The Mirror of Simple Souls

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The Mirror of the Simple Souls
LC Class
BV5091.C7 P6713 1993
The Mirror of the Simple Souls
Author"An unknown French mystic of the thirteenth century", Clare Kirchberger ed.
TranslatorM. N.
LanguageEnglish
SubjectChristianity, mysticism
PublisherBurns Oates and Washbourne Ltd.
Publication date
31 October 1927
Media typehardback
Pages303
242.144

The Mirror of Simple Souls[1] is an early 14th-century work of Christian mysticism by Marguerite Porete dealing with the workings of Divine Love.

Love in this book layeth to souls the touches of his divine works privily hid under dark speech, so that they should taste the deeper draughts of his love and drink.

— from 15th-century English translator's prologue

Written originally in the

Heresy of the Free Spirit
in its vision, denounced it as "full of errors and heresies", burnt existing copies, banned its circulation, and executed Porete herself.

In spite of this, the work was translated into

Beguine
movement.

20th-century rediscovery

A 15th-century manuscript of an English translation by "M. N." of The Mirror was found by J. A. Herbert among a manuscript collection purchased for the

Bodleian library and the library of St. John's College, Cambridge, together with a Latin version made in the late 15th century by Richard Methley of Mount Grace, Yorkshire. A printed edition was edited by Clare Kirchberger from those four manuscripts, and published by Burns Oates and Washbourne Ltd., publishers to the Holy See, in 1927, complete with a nihil obstat and imprimatur
. [3]

The translation by "M. N." included a number of glosses by him and divided the text into divisions and chapters.

The French book that I shall write after is evil [i.e. badly] written and in some places for default of words and syllables the reason is away. Also, in translating French, some words need to be changed or it will fare ungoodly, not according to the sense.

— Translator's prologue

For the 1927 edition, the mediæval text was used but with spellings updated, and occasional words replaced accompanied by footnotes with additional glosses.

See also

References

  1. ISBN 0226747867
    .
  2. ^ a b Justine L. Trombley, A Diabolical Voice: Heresy and the Reception of the Latin "Mirror of Simple Souls" in Late Medieval Europe (Cornell University Press, 2023), p. 3.
  3. ^ Introduction to said book: By an unknown French mystic of the thirteenth century (1927). Clare Kirchberger (ed.). The Mirror of Simple Souls. Translated into English by M.N. (trans.). Burns Oates and Washbourne Ltd. p. 303.
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