O właściwościach rzeczy

Bartholomeus Anglicus (Bartholomew of England) (born before 1203–died 1272)[1] was an early 13th-century scholastic scholar of Paris, a member of the Franciscan order. He was the author of On the Properties of Things (De proprietatibus rerum), dated at 1240, an early forerunner of the encyclopedia.

The work was written for the use of students and the general public, in Latin in 19 books at the school of Magdeburg in Saxonia[1]. A number of copies exist both in manuscript and in printed form. Bartholomew carefully notes the sources for the material included, although, at present, it is sometimes impossible to identify or locate some of them. His annotations give a good idea of the wide variety of works available to a medieval scholar.

The subjects of the books, in order, are God, angels (including demons), the human mind or soul, physiology, of ages (family and domestic life), medicine, the universe and celestial bodies, time, form and matter (elements), air and its forms, water and its forms, earth and its forms including geography, gems, minerals and metals, animals, and color, odor, taste and liquids.