The Secret of Secrets: The East Slavic Version

Ultimo aggiornamento: 18 January 2023

Ryan W.F., Taube M.

The Secret of Secrets: The East Slavic Version

Introduction, Text, Annotated Traslation, and Slavic Index

University London Press, London 2019

Scheda a cura di: Ryan W.F., Taube M.

The original Arabic Secret of Secrets was probably compiled from multiple sources, and dates from about the tenth century. It purports to be the advice of Aristotle to his pupil Alexander the Great on all the knowledge - political, ethical, military, medical, and occult - needed by a great king. It was translated into Latin, Hebrew, and many European languages. It has been described as one of the most popular books of the Middle Ages. The Hebrew version was translated into a variety of East Slavic, probably in Kiev before 1483. This idiosyncratic version contains major interpolations: a physiognomy by Razes and treatises on poison, sex, and asthma by Maimonides. It is known to have been in the libraries of at least two tsars and two patriarchs in the 16th and 17th centuries. This annotated edition contains a historical introduction, the text, manuscript variants, an analytical glossary, and an English translation.

Indice

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Introduction:

I. The Secret of Secrets from Arabic to Hebrew to Slavic

II. The Content of the Secret of Secrets

III. The Hebrew Version and its Slavic Translation

IV. The Translators of the Arabic, Hebrew, and Slavic Versions

V. The Interpolations in the Slavic Tajnaja tajnyh

VI. Affinities of the Tajnaja tajnyh to Other Works

VII. The Later History and Impact of the Tajnaja tajnyh

VIII. Manuscripts of the Tajnaja tajnyh