The problem of the relationship between the last five books of Albertus Magnus' De Animalibus and the corresponding books of the De Natura Rerum of Thomas of Cantimpre was first raised nearly a century ago and has not yet been conclusively solved. ... The present paper attempts to show that Albertus borrowed extensively from Thomas. Certain restrictions as to the kinds of evidence valid for such an argument are immediately obvious. Since Thomas' statements are nearly all taken from earlier writings, which were also available to Albertus, material common to the De Natura Rerum and the De Animalibus does not necessarily constitute evidence of influence. Moreover, since Albertus usually rephrases borrowed material, it is difficult to establish conclusively by parallel phrasing alone the sources upon which he drew. It is necessary, therefore, to find in Thomas' work statements not included in his sources and to show that Albertus reproduced these passages. The obvious approach to such a purpose is a study of Thomas' errors. If it can be shown that Albertus consistently reproduces errors original with Thomas, we have, it seems to me, unmistakable evidence of borrowing. - [Author]

Language: English

DOI: 10.2307/2854727