St Thomas Aquinas

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31724, 6 July 1968, Page 4

St Thomas Aquinas

The Summa Theeiegiae of St Thomas Aquinas in 60 volumes. (Blackfriars, in conjunction with Eyre and Spottiswoode, London and McGraw-Hill. New York.)

They say there is one good book in every man if he gets the chance to write it What is one to say of St Thomas of Aquin? His Summa is one book in the moral sense even if on this occasion it should be published in 60 volumes—-handy-sized volumes of less than 200 pages, a convenience which should appeal to students of yesteryear who struggled down ladders with enormous tomes to discover the mind of the perennial philosopher. The entire series, appropriately, is under the general editorship of the Dominican, Thomas Gilby, but the translations have been shared. (Eric D'Arcy does the volume on the Emotions.) Latin text and English translation are printed on facing pages; the print is clear and chapter and section headings are well arranged.

Each volume has an introduction which puts its theme into tiie general setting of the topic as well as relating it to the total structure of the Summa. This gives each volume an integrity of its own and places it within the range of the average book buyer. At the same time the whole series remains a most attractive offering for any reference library truly worthy of the name.