people and places named in the text, as well as noting points that may be of interest to students and general readers. Those interested in tracing the source of particular quotations should begin by consulting Whiting's Proverbs, Sentences, and Proverbial Phrases From English Writings Mainly Before 1500. Readers are also invited to consult the thorough notes to Knust's Bocados de Oro, the Spanish translation of the original Arabic ancestor of Dicts and Sayings.
1 Ptholomee. Ptolemy (c. AD 100-c. 170), Claudius Ptolemaus, was a Greek mathematician, astronomer, and geographer whose work had an enduring impact on medieval thought.
2 foure sciences. This refers to the quadrivium (geometry, music, arithmetic, astronomy), which, combined with logic, grammar, and rhetoric, constitute the seven liberal arts in classical tradition.
3-4 Almageste, that is, Of Astrologie. Ptolemy's greatest work was called Almagest, a thirteen-volume compendium of the Greek world's knowledge of astronomy. The geocentric model of the universe that is propounded in Almagest would endure until the sixteenth century.
5-6 Kinge Adryan. The Roman emperor Hadrian (r. 117-38), who reigned during part of the life of Ptolemy.
15. PTOLEMY: TEXTUAL NOTES
20 hath. I follow B in adding.