The Book of the Twelve Patriarchs, sometimes titled Benjamin Minor, is one of Richard of Saint Victor's great works on contemplation.The Latin title of the work is sometimes given as De duodecim patriarchis, and sometimes as De praeparatione animi ad contemplationem. Liber dictus Benjamin minor. The Latin text is in Migne, PL196:1–64. Updated Latin text (along with French translation and notes) is found in the critical edition of Jean Châtillon and Monique Duchet-Suchaux, Les douze patriarches, ou, Beniamin minor, Sources chretiennes 419, (Paris: Cerf, 1997). An English translation is in Richard of St Victor, Twelve Patriarchs, Mystical Ark, Book Three of the Trinity. Translation and introduction by Grover A. Zinn. (Toronto: Paulist Press, 1979). It is not exactly known when it was written, but it would seem to date before 1162. Richard specifies that this work is not a treatise on contemplation but rather prepares the mind for contemplation.Healy, p. 214
