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Reviews of Books
the opinions and vicissitudes of fortune of certain county gentry in Kent,
from about 1500 onward, especially during Wyatt's Rebellion and the Civil
Wars. It centers round the history of Roydon Hall, a family seat in East
Peckham, held during a long period by the Twysden family. The account
of Sir Roger Twysden, based mainly on family records, is of some interest.
His political opinions during the Civil Wars, his life in prison, his numerous
writings, the sequestration of his estates, the felling of his beautiful timber,

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his difficulties in getting redress, all make an interesting and very human
story. Details are given, too, of other prominent Kentish people and families
like the Wyatts, the Derings, the Finches, the Monins. As Kemble remarked,
"The history of the Civil Wars can only be thoroughly understood when
we have pled for a wider insight than we possess into the objects and views
of the country gentlemen of England at that time as shown in the private
records of their families."
Mount Holyoke College. N. NEILSON.

Medieval Number Symbolism: lts Sources, Meaning, and Influence on

Thought and Expression. By VINCENT FOSTER HOPPER, New York Uni-
versity. [Columbia University Studies in English and Comparative
Literature.] (New York: Columbia University Press. 1938. Pp. xii,
24r. $2.90.)
AT first sight the reader of this interesting work may naturally ask for
the meaning of the term "Number Symbolism" sine he will look in vain
for any symbols relating to numbers, taking the words as meaning the
numerals which were the symbols in common use in the Middle Ages and
at the present time. After reading a few pages, however, he will find a
justification for the title, namely, the signification of the various names of
the several numerical symbols chiefly known in Europe during the period
1000-1400 or even the millennium beginning with the seventh century.
With this in mind Professor Hopper calls attention to the value of a study
of the number names that were used in the European regions and in Asia
and Africa as well. He then considers the numbers used in astrology, in
such sciences as were then known, and, especially, in the religious rites
referred to in the Hebrew, Latin, Greek, and Gnostic literature, concluding
with a chapter on the "Pythagorean Number Theory".
Thus far the work has been concerned chiefly with the premedieval
period, and the sixth chapter begins with a study of the significance of the
number names in the later eras, and here the reader will find the most
noteworthy and most elaborate part of the text. This is set forth in two
chapters—"Medieval Number Philosophy" and "The Beauty of Order:
Dante"—followed by an appendix on "Number Symbols of Northern
Paganism", with an extensive bibliography and index.
A scholar of repute, Professor Hopper has searched the literature of his
McNeill and Gamer: Medieval Handbooks of Penance 873

subject as set forth by such early writers as Capella (ca. 470), Hrabanus
Maurus (ca. 820), and Isidorus of Seville (also ca. 820). Naturally he has
then included Petrus Bungus (Bongo), canon of the cathedral of Bergamo.
It was Bungus who wrote for the clergy of his day the Mysticae nvtnerorvm
significationis liber in dvas partes, a remarkable work (1583, enlarged in a
second edition in 1584) which touches upon every number mentioned in
the Bible--evidence of narrow-mindedness rather than such a general knowl-

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edge as Professor Hopper has displayed.
The author bas given us a rich contribution to the development of the
significance of number as it has changed through a long era. lt is not a
history of numbers or of their numerals, nor was it intended to give a
sketch of the development of either, but it is a storehouse of abundant
material for thought.
Columbia University. DAVID EUGENE SMITH.

Medieval Handbooks of Penance: A Translation of the Principal "libri

poenitentiales" and Selections from related Documents. By JOHN T.
MCNEILL and HELENA M. GAMER. [Records Of Civilization.] (New
York: Columbia University Press. 1938. Pp. xiv, 476. $4.75.)
STUDENTS of the more general aspects of life in the Middle Ages, as well
as medievalists, have much to gain from investigating the history of penance
and its relations to the various phases of medieval civilization. (See the
writings listed in the reviewer's "Some Neglected Aspects in the History
of Penance", Cath. Hist. Rev., Oct., 1938, pp. 293 ff.) Rich materials for
such investigation are translated in the volume under review, in which a
brief general introduction on the history of penance and the texts is followed
by critical introductions and annotated translations for the principal peni-
tential books, related passages in medieval public law, and pertinent con-
ciliar canons. Five appendixes add other relevant documents, general de-
scriptions of the less important penitentials, a detailed list of the manuscripts
and their locations, and a selected bibliography.
Highly commendable are the inclusion of several previously unpublished
manuals; the establishing of some improved readings; the special introduc-
tions on pages 179, 278, 282, 285, 291, 321, 346, 35o, and 353; and appendixes
Several of the other critical introductions are well done but make
no original contributions.
On the other hand, the book is marred by numerous errors of omission
and commission. The general introduction exaggerates the employment of
commutations, the lateness in origin of private penance, the uniqueness of
Celtic penance, the evidence for authorship of a penitential by Finnian of
Clonard, pagan Irish elements in penitential discipline, and the savagery
of secular penalties. A number of penitential canons and of passages on
penance and excommunication in the secular laws are omitted which are