top of page

An introduction to the manuscripts of the Speculum Historiale

The sigla used in this inventory of surviving manuscripts of the Speculum Historiale are copied from the list in J.B. Voorbij, Het 'Speculum Historiale' van Vincent van Beauvais, Groningen 1991, Appendix 2.2, pp. 292-330. New manuscripts have been added to that list, notably in J.B. Voorbij, Gebrauchsaspekte des Speculum Maius von Vinzenz von Beauvais. In: Meier, C., D. Hüpper & H. Keller [eds], Der Codex im Gebrauch. (Akten des Internationalen Kolloquiums 11.-13. Juni 1992), München 1996, pp. 226-227, note 8. To these new manuscripts subsequent sigla have been assigned. The codicological information in Voorbij's list has been updated, for which Mary Franklin-Brown´s Reading the World. Encyclopedic Writing in the Scholastic Age (Chicago and London 2012) was an important source.


The genesis of the Speculum Historiale is complicated. Being popular after its first release, copies of the earlier versions were distributed years before Vincent of Beauvais finished the final (= Douai) version of the Speculum Historiale. That explains why, in producing manuscripts, scribes copied texts belonging to different versions. In this way, even complete copies of the Speculum Historiale circulated that represent different versions. Sometimes scribes being aware of the existence of these differences, tried to unify them or even emend the text of the Speculum Historiale, thus causing even more confusion for posterity.


The manuscript inventory uncovers this intertwining of versions. Each item is equipped with a siglum: a combination of letters and numbers. The letters indicate the version of the speculum to which a specific manuscript belongs, the numbers the serial number in the inventory. When the siglum has three or more letters, the manuscript contains material from different versions. For example, manuscript Hcb2 is the second representative of the Vienna version (Hc) of the Speculum Historiale, mixed with components of the Klosterneuburg version (Hb).


Five versions and their components


Five versions of the Speculum Historiale are known today. They are listed below, with an indication of the specific components that make up this speculum. The combinations of letters and numbers point to different versions of these components. See the page Components of the Speculum Maius for further explanation of the meaning of these sigla.


Ha: Speculum Historiale, Dijon version

  • Dedicatory letter to king Louis IX of France, which precedes the Libellus Apologeticus;

  • Libellus Apologeticus (LA-1) + Prologue to the Speculum Historiale (Phist-1) + list of chapter titles;

  • Résumé of the other specula (Rnat-1);

  • Text of Historiale (Hist-1, books 1-15, to which the final 16 books of Hist-5 have been added) consisting of 31 books, numbered as 1-31.


Hb: Speculum Historiale, Klosterneuburg version

  • Libellus Apologeticus (version unknown) + Prologue to the Speculum Historiale (version unknown) + list of chapter titles;

  • Résumé of the other specula (version unknown);

  • Text of the Historiale (Hist-2) consisting of 29 books, numbered as 2-30.


Hc: Speculum Historiale, Vienna version

  • Libellus Apologeticus (LA-4A) + Prologue to the Speculum Historiale (Phist-2) + list of chapter titles;

  • Résumé of the other specula (Rnat-2);

  • Text of the Historiale (Hist-3, books 1-15, to which the final 16 books of Hist-5 have been added) consisting of 31 books, numbered as 1-31.


Hd: Speculum Historiale, Saint-Jacques version

  • Libellus Apologeticus (LA-4C) + Prologue to the Speculum Historiale (Phist-2) + list of chapter titles;

  • Résumé of the other specula (Rnat-2);

  • An alphabetical index (long version);

  • Text of the Historiale (Hist-4) consisting of 31 books, numbered as 2-32.


He: Speculum Historiale, Douai version

  • Libellus Apologeticus (LA-4C) + Prologue to the Speculum Historiale (Phist-2) + list of chapter titles;

  • Résumé of the other specula (Rnat-2);

  • An alphabetical index (short version);

  • Text of the Historiale (Hist-5) consisting of 31 books, numbered as 2-32.


The manuscripts of the five versions are listed in the sections The manuscripts of the first four versions of the Speculum Historiale, and The manuscripts of the final version of the Speculum Historiale. A few manuscripts could not be assigned to a specific version as yet, see the section Unclassified manuscripts.


Image: Lisboa, Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal, Il. 126, f° 43ro.

bottom of page