Oresme's Compilation of the Text and Its Graphic Treatment

The Yconomique is the shortest of the three Aristotelian moral treatises translated by Oresme for Charles V. In B , the oldest illustrated copy of the Politics and Economics , 23 folios (373–396) make up the Yconomique , compared to 372 folios for the Politiques . A similar relationship occurs in D , where the Yconomique takes up 24 folios (363v–387) to 363 for the Politiques . Oresme notes that in logical terms the Yconomique should follow the Ethiques according to the number of people and social groups discussed in each.^[8] Oresme also observes that Aristotle had discussed the household in Book I of the Politics , but to expound on the subject more fully, the Economics follows. In his translation Oresme adheres to his usual practice of dividing the text of the two books into short chapters and furnishing titles and summary paragraphs for them. Book I has seven chapters; Book II, eight. His glosses, which comprise two-thirds of the full text, are of the same types found in the Ethiques and the Politiques .^[9] Oresme uses the glosses of earlier commentators such as Jean Buridan, William of Ockham, Ferrandus de Hispania, Barthélemy de Bruges, Albert the Great, and Durandus de Hispania.^[10] He adds, however, original contributions in the form of cross-references to his translations of the Ethics and the Politics , other Aristotelian and classic works, as well as biblical sources. As later discussion will show, Oresme's updating and concretizing of the text contains significant observations on topics such as marriage. There are, however, only six glosses long enough to be called commentaries.^[11] Furthermore, Oresme does not furnish an index of noteworthy subjects or a glossary of difficult words. At the conclusion of the Yconomique , he explains these omissions:

Cy fine le Livre de Yconomique . Et ne est pas mestier de faire table des notables de si petit livre et souffist signer les en marge. Et aussi tous les moz estranges de cest livre sunt exposés en la glose de cest livre ou il sunt exposés en la table des fors moz de Politiques .

(Here ends the Book of Economics . It is unnecessary to draw up a list of notable passages in such a small book and it is sufficient to point them out in the margins. Also, all the unusual words in this book are explained in the glosses or in the alphabetical table of difficult words in the Book of Politics .)^[12]

Despite the more cursory textual treatment of the Yconomique , the layout and decoration of the introductory folios of B and D adhere to the standards observed in the Politiques . In B (Fig. 80) the running title Yconomique is composed of capital letters executed in blue and rose pen flourishes. A drollery on the upper left margin depicts a hybrid woman-monster spinning: a programmatic and satiric comment on the miniature.^[13] Although the summary paragraph is not rubricated, a foliate initial of normal dimensions (six lines in length) introduces the text. A smaller foliate initial L ending in two ivy leaves calls attention to the beginning of the first chapter of the text. The alternating rose and blue two-line, pen-flourished initials of the chapter titles are also characteristic of the decoration, as are the enframement and borders. In D (Fig. 81) the title of the text appears on the previous folio, although the running title for Book I occurs above the ivy-leaf upper border. Accompanied by a foliate initial C of normal dimensions, the introductory paragraph is rubricated. While the usual type of initials for the chapter titles follows, an unusual feature is the eight-line flourished initial Y introducing the first word of Chapter 1 of the text without any line separation or space following the titles. The Y in Figure 81 may compensate for the fact that the sentence in Figure 80 that announces the completion of the chapter titles of Book I and the beginning of the text was dropped in the later version.