40 THE LIFE AND LEGEND OF MICHAEL SCOT 



are said to have been printed between 1477 and 



1660.' __ __ 



In the copy preserved at Milan, the Physionomia 

 is placed immediately after the Astronomia, or 

 Liber Particularis. A similar arrangement is found 

 in the Oxford manuscript. This fact is certainly in 

 favour of the view we have adopted, and would seem 

 to fix very plainly the date and relation of these 

 works. They stand beside the Liber Introduc- 

 torius, and, together with it, form the only remains 

 we have of Scot's first literary activity, being publi- 

 cations that were called out in the course of his 

 scholastic duty to the King of Sicily. The Liher 

 Lntroductorius opens this series. It is closely 

 related by the nature of its subject-matter to the 

 A stronomia, or Liber Particularis, while the Physio- 

 nomia forms a fitting close to the others with which 

 it is thus associated. In this last treatise Michael 

 Scot sought to fulfil his charge by sending forth 

 his pupil to the great world, not wholly unprovided 

 with a guide to what is far more abstruse and incal- 

 culable than any celestial theorem, the mystery of 

 human character and action. 



In presenting the Physionomia to Frederick, 

 Scot took what proved a long farewell of the Court ; 

 for many years passed before he saw the Emperor 

 again. The great concourse of the Queen's train, 

 together with the assembly of Frederick's subjects 

 at Palermo, bred a pestilence under the dangerous 

 heats of spring. A sudden horror fell on the 

 masques and revels of these bright days, with the 

 death of the Queen's brother. Count Alfonso of 



1 Ristoire Litteraire de la France. The list given above will show 

 that this statement rather falls short of the truth than exceeds it. 



'^ 



