Vincent of Beauvais
Vincentius Belvacensis
The sigla used for the surviving manuscripts of the Speculum Morale are derived from the manuscript list in Hans Voorbij, Het 'Speculum Historiale' van Vincent van Beauvais, 1991, Appendix 2.2, p. 338.
The following components make up the Speculum Morale (Mo):
A Prologue by the compiler of the Speculum Morale;
Text of the Morale (Mor) consisting of 3 books, numbered as 1-3;
List of the titles of the distinctiones.
List of surviving manuscripts
5 manuscripts of the Speculum Morale are known today:
Key
Mo* - Corresponding books in the printed edition of the Speculum Morale, Douai, 1624; I - Additional information on the speculum text as present in the manuscript, or on other texts present in the manuscript, or on material damage; D - Date of the manuscript; P - Country, region or place of production; if available, information on the scribe(s) of the manuscript; O - Medieval and pre-modern owners of the manuscript; L - Hyperlink to digital facsimiles of the manuscript; R - Reference to manuscripts listed in other parts of the inventory, with which this manuscript at the time of its production constituted a set of volumes. Manuscripts that have been collected into a set by a single medieval collector (library) within several decades, are indicated with cf.
·Berlin, Staatsbibliothek Preußischer Kulturbesitz, lat. fol. 77, books I-III,iii,8 (Mo* I-III,iii,8)
o  Siglum: Mo1
o  I: The Prologue is lacking.
o  D: 14th century
o  P: Germany ?
o  O: De libris domini Iohannis ymmynck episcopi Teffelicensis (innerside of front-cover); Lippstadt, Jesuit college since 1628, according to owner's mark at fol. 1r; possibly after 1666 kept in the Churfürstliche Bibliothek in Cölln an der Spree, since 1701 in the Königliche Bibliothek at Berlin.
Florence, Biblioteca Medicea-Laurenziana, Fiesole 140, book I (Mo* I)
o  Siglum: Mo2
o  I: Fol. 1ra contains the Prologue to the Speculum Morale.
o  D: 14th century
o  P: France ?
o  O: Fiesole, cl. S. Bartolomeo O.S.B., since 1439 cl. Can. S.Aug.; Biblioteca Medicea; since last quarter of the 18th century kept in the Biblioteca Laurenziana.
o  R: cf. He24 en Mo3
Florence, Biblioteca Medicea-Laurenziana, Fiesole 141, books II-III (Mo* II-III)
o  Siglum: Mo3
o  D: 14th century
o  P: ?
o  O: Fiesole, cl. S. Bartolomeo O.S.B., since 1439 cl. Can. S.Aug.; Biblioteca Medicea; since last quarter of the 18th century kept in the Biblioteca Laurenziana.
o  R: cf. He24 en Mo2
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, lat. 6427, book I (Mo* I)
o  Siglum: Mo4
o  I: The Prologue is lacking.
o  D: 15th century
o  P: ?
o  O: ?
Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. lat. 1176, book III, book I,i,1-33 and book I,i,10-11 (Mo* III, I,i,1-33 and I,i,10-11)
o  Siglum: Mo5
o  I: The Prologue is lacking.
o  D: 14th century
o  P: Southern France (?) by three scribes, among whom Johannes Petri (f. 72v: Hucusque scripsit Iohannes Petri).
o  O: Martinus, bisshop of Lisbon (1379-1383) (f. 176v: M Martinus episcopus Ulixbonensis emit Nicolaus Eymerici testis).
Excerpts from the Speculum Morale survive in the following manuscripts:
Hildesheim, Dombibliothek, MS J 84, fols. 17v–18 (c. 1500);Â
Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, MS Clm 14255, fols. 239-248 (1466);Â
Verona, Biblioteca capitolare, MS CCXXVII (354), f. 36v (16th century).
Manuscript Würzburg, Universitätsbibliothek, MS M. ch. f. 86, fol. 1r (1475) presents a reference to the Speculum Morale.
These manuscripts deserve further study.
Image: Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, lat. 6427, f°1ro.