THE MANUSCRIPTS
Unfortunately there is no autograph of this treatise extant, though
there are a number of early copies, some of which have been made with great care. Others, for various reasons, abbreviate the original considerably. The MSS. belonging to both classes will be enumerated.
Alba de Tormes. The Discalced Carmelite priory of
Alba de Tormes has a codex which contains the four principal treatises of St. John of the Cross (Ascent, Dark Night, Spiritual Canticle and Living Flame). This codex belonged from a very early date (perhaps from a date not much later than that of the Saint’s death) to the family of the Duke of Alba, which was greatly devoted to the Discalced Carmelite Reform and to St. Teresa, its foundress. It remained in the family until the beginning of the eighteenth century, when it came into the hands of a learned Carmelite, Fray Alonso de la Madre de Dios, who presented it to the Alba monastery on April 15, 1705. The details of this history are given by Fray Alonso himself in a note bearing this date.
For over half a century the MS. was believed to be an autograph, partly, no doubt, on account of its luxurious binding and the respect paid to the noble house whence it came. In February 1761, however, it was examined carefully by P. Manuel de Santa María, who, by his Superiors’ orders, was assisting P. Andrés de la Encarnación in his search for, and study of, manuscripts of the Saint’s writings. P. Manuel soon discovered that the opinion commonly held was erroneous — greatly, it would seem, to the disillusionment of his contemporaries. Among the various reasons which he gives in a statement supporting his conclusions is that in two places the author is described as ’santo’ — a proof not only that the MS. is not an autograph but also that the copyist had no intention of representing it as such.
Although this copy is carefully made and richly bound — which
suggests that it was a gift from the Reform to the house of Alba — it contains many errors, of a kind which indicate that the copyist, well educated though he was, knew little of ascetic or mystical theology. A number of omissions, especially towards the end of the book, give the impression that the copy was finished with haste and not compared with the original on its completion. There is no reason, however, to suppose that the errors and omissions are ever intentional; indeed, they are of such a kind as to suggest that the copyist had not the skill necessary for successful adulteration.
MS. 6,624. This copy, like the next four, is in N.L.M. [National
Library of Spain, Madrid], and contains the same works as that of Alba de Tormes. It was made in 1755, under the direction of P. Andrés de la Encarnación, from a manuscript, now lost, which was venerated by the Benedictines of Burgos: this information is found at the end of the volume. P. Andrés had evidently a good opinion of the Burgos MS., as he placed this copy in the archives of the Discalced Reform, whence it passed to the National Library early in the nineteenth century.
As far as the Ascent is concerned, this MS. is very similar
to that of Alba. With a few notable exceptions, such as the omission of the second half of Book I, Chapter iv, the errors and omissions are so similar as to suggest a definite relationship, if not a common source.
MS. 13,498. This MS., which gives us the Ascent and the
Dark Night, also came from the Archives of the Reform and is now in the National
Library. The handwriting might be as early as the end of the sixteenth century. The author did not attempt to make a literal transcription of the Ascent, but summarized where he thought advisable, reducing the number of chapters and abbreviating many of them — this last not so much by the method of paraphrase as by the free omission of phrases and sentences.
MS. 2,201. This, as far as the Ascent is concerned, is
an almost literal transcription of the last MS., in a seventeenth-century hand; it was bound in the eighteenth century, when a number of other treatises were added to it, together with some poems by St. John of the Cross and others. The variants as between this MS. and 13,498 are numerous, but of small importance, and seem mainly to have been due to carelessness.
MS. 18,160. This dates from the end of the sixteenth century and
contains the four treatises named above, copied in different hands and evidently
intended to form one volume. Only the first four chapters of the Ascent are
given, together with the title and the first three lines of the fifth chapter. The transcription is poorly done.