The Electronic Manipulus florum Project

 [First posted in AWOL 25 June 2016, updatcd 7 December 2018]

The Electronic Manipulus florum Project

Thomas of Ireland's Manipulus florum ("Handful of flowers") belongs to the genre of medieval texts known as florilegia, collections of authoritative quotations that are the forerunners of modern reference works such as Bartlett's Familiar Quotations and The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. This particular florilegium contains approximately 6000 Latin proverbs and textual excerpts (provided in 5821 entries*) that are attributed to various classical, patristic and medieval authors. Compiled in Paris at the beginning of the 14th century (1306), it survives in over 200 manuscripts and was published in at least 50 editions between 1483 and 1887, making it by far the most widely-disseminated and, presumably, the most influential anthology of Latin quotations produced during the Middle Ages.

Building upon the seminal scholarship of Mary Rouse and Richard Rouse, who published an extensive study of the Manipulus florum in 1979 that includes editions of Thomas' Preface and his list of authors and works (Preachers, pp.251-310), The Electronic Manipulus florum Project provides an Open Access critical edition of this florilegium, as well as a number of related Open Access research materials and various auxiliary resources (see Project Description). In an article on concordances, alphabetized indices and other reference tools developed during the 12th and 13th centuries, the Rouses emphasized that their purpose was to enable users "to find immediately" (statim invenire) the desired passage; the same utilitarian impulse informed the compilation and organization of florilegia. Thus, this project simply seeks to extend Thomas of Ireland's original intention into the digital age.

The Electronic Manipulus florum Edition

          > Browse the Manipulus florum
          > Search the Manipulus florum

          > Word cloud of Manipulus florum lemmata

     Supplementary Pages

          > What is the Manipulus florum?
          > Project Rationale
          > Project Description
          > The 1483 Piacenza Edition
          > The 1550 Venice Edition
            > Editorial Agency in the 1550 Edition
          > The 1567 Lyon Edition
          > Testimonials
          > Links
          > Acknowledgments
          > Annotated Bibliography
          > Auxiliary Resources
          > English Translations
          > Preface to the Manipulus florum
          > More Manuscript Illuminations
          > Manipulus florum Colloquium (May 2014)