PREFACE.

A further change has been made in the arrangement of the diagrams, which in Jebb’s edition Samuel Jebb published the first major printed edition of the "Opus Majus" in 1733. were collected into two tables at the end of the book, making them inconvenient to compare with the text. Furthermore, in many cases, those earlier diagrams were incorrectly drawn. They have now been carefully re-copied from a manuscript in the British Museum (Royal, 7 F. viii). Sir E. Maunde Thompson A prominent librarian and expert in ancient handwriting at the British Museum., who was kind enough to examine this and several other manuscripts by Bacon for me, identifies this copy as being from the latter part of the thirteenth century. This means it is contemporary, or very nearly so, with Bacon himself. Each diagram has now been placed within its proper context in the text.

It was found that in many cases the author’s reasoning had been entirely spoiled by poor punctuation. This has been completely revised, and the number of distinct sentences and paragraphs has been greatly increased. Students of the Greater Work Latin: "Opus Majus." have previously found the book difficult to use as a reference, due to the many different subjects treated and the lack of guidance such as page-headings or marginal notes. This defect has been corrected: an analysis of the work has been placed at the beginning, and an improved index has been added.

A few remarks on the manuscripts of the Greater Work Latin: "Opus Majus.". Jebb’s edition was based on a manuscript in the library of Trinity College, Dublin, which at that time was the only manuscript known to contain the complete work. It contains a note in the handwriting of Archbishop Usher James Ussher (1581–1656), the Archbishop of Armagh and a famous scholar who collected many rare manuscripts. stating that the manuscript was presented to the College by Gordian Strowbridge, and that the diagrams were drawn by Sir Christopher Heyden. This manuscript is very clearly written on 249 leaves folios: the individual sheets of a manuscript, which are usually numbered on one side rather than by page organized into four columns. Sir Christopher Heyden, of Baconsthorpe in Norfolk, was—