Aldred's Appetite for Encyclopaedic Knowledge: The Secret of Warm and Cold Breath

Kees Dekker*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

    2 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    A series of encyclopaedic notes at the end of Durham, Cathedral Library, A.iv.19, includes a question on the origin of warm and cold breath immediately following a text listing the eight parts of which Adam was made. The two types of breath, made of fire and wind, respectively, form the spiritus. By linking the question on warm and cold breath to the history of octipartite Adam texts it has become clear that the spiritus relates to the Stoic pneuma or "cosmic breath'', a Stoic concept of the soul, which forms the key to the juxtaposition of these two notes.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)583-592
    Number of pages10
    JournalEnglish Studies
    Volume93
    Issue number5
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2012

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