VINCENT OF BEAUVAIS — V. of B. in his study, intent on writing the *Speculum Maius*; beside him servants bringing volumes. Miniature from a French school of the first half of the 15th century, now illustrating the incipit of the first book of the *Miroir historial*, translated by Jean de Vignay.
Vatican Library, codex Reg. lat. 538, f. 1r.
*Speculum historiale*: theological-ascetical treatise on the Sacrament and the spirit of penance (Paris, Bibl. nat., Cat. 3214); *Expositiones orationis dominicae et salutationis B. Mariae* (ibid., 1489).
V.’s work, particularly the *Speculum*, is valuable as a collection of texts that would otherwise be irretrievably lost, and as a historical source for events contemporary with him (e.g., the founding of various religious Orders). V. was more than an encyclopedist in the manner of St Albert the Great or Bacon; he was a compiler without a distinctive personality, concerned to gather material for the use of others. Admirable is his diligence in selecting and indicating exact references to the authors cited, in summarizing their thought in orderly fashion, and in showing that he had assimilated it; he often clarifies and elucidates obscure passages.