Number

pt.003

Title

Segredo dos Segredos

Segredos de Aristóteles

Original Latin source

Secretum secretorum (lt.003)

Textual localization 

Work with the same name.

Language

Old Portuguese

Translator

Probably the Infante D. Henrique (Porto, March 4, 1394 - Sagres, November 13, 1460) was the fifth son of King John I and Philippa of Lancaster. He is known as ‘Infante de Sagres’ or ‘O Navegador’, given the important role it played at the beginning of the Portuguese Discoveries.

His authorship of translation is first mentioned in the sixteenth century, in the Registrum librorum don Ferdinandi Colon (Gomes, 1938: 195-197; Sá, 1960: xvii-xviii). According to Sá, such authorship is not verifiable, although it is plausible (Sá, 1960 : xvii-xix See also Carvalho, 1949).

Translation’s contextualization 

The work is among the texts that have belonged to the Livraria de D. Duarte (xiv), and there are also references to his presence among the codices of the Alcobaça Monastery, from where it disappeared, to come to be acquired, as in the twentieth century by an anonymous (Sá 1960: xiv-xv).

Date

Prior to 1438, date of death of D. Duarte, because the translation appears in the list of books of this king (who passed away in 1438) (Sá, 1960: xxviii, xxix).

Place 

Unknown, although the authorship of the translation (attributed to D. Henrique) may indicate it was made in the royal court.

Changes to the original work

Unknown.

List of manuscript testimonies

1. There is only one complete portuguese translation in an unknown location. The latest information tells that his owner, in 1960, was Mario Alberto de Sousa Gomes. This witness will be a copy of the fifteenth century.

2. There is a partial copy of the text of the fifteenth century in the 54r-54v folios of the ‘Leal Conselheiro’ in the manuscript Fonds Portugais 5 of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France [Richelieu] (download here: pages 117-118 of the pdf). See also Sá, 1960: xxiii-xxix).

List of old editions

There are no old printed editions.

Testimonies’ contextualization 

1. Unknown location: paper, probably 192 folios, written in semigothic round, with red titles and room for illuminated initials (Gomes, 1938: 197-198).

2. Bibliothèque Nationale de France: 128 folios in parchment (40.5 × 28.2 cm), written in Gothic cursive, divided into two columns with initials painted / decorated.

Editions

SÁ, Artur Moreira de (1960) Aristóteles [Pseudo] – Segredo dos Segredos. Tradução portuguesa, segundo um manuscrito inédito do séc. XV. Lisboa: Faculdade de Letras.

Studies

Online database:

Philobiblon – Bitagap: Texid 1043; Manid 1031; Manid 1154; Cnum 1048; Cnum 19272

References:

BRAGA, T (1892-1902), História da Universidade de Coimbra 1, Lisboa: Academia Real das Sciencias, 219.

CARVALHO, J. (1925), Excerpta Bibliographica ex Bibliotheca Columbina, 1, Arquivo de História e Bibliografia, Coimbra, 511-576.

CARVALHO, J. (1938), O 'Secreto de los secretos de astrologia' do Infante D. Henrique (Rectificação), O Instituto 93, 345-357.

CARVALHO, J. (1949), A propósito da atribuição do Secreto de los Secretos de Astrologia ao Infante D. Henrique, Estudos sobre a Cultura Portuguesa do século XV . Coimbra: Universidade de Coimbra, 1, 283-261.

GOMES, Armando Sousa (1938), "O Livro 'Segrêdo dos segredos' e o Infante D. Henrique (Em Defesa)", O Instituto 481-489

GOMES, Armando Sousa (1938), O Livro «Segrêdo dos Segredos» e o Infante D. Henrique. O Instituto 93, 193-220.

PIEL, Joseph Maria (1942), Leal Conselheiro o qual fez Dom Eduarte. Edição crítica e anotada. Lisboa: Livraria Bertrand, 211-212.

SÁ, Artur Moreira de (1960), "A próxima edição de três traduções portuguesas inéditas do século XV", Boletim Internacional de Bibliografia Luso-Brasileira 1, 579-585 (n. III).

Notes