Byrhtferth's Enchiridion
By: edited by Peter S. Baker and Michael Lapidge.
Contributors: Baker, Peter S. 1952-; Lapidge, Michael.
Series: S.S. ;; 15; SS (Early English Text Society) ;; 15.
Publisher: Published for the Early English Text Society by the Oxford University Press
Published: 1995
Place of publication: Oxford; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 480
Subjects: Astronomy -- Early works to 1800.
Description: Byrhtferth of Ramsey was one of the outstanding scholars of the late Anglo-Saxon Church, the pupil of Abbo of Fleury, probably the most learned man in the Europe of his day. From Abbo, Byrhtferth learned the intricacies of medieval date-reckoning (computus), as well as familiarity with the syllabus of the quadrivium (astronomy, arithmetic, harmony, geometry). The Enchiridion, completed in 1011, is a handbook designed to explain the complexities of computus to young monks in his charge, but Byrhtferth disgresses widely in discussions of metrics and rhetoric, as well as his scientific intersts. As such, it is a work in the forefront of Anglo-Saxon scholarship.

This edition of the Enchiridion supersedes that of S.J. Crawford, published for the Society in 1929 as vol. 177 of the Original Series. The new edition contains a full introduction, describing the nature of Byrhtferth's schooling at Ramsey. The text is presented with a facing translation, and is followed by a detailed commentary. The edition also includes the text of Byrhtferth's Latin treatise on computus, which has never been printed before. The Latin text is the model for the Enchiridion, which cannot be understood without reference to it.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references ( p. [cxxix]-cxxviii).
Original text in Anglo-Saxon and/or Latin and English translation on opposite pages.
"Published for the Early English Text Society by the Oxford University Press."