VINCENT OF BEAUVAIS, French priest and encyclopedist: b. about 1190; d. 1264. The years of his birth and death are uncertain and those given above are most generally believed to be approximately correct. Of his personal history little also is known. It is believed that Vincent joined the Dominicans in Paris a'bout the year 1218 and with the exception of ex tended visits to Louis IX at Royaumont the remainder of his life was spent in the monas tery of his order at Beauvais. Possessed of a keen, analytic and orderly mind and endowed with a remarkable capacity for work, Vincent undertook the stupendous task of compiling a systematic and comprehensive treatment of all branches of human knowledge. Louis TX helped him in procuring many of the worlcs necessary for this task. The general title of Vincent's encyclopedia is 'Speculum Majus.) The first part, (Speculum Naturale,> contains 32 books and 3,718 chapters; it treats of cos mography, physiology, psychology, physics, the ology, botany, zoology, mineralogy, agriculture. There is an edition of this work in the Wheeler collection in the library of the American Insti tute of Electrical Engineers. It comprises two royal folio volumes, containing 694 double-col umn pages of 66 lines to the column. It was probably published about 1468 and at Straw burg. The second part of Vincent's great work is the (Speculum Doctrinale,' 'in 17 books and 2,374 chapters. It deals with logic, poetry, rhetoric, astronomy, geometry, education, indus trial and mechanical arts, anatomy, surgery, medicine, jurisprudence, etc. The third division is the (Speculum Histoiiale> in 31 books and 3,793 chapters and brings the history of the world down to 1250 A.n. A fourth part, the (Speculum
Morale,' was included in early editions but its authenticity is questioned. The (Speculum Mains) contains in all 80 books, divided into 9,ffi.5 chapters. It has been calcolated that it would be equal to 60 volumes, octavo, of our time, which gives some idea of the magnitude of the work undertaken by this Domimcan in the early 13th century. More than five centu ries were destined to pass before the encyclo pedic idea was again formulated and then it required a brilliant group to perform what Vin cent had accomplished single-handed. Other works of Vincent are 'De eruditione filicorum regalium) and 'Tractatus consolatorius morte amice.) The best edition of Vincent's work is that edited by the priests of the So ciety- of Jesus (4 vols., Douai 1624). Consult Bourgeat, J. B., 'Etudes sur Vincent de Beau vais, theologian, philosopher, encyclopediste) (Paris 1856) ; Boutaric, E., 'Examen des sources du speculum historiale de Vincent de Beauvais> (Paris 1863) ; Revue des questions historiques (Vol. XVII, Paris 1875) ; Daunon, 'Continuation de histoire litteraire de France' ; Haureau, B., (Notices . . . de MSS. latins de la Bibliotheque Nationale) (Vol. V, ib. 1892) • Male, E., (L'art religieux du XIII8 gide en 'France) •, Fouron, (Histoire des hom mes illustres de l'ordre de Saint Doniinique) (Paris 1875) ; Wattenbach, W., (Deutschlands, Geschichtsquellen) (Vol. II, 1894).