Variants (Lectiones variantes)
Variants to the Metaphysica, Translatio Arabica-Latina, Versio Vulgata, posted here are color-coded and float near the text when you mouse over them. The witnesses we consulted in preparing the text published here include the editio princeps, editions published in the last fifty years, three manuscripts, and the excerpts in Rufus' commentary. For a list of these works and the abbreviations we use to refer to them in the variants see Notae.
Red is a serious warning indicating that the variant presents a reading with a considerably different meaning.
Yellow suggests caution. Variants highlighted in yellow include repetitions and possible alternative readings, such as differences in the mood and number of verbs. Sometimes yellow marks editorial exclamations and suggestions.
Green is for variants that are probably safe to ignore, including doubtful readings about which the editors have no further suggestions. Most often green variants are obvious scribal errors. Green variants also include indications that the manuscript has been expunged or corrected in some way; most often they indicate that a reading appears above the line or in the margin. Additions or omissions of ‘est’ and ‘et’ appear here, as do substitutions of ‘igitur’ for ‘ergo’, addition or omission of ‘etc.’ and other differences that do not affect the sense of the text. We have also noted in green possible variants with closely related meanings – chiefly, such readings as ‘ille’ for ‘iste’ where the abbreviation is ambiguous and would often be expanded as ‘ille’, but does not exclude ‘iste’.
Lilac indicates variant readings found in Richard Rufus' commentary. Note that all the words Rufus quotes are boldfaced in this version of Aristotle's Metaphysics.
In addition to the sigla for the manuscripts, we employ several abbreviations in the variants and observe the following conventions:
Square brackets [...] enclose words added by the editors,
(includunt verba ab editoribus addita)
| add. | add/s | addit, addunt |
| antic. | anticipate/s | anticipat, anticipiant |
| canc. | cancel/s | cancellat, cancellant |
| del. | delete/s | delet, delent |
| emend. | emend/ing | emendans, emendat |
| exp. | expunge/s | expungit, expungunt |
| mg. | marginal | marginalis |
| om. | omit/s | omittit, omittunt |
| praem. | preface/s | praemittit, praemittunt |
| rep. | repeat/s | repetit, repetunt |
| s. lin. | above the line | supra lineam |
| hom. | homoeoteleuton |
| lac. | lacuna |