PIMSPontifical Institute
of
Mediaeval Studies

The presentation concerns my new research project and aims to open a discussion about the early reception of Boethius’ De arithmetica (9th – 12th). For this purpose, I will briefly introduce the contents of Boethius’ work and explain the reason for my choosing to focus on this topic during my Fellowship at PIMS, namely the pivotal role that this text played in both shaping Western mathematics and influencing Western philosophy. First, I will offer two examples of the interest Boethius’ text aroused after its re-discovery during the Carolingian age. Second, I will consider the status quaestionis on this topic, taking into account the editions, studies and research tools which contributed to elucidating the medieval reception of Boethius’ De arithmetica. Finally, I will present how my project is structured and offer my very first results concerning the edition of the anonymous commentary on the De arithmetica that I have chosen to study.