Part of the Third Work (Opus Tertium)

xiii

(6) The Third Work of brother Roger Bacon. original: "Opus 3m fratris Rogeri Bacon" It begins: "To the most holy father," original: "Sanctissimo patri" ending abruptly with the words "concerning these roots." original: "de his radicibus" (Brewer, page 38), folios 199 to 206.

Some characteristics of section 5, the fragment printed here, may be noted. A different hand begins at this point: the writing is poor and at first remarkably cramped. Fifty-two lines are crowded onto the first page. On the remaining pages the number of lines varies between forty-three and forty-nine. Blanks of different sizes are left for the initial letters. I have tried to show these variations in the printed text. The largest blank, covering four lines of the manuscript text, is for the first initial. This suggests the scribe was copying from a manuscript that began at this point and that he considered this to be the start of a new treatise. There are no titles or red headings rubrics: headings or instructions written in red ink for emphasis of any kind.

II. Tanner Manuscript 116 in the Bodleian.

This volume is a small folio of 111 leaves, written on parchment in double columns. It dates from the end of the thirteenth century and was formerly owned by Archbishop Sancroft. It contains several extracts from Roger Bacon's works, including the missing fragment of the Third Work, which are not mentioned in the official Catalogue. I provide a list of the contents of the first part of the volume, marking with an asterisk those items included in the following pages. The last part of the volume is not relevant to our current purpose.

(1) A short and useful treatise for explaining certain obscure sayings in the book of the Secret of Secrets of Aristotle . . . which treatise brother Roger Bacon of the Franciscan Order: the Order of Friars Minor made out of charity for the instruction of certain wise men . . . (folios 1 to 6 front).

*(2) *Likewise a chapter extracted from a certain work which the same brother Roger Bacon of the Franciscan Order made at the command of the pope, which is useful for the explanation of things said and to be said in the text.*¹ "It follows concerning experimental science original: "sciencia experimentali" . . . . like birds caught in lime original: "inviscatas"; referring to birdlime, a sticky substance used to trap birds. It ends" (folios 6 front to 8 front) [that is, pages 43 to 54 below].

*(3) Likewise, further on in the same book he says: "Then I thought to send another work . . . and thus the intention of both works is finished, and thus it ends" (folio 8 front) [that is, pages 77 to 79 below].

¹ The text, specifically, of the Secret of Secrets original: "Secretum Secretorum"; a popular medieval treatise once believed to be a letter from Aristotle to Alexander the Great.