Gossuin de Metz: The myrrour (1527)

This is a translation of the 1245 book l'Image du Monde by the French priest Gossuin de Metz. It contains, among other things, short introductions to all the liberal arts, including grammar, logic, and rhetoric.

The quality of the scan of the book at Early English Books Online is quite bad, with splotches and dots all over. Combined with the odd and inconsistent spelling, this makes for a very difficult read.

Since I now plowed my way through the few pages on logic anyway, I thought I should put my own transcript here, and save some poor soul the labor some time in the future. The pages are unnumbered in the book, but the logic section stretches over what I guess would be pages 27–30.

Here is the text:

Logyke is the scyence wherby men do lerne to know the trovthe from the false sverly & trvly by probable argvmentys, and so to knowe the trovthe and the falshed of every proposycyon. A proposycvon is a reason of the indicatyff or shewing mode congrve and perfyte, sygnyfyenge trovthe or false, as god is beyng, a man is a beste, and a horse is rennynge, and svche other.

Also every syngvler proposycyon is an affyrmatyff or a negatyff, The affyrmatyff is he that affyrmeth the pryncypal verbe, As a man is a beste. The negatyfe is he that denyeth the pryncypall verbe, as a man is not a beste, so that the negatyffe come before the pryncypall verbe.

Also of syngle proposycyons, some be universals, some pertycvlers, some indiffinite, and some syngvlers.

An universall proposycyon is he that whan a nowne appellatyff that beryth the name of a thynge is his svbjectyfe determynyd with a sygne universall, as every man is a beste.

A partycvler proposycyon is he that whan a nowne that bereth the name of a thyng is his svbiectyfe determyned with a sygne pertycvler, as some man is a beste.

A proposycyon syngvler is he that whan a nowne that is the proper name of a thynge or a pronowne or adverbe demonstratyfe is svbjectyfe, as John is a man, wylliam is a beste, this men renneth, he ronneth, there is a beste, here is a man.

Also of proposycyons som be modallis & som be essencyallys.

A proposycyon modall is he that hath his svbiectyfe with a sygne modall, as this, possyble it is a man to go.

Sygnes modals be .iiii. that is to say, possyble, impossyble, necessarye, contyngent.

Also of proposycyons impossible and necessary there be thwayne that is so say, impossible by hym selfe, and impossible by accydent, impossible by hym selfe is that ever was fals, is false, and ever shall be fals, as no god is, impossible by accydent is that, that is fals & ever shalbe false, bvt yet ones it myght heve be or was trewe, as I have not be livyng. Necessary by hymselfe in like wise is that, that ever was trewe, is trewe, and ever shall be trew as god is, Necesary by accedent, is that that is trew and ever shalbe trew bvt yet [new page] ones is myght heve be or was fals, as my father hath begotte me, Contyngent is that that may be trewe or fals indyfferently, as I go, I speke, I shall go, I shall speke.

Also a dovble proposycyon is called an ypotytyk which hathe .ii. preposycyons inclvdyd in hym with some conivnctyon, As with &, if, or, & whyle, &, when they be ioyned with this worde &, they be called compylatyves, as thov arte arte a man, & that thov arte a beste, and with this worde, yf, cavsels, as yf I ronne, A man ronnyth and with this worde, or, dyffinytifes, As I go, or thov goest, & with this worde, whyle, temporell, as while I go thov syttest.

Illustration from book, placed between the chapter on rhetoric and the chapter on logic.

An argvment is the reason of a dovbtfvll thynge shewyng that whyche is dovbtfvll to be trewe or false, as John is a man, ergo John is a beste, So ever ye mvste note all that cometh before this worde, ergo is callyd the antecedens & that whiche folowth thys worde ergo is called the conseqvens, And note this ever for a pryncypall rvle to knowe a good argvment, when by no case possyble that can be pvtte the antecedens may be trewe and the conseqvens fals, than it is a good argvment, bvt yf any case in the wordle possyble may be pvt that the antecedens maye be trewe & the conseqvens fals, than it is no good argvment.

Also other rvles there be in Logyke to know a good argvmente whyche for yong lerners is conveinent to be had and to be u[se]d for to qvyckyn theyre wyttes bvt this forsayde rvle for them that have wytte and good capasyte is svffycyent to knowe every argvment whether it be good or badde.

Also Logyke techeth a man to know the dyffynicyon or the discrypcyon of every thyng which is no more in effect bvt rvles wherby to know trvly what the thyng is.

A dyffynycyon is that which sheweth what the thyng is by other thyngs essencyal.

A dyscrynpcyon is that whych sheweth what the thyng is by other thynges accydentall. As the dyffynycyon of a man is thys. A man is a body wyth lyfe sencyble & reasonable or every thynge whiche is a body with lyfe sensyble & reasonable is a man, and every man is a body wyth lyffe sensyble and reasonable.

Sensyble is as moche to say as that thynge that hathe the use or aptnes of the .v. sensys, as of tastynge, smellynge, herynge, seiyng, & tovchyng.

A dyscrypcyon is to know what the thynge is by thynges accyden[new page]tall, as the dyscrypcyon of a boke comonly is that thynge that is made with perchement or paper or with lettres that men may rede yet every thynge which is made with parmemente or paper with leters that men may rede is not a boke, nor every boke is not made with parchement or paper and lettres as a boke made with tables and ymages. Therfore in the dyscrypcyon we saye this worde comonly.

Accydentall thynges be those that my be somtyme take away from the thynge and yet the thynge to remayne as whytnes, blacknes, greatnes, or smalnes.

Essencyall thynges be those which never may be taken away from the thynge and the thynge to remayne, as the body of a man can never be takyn away from the man and the man to remayn.

Then follows the chapter on geometry.