118 THE LIFE AND LEGEND OF MICHAEL SCOT 



of Rome. Thus it runs : ' Here endeth the book 

 of Aristotle concerning animals, according to the 

 abbreviation of Michael Scot Alphagirus.' The 

 form of expression is curious, but may be exactly 

 matched from the versions produced by the earlier 

 Toledan translators : that is, if we are to believe 

 Bartolocci. This author, in the first volume of his 

 Bibliotheca Rabbinica, mentions a manuscript of the 

 Fondo Urbinate in the Vatican which, he says, con- 

 tains the four books of Avicenna on Physics 

 translated by 'Johannes Gundisalvi.' This name 

 has evidently, like that of ' Scoti Alphagiri/ been 

 formed by composition from those of the two 

 translators, Johannes Avendeath and Dominicus 

 Gundisalvi who aided each other in the work. 1 



As to the personality of Alphagirus, the only 

 ground of conjecture seems to be that supplied by 

 Homanus de Higuera, who, speaking of the learned 

 men assembled in 1218 at Toledo for the astrono- 

 mical congress, mentions that one of them was 

 'el Conhesso Alfaquir' of Toledo. 2 The place, the 

 date, and the similarity of name, are all in favour 

 of our supposing these two to be one and the same 

 person. Nay further, as Alfaquir was of Toledo, 

 and did not need to be summoned thither in 1218, 

 there is no reason why he should not, as the 

 ' Alphagirus ' of 1209, have assisted Michael Scot in 

 producing the De Animalibus for Frederick. 



It is from a remark made by Roger Bacon that 

 we know the first name of the Toledan interpreter 



1 Bibl. Kabb. i. p. 7. 'Eiusdem Avicennae Physicorum lib. iv., 

 Magistro Johanne Gunsalui et Salomone interpretibus, No. 449,' i.e. of 

 the Fondo Urbinate. 



2 Bibl. Espaiiola, ii. pp. 643-4. ' Conhesso ' may be a mistake for 

 converso. There is reason to think that Andrew had embraced the 

 Christian faith. 



