Supplement to the Glossary of the Romance of the Rose

of ignorance, which almost always disguises itself under the specious title of curiosity. Thus, abandoning the substance to chase after a chimeric shadow, the first ideas that present themselves to their minds are never, if one is to believe them, those that ought to offer themselves naturally; this is a peculiarity to which all of life's events are exposed, and especially what we call productions of the mind.

Never was any work more subject to the whims of Readers than that which appeared under the title of the ROMANCE OF THE ROSE: Although this work should have presented a uniform idea to any sensible mind, few people examined it with the same disposition.

The Chemists In the 18th century, the term "chemist" often still referred to alchemists. believed they discovered the Great Work Great Work: Also known as the Magnum Opus, this was the alchemical process for creating the Philosopher's Stone. within it: other speculators imagined they found a kind of moral Theology in it, and that this Rose—the conquest of which had cost the Lover so much trouble—was nothing other than wisdom.

Martin Franc (a), Provost and Canon of Lausanne in Switzerland, viewed this Romance as a satire against—

(a) Library of La Croix du Maine. François Grudé, sieur de La Croix du Maine (1552–1592), was a French bibliographer who compiled a famous catalog of French writers.