Balbi (Balbus, De Balbis), Giovanni

BALBI (Balbus, De Balbis), Giovanni. - Dominican scholar, famous author of the Catholicon, about which we have the few biographical notices that he inserts about himself in his writings. From his place of birth he is also called Giovanni da Genova (Ianunensis). He died around 1298.

Before entering the cloister he had already composed an Opus paschale, that is, a computistical study for determining the day of Easter. In the Dominican convent of Genoa the manuscript of his Postillae super evangelia is preserved. In 1272 he finished a summa of theology in the form of a dialogue under the title Dialogus super quaestionibus animae ad spiritum, preserved in the Vatican Library (Vat. Lat. 1508 and 1309). Divided into seven books, the treatise is often inspired by St. Thomas. For this reason Grabmann counts the B. among the representatives of the Italian Thomistic school.

His major work dates from 1286: the Summa grammaticalis quae vocatur Catholicon, called the Catholicon. The subject matter of this work extends over and is limited to the "Trivium," providing books on orthography, prosody, grammar, rhetoric, and a vocabulary of late and medieval Latinity. The work, esteemed still today as useful, survives in several manuscripts and had the honor of being among the firstfruits of the art of printing. Gutenberg himself, with special types known as the Catholicon types, oversaw in 1460 the printing of this work, closing this last great typographic undertaking of his with the well-known particular cōlon (reproduced in LThK, I, col. 925). This first edition was followed by others still in the 15th century.

B. had also made himself famous for his virtues.