Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers

Presentation miniature for Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers, showing Anthony Woodville presenting the book to Edward IV, who is accompanied by his wife Elizabeth, son Edward and brother Richard. Lambeth Palace, London.

Dicts and Sayings of the Philosophers ("The Sayings of the Philosophers") is an incunabulum, or early printed book. The Middle English work is a translation, by Anthony Woodville, of a wisdom literature compendium written in Arabic by the medieval Arab scholar al-Mubashshir ibn Fatik, titled Mukhtār al-ḥikam wa-maḥāsin al-kalim (مختار الحكم ومحاسن الكلم)[1] which had been translated into several languages. Woodville based his version on an earlier French translation. His translation would come to be printed by William Caxton in 1477 as either the first, or one of the earliest, books printed in the English language.[2]

  1. ^ Wrisley, D. (2016). "Modeling the Transmission of al-Mubashshir Ibn Fātik's Mukhtār al-Ḥikam in Medieval Europe: Some Initial Data-Driven Explorations" (PDF). Journal of Religion, Media and Digital Culture. 5 (1): 228–257. doi:10.1163/21659214-90000076.
  2. ^ DNB, p. 383