Didascalicon, Book III: the art of study (discipline and method)
Chapter IX. On the order of reading
Order is considered in one way in disciplines, as if I should say grammar is older than dialectic, or arithmetic prior to music. In another way in books, as if I should say the Catilinarian is prior to the Jugurthine. In another way in narration, which is in a continuous series. In another in arrangement. Order in disciplines is observed according to nature; in books according to the person of the author or the subject matter. In narration according to arrangement, which is twofold: natural, namely when the thing is related in the order in which it was done; and artificial, that is, when what was done later is narrated first, and what was earlier is told afterwards. In exposition order is considered according to inquiry. Exposition contains three things: the letter, the sense, the sentence. The letter is the fitting arrangement of the words, which we also call construction. The sense is a certain easy and open signification, which the letter presents at first sight. The sentence is a deeper understanding, which is not found except by exposition or interpretation. In these the order is that first the letter, then the sense, then the sentence be sought; which done, the exposition is perfect.