Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries

A catalogue of Western manuscripts and papyri at Cambridge University Library, the Fitzwilliam Museum and selected Cambridge colleges

Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 456

Natural Philosophy

Contents

Introduction: Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 456 is a composite manuscript, with all of its parts probably deriving from manuscripts written in England in the late 14th century. A miscellany with a focus on the natural sciences, mathematics, and reading and research, the manuscript contains several widely-known medieval texts, including Iohannes de Sacro Bosco's Treatise on the Sphere, a popular text on computus known as the Compotus manualis, Alexander de Villa Dei's Algorismus, a previously unidentified copy of Simon Bredon's Theorica planetarum, an anoymous treatise on the planets, Richard de Bury's Philobiblon, and pseudo-Aristotle, Secreta secretorum. It also contains a short poem on music theory on p. 203 and a medical recipe for stomach problems on the same leaf. It is not clear when all of the originally separate parts of this manuscript were brought together, but they must all have been together by the late 16th century, since the contents list on p. 2 written by Archbishop Parker or one of his circle refers to texts in each of the originally separate parts of the volume. Dr Sarah Gilbert| Project Cataloguer | Curious Cures in Cambridge Libraries

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: 5: Omnia etiam praeter terram mobilia existunt
Form: codex
Support: Parchment (later endleaves are paper).
Extent: Codex: ii + 1 | 12 | 88 | 69 + ii leaves. 135 × 90 mm.
Foliation:

20th- and 21st-century foliation and pagination sequence.

Folios i-ii + pages 1-2 | 3-26 | 27-202 | 203-340 + folios iii-iv

This designation sequence incorporates the Parkerian pagination sequence of the 16th century, and adds folio designation for the paper endleaves.
Foliation:

Pagination sequence added c. 1568-1575

Pages 1-339

Paginated in black ink in the upper outer corner of each recto in Hindu-Arabic numerals. This pagination sequence is probably associated with Archbishop Matthew Parker and his circle.
Foliation:

Pagination sequence added c. 1568-1575

Pages 1-7

Pagination in red 'Parkerian' crayon in Hindu-Arabic numerals in the upper outer corner of the first four rectos in the volume.

Collation

A composite manuscript arranged as follows:

  • Two paper endleaves (ff. i-ii) +
  • One parchment endleaf (pp. 1-2) |
  • Quire 112 (pp. 3-26) |
  • Quires 2-412 (pp. 27-98)
  • Quire 514 (pp. 99-126)
  • Quire 6-812 (pp. 127-198)
  • Quire 9two (pp. 199-202) |
  • Quires 10-178 (pp. 203-330)
  • Quire 18five (pp. 331-340) +
  • Two paper endleaves (ff. iii - iv)

Two paper endleaves + one parchment endleaf | 112 | 2-412 514 6-812 9two | 10-178 18five + two paper endleaves

No leaf signatures common to the entire volume.

No quire signatures common to the entire volume.

No catchwords common to the entire volume.

Additions

Quire signatures ('1-9, a-i') in the bottom right-hand corner of the recto side of the first leaf of most quires, written in pencil by a hand of the 19th/early 20th century. This sequence corresponds to the collation given by M.R. James (see Source).

Binding

18th-century binding. Quarter bound in leather with parchment document sides over paste- or millboard. Five raised bands on spine; spine is unlabelled and undecorated. Several other Corpus Christi College Cambridge manuscripts are bound in this style and with these materials, e.g.,  Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 412, so it is likely that the College undertook a rebinding programme in the 18th century, perhaps focussing on the most fragile or poorly bound items in the manuscript collection. The portion of the document covering the front board is blank, but the portion of the document covering the rear board has legible text.

Paper pastedowns pasted over the turn ins. The right pastedown is blank. The left pastedown contains the number '456' (the present shelfmark) in pencil.

Two paper endleaves at each end of the volume, probably contemporary with the binding, ff. i - ii and iii - iv. Folio ii recto contains a 'Corpus Christi College, Cambridge' stamp in violet ink, and the shelfmark 'MS 456' written in black ink; all other paper endleaves are blank. Note that while most leaves in the volume have been paginated, the early modern paper endleaves have been foliated.

History

Provenance and Acquisition

Owned by Matthew Parker (1504-1575) : pagination in the characteristic orange-red crayon of Parker and his circle on pp. 1-7.

Bequeathed to Corpus Christi College by Matthew Parker (1504-1575) .

Part 1: Parkerian endleaf [Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 456, pp. 1-2]

Contents

Language(s): Latin

1. 2
Selective list of the contents of the volume
Language(s): Latin

Full transcription (all numbering as written in MS): |

  • 3. Tractatus de Sphera
  • 27. Computus manualis
  • 77. De Circulis
  • 97. De Theoricis
  • 127. Philobiblon
  • 205. Secreta Secretorum ad Alexandrum

This selective list of the contents is in a 16th century hand and was probably added to the volume by Archbishop Matthew Parker or a member of his circle.

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Parchment: a single leaf tipped in.
Extent: Codex: 1 leaf.

Collation

One 16th-century parchment leaf (pp. 1-2)

No leaf signatures particular to this Part.

No quire signatures particular to this Part.

No catchwords particular to this Part.

Condition

In good condition.

Layout

Page 2 informally but neatly written in a single column without visible ruling.

Hand(s)

The selective list of the contents on p. 2 is written in an italic-influenced humanistic script by a single scribe.

Decoration

No significant decoration in this Part.

History

Origin: Probably added to the volume between 1568 and 1575. ; England.

Date and place of production based on the likelihood that the leaf was added by Parker or one of his circle.

Part 2: John de Sacro Bosco, De sphaera (M. R. James Part I) [Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 456, pp. 3-26]

Contents

Language(s): Latin

1. 3-23
Tractatus de sphaera Johannes de Sacrobosco
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 3 Tractatus de spera in quattuor capitula diuidimus
Incipit: 3 Spera ab euclide sic describitur . Spera est transitus circumferencie dimidii que fixa dyametro quousque ad locum suum redeat circumducitur
Explicit: 23 Aut deus humane nature patitur aut tota mundi machina dissoluetur
Final rubric: 23 Explicit tractatus de spera

Diagram of the planetary spheres labelled 'Luna, Mercurii, Veneris, Solis, Martis, Jouis, Saturni, Spera stellarum fixarum, Spera premobilis' on p. 4.

Hand change on the 16th line of p. 21.

Pages 24-26 blank.

Edited (not from this MS) in L. Thorndike, The Sphere of Sacrobosco and its commentators (Chicago: Universitay of Chicago Press, 1949)

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: 5: Omnia etiam praeter terram mobilia existunt
Form: codex
Support: Parchment (HFFH).
Extent: Codex: 12 leaves.

Collation

Quire 112 (pp. 3-26)

Two sets of leaf signatures visible in the lower outer corner of the rectos in the first half of each quire in this Part; one set of signatures in red ink, the other in dark brown ink. The red ink signature sequence uses the typical medieval forms of Hindu-Arabic numerals and has been partially trimmed away. The dark brown ink signature sequence uses the typical medieval forms of Hindu-Arabic numerals (but with a slightly more modern '4') and has mostly escaped trimming. See e.g., the lower outer corner of p. 9.

No quire signature particular to this Part.

No catchword particular to this Part.

Condition

In good condition.

Layout

135 × 110 mm. Ruled in single-column format, frame and lines. Ruled in leadpoint, typically 38 lines to the page, ruling now only visible on some leaves (e.g., p. 10. Written above top line.

Hand(s)

Written in semi-hybrida by two scribes.

Decoration

Diagram in brown ink of the spheres of the heavens on p. 4. The spheres are labelled as follows from innermost to outermost: 'Luna, Mercurii, Veneris, Solis, Martis, Jouis, Saturni, Spera stellarum fixarum, Spera premobilis'.

Flourished initials in red and blue at the major and minor divisions of the text, typically a blue initial with red flourishing extending into the outer, upper, and lower margins. Paraph marks in red or blue throughout.

History

Origin: Probably second half of the 14th century. ; Probably England.

Date and place of production based on palaeographical and decorative features.

Part 3: Computus, astronomy and miscellaneous texts (M. R. James Part II) [Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 456, pp. 27-202]

Contents

Language(s): Latin

1. 27-44
Compotus manualis
Language(s): Latin
1.1. 27
Preface to the compotus manualis
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 27 Compotus iste diuiditur in sex partes quarum prima docet inuenire literam dominicalem
Explicit: 27 in anno solari
1.2. 27-44
Main text of the Compotus manualis
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 27 Filius esto dei celum bonus accipe grates
Explicit: 44 Non licet hic licet hic hic non licet hic licet hic non | Est aries taurus gemini cancer leo virgo | Libra est scorpio architenens caper amphora piscis

The text is a mix of prose and verse.

Page 45 is blank.

eTK 0244D (t0046900000)
2. 46-76
Algorismus Alexander de Villa Dei
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 46 Hec algorismus ars presens dicitur in qua
Incipit: 46 Talibus indorum fruimur bis quinque figuris
Explicit: 76 et habebis 22 que est summa predicte progressionis hec iam dicta suffici aut ad dei laudem
Final rubric: 76 Amen

The text is a mix of prose and verse.

Edited (not from this MS) in J. O. Halliwell, Rara mathematica (London 1839), pp. 73-83
eTK 0597F
3. 77-96
Theorica planetarum Simon Bredon
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 77 Circulus ecentricus circulus egresse cuspidis et egredientis centri idem sunt
Explicit: 96 12 gradibus in pole est quod sit eclipsis lune in 1a oppositione
Final rubric: 96 Explciit theorica lune

Unfilled spaces for diagrams on pp. 85, 89 and 94.

C. H. Talbot, 'Simon Bredon (c. 1300-1372) Physician, Mathematician and Astronomer', The British Journal for the History of Science, 1 (1962), pp. 19–30, esp. n. 30 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0007087400000066
4. 97-126
Treatise on the planets
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 97 Circa theoricam trium superiorum(?) est sciendum primo quod tres superiores
Explicit: 126 eorum in suis deferentibus et ideo luna non retrograditur vide figuram
Final rubric: 126 Explicit theorica planetarum

Unfilled spaces for diagrams on pp. 99 100 103 107 111, 118, 120.

eTK 0221K (t0042250000)
5. 202
Philobiblon Robert Holcot
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 127 Universis christi fidelibus ad quod tenor . presentis scripture pervenerit Ric. de Bury miseracione diuina dunelmensis episcopus salutem in domino semperiternam piamque ipsius presentare memoriam iugitur coram deo in vita pariter et post fata
Incipit: 127 Quid retribuam Domino pro omnibus quae retribuit michi devotissimus investigat psalmista, rex invictus et eximius prophetarum
Explicit: 202 ut spiritum ad ymaginem trinitatis creatum post praesentis miserie incolatum ad suum reducat per mordiale prothopi tipum ac eiusdem concedat perpetuum fruibilis fa ||

Title 'Philobiblon' in the upper margin of p. 127 in a Parkerian hand in red crayon.

Ends imperfectly, missing the final few words of the text and the colophon. The missing text was added by a 16th century ?Parkerian hand as follows on p. 202 (full transcription):| ciei conspectum . Amen . Explicit philobiblon domini Ricardi Dunelmensis episcopi cognominate De Bury quondam episcopi Dunelmensis compilatus est autem tractatus initio in manerio nostro de Aukelande 24to die Januarii Anno Domini 1344, etatis nostrae .58. precise completo . pontificatus Vero nostri Anno undecimo finite ad laudem dei feliciter etc'

The Philobiblon was attributed to Richard de Bury for most of the medieval and early modern period. E. C. Thomas, who edited the Philobiblon believed the text to be wholly or mostly by Robert Holcot.

Edited and translated by E. C. Thomas, The Philobiblon of Richard de Bury: Bishop of Durham, Treasurer and Chancellor of Edward III (London, 1888; repr. Oxford 1960)

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: 29: est sic faciendum
Form: codex
Support: Parchment (HFFH)
Extent: Codex: 88 leaves.

Collation

  • Quires 2-412 (pp. 27-98)
  • Quire 514 (pp. 99-126)
  • Quire 6-812 (pp. 127-198)
  • Quire 9two (pp. 199-202)

Medieval quire signatures in ink and drypoint as follows:

  • Quire 3 has the signatures 'b1', 'b3'-'b4' in dark ink in the lower outer corner of the first, third and fourth leaves in the quire
  • Quire 4 has signatures 'b2-'b4' in dark ink in the lower outer corner of the second, third, and fourth leaves in the quire.
  • Quire 7 has partial leaf signatures beginning with an 'f' in drypoint in the lower outer corner of the rectos in the first half of the quire, now mostly trimmed away. The clearest example of this signature sequence is 'f vi' on p. 161.

No quire signatures particular to this Part.

Catchwords present in the lower margin of the last verso of some quires, e.g., p. 74, some partially trimmed away.

Condition

In good condition.

Layout

130 × 100 mm. Ruled in leadpoint, frame and lines. Ruled in single-column format, typically 28 lines to the page and written above top line.

Hand(s)

All of the text in this Part apart from the colophon on p. 202 written in a ?late 14th century textualis hybrida by at least three scribes.

Missing final words and colophon to Richard de Bury's Philobiblon on p. 202 added in a 16th-century secretary hand, probably by Matthew Parker or one of his circle.

Decoration

Flourished initials in red and blue at the major and minor divisions of the text, the largest initials 4-5 lines high, blue initial with red marginal flourishing and decoration in the counterspaces.

Occasional red and blue paraph marks in this Part.

Unfilled spaces left for diagrams on pp. 85, 89, 94, 99, 100, 103, 107, 111, 118, and 120.

History

Origin: Probably late 14th century. ; England.

Date and place of production based on palaeographical features.

Part 4: Note on the Sees of England, Medical Recipe, musical notes, and ps-Aristotle Secreta Secretorum (M. R. James Part III) [Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 456, pp. 203-339]

Contents

Language(s): Latin

1. 203
Three medical recipes
Language(s): Latin

For quartan fever, for the stomach and for an unstated purpose.

2. 203
Mnemonic note for the episcopal sees of England
Language(s): Latin

The first syllable of each episcopal see is written out in larger letters, with the remaining syllable written above it in smaller letters e.g., Ely bathe canterbury etc.

3. 203
Mnemonic verse on music notation
Language(s): Latin

Full transcription:| Est primus tonus re la re fa que secundus| Tercius est tonus mi fa mi la quoque quartus| Est quintus tonus fa fa fa la quoque sextus| Septimus est tonus vt sol octauus et ut fa . | Dant duo re duo mi duo fa duo sol tibi toni | Primus cum sexto fa sol la semper habeto | Tercius octauus vt re fa sicque secundus | La sol la quartus ut mi sol sit tibi quintus | Septimus est mi fa sol sic omnes esse recordor| Primus dat nouem binas retinetque secundus| Tercius sex prebet quartus quoque dat tibi nouem | Tres prebet quintus vnam sextus manifestat| Septimus et septem dat et octauus tibi conmutus(?)

Small ?horoscope diagram with the outer segments numbered using the numbers 1-9 present on the leaf next to the poem.

Page 204 blank.

4. 205-339
Secreta secretorum Pseudo-Aristotle; Philip of Tripoli (trans.)
Language(s): Latin
1.1. 205-208
Translator's preface to the Secreta secretorum Philip of Tripoli
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 205 Domino suo excellentissimo in cultu religionis christiane strenuissimo Guidoni viro de valencia ciuitatis metropolis glorioso pontifici philippus minimus clericorum seipsum et fidele deuocionis obsequium . Quantum luna ceteris stellis lucidior et solis radiis luciditate lune fulgencior
Explicit: 208 et post longissima temporum spacia concedat uobis inmensus deus ad eternum beatitudinis gaudium fideliter peruenire
Edited and translated (not from this MS) in S. J. Williams, The Secret of Secrets: The scholarly career of a pseudo-Aristotelian text in the Latin middle ages (MI:Ann Arbor, 2003), pp. 360-365
1.2. 208-212
Capitula list for the Secreta secretorum
Language(s): Latin

The capitula list is headed 'Incipiunt capitula libri moralium de regimine dominorum qui alio nomine dicitur secretum secretorum ab Aristotele ad Alexandrum regem' and divides the work into books and chapters as follows: Book 1, Proem, Prologue, 6 chapters; Book 2, 68 chapters; Book 3, 3 chapters; Book 4, 3 chapters; Book 5, 1 chapter; Book 6, 1 chapter; Book 7, 1 chapter; Book 8, 1 chapter; Book 9, 1 chapter, Book 10, 18 chapters. The arrangement of the books and chapters in the capitula list does not entirely correspond to the arrangement of the text that follows.

1.3. 213-215
Proem to the Secreta secretorum
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 213 Deus eternus custodiat regem nostrum ad gloriam credencium
Explicit: 215 et erant perces magis obedientes suo imperio quam omnes alie naciones
Edited (not from this MS) in R. Steele, Opera hactenus inedita Rogeri Baconi (Oxford 1909-1940), 5:36-38
1.4. 215-216
Prologue to the Secreta secretorum
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 215 Iohannes qui transtulit hunc librum filius patricii linguarum interpretator peritissimus et fidelissimus inquit
Explicit: 216 In primis igitur . sicut inueni in isto codice transtuli . librum . peritissimi Aristotelis in quo libro respondetur . ad peticionem regis . Alexandri sub hac forma
Final rubric: 216 epistola Aristotelis missa regi alexandro

A note added on p. 215 between the Proem and the Prologue apparently by the main scribe: 'est prologo Iohannis translatur huius libri'

Edited (not from this MS) in R. Steele, Opera hactenus inedita Rogeri Baconi (Oxford 1909-1940), 5:39
1.5. 216-339
Main text of the Secreta secretorum pseudo-Aristotle
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 216 O fili gloriosissime imperator iustissime confirmet te deus in via cognoscendi
Explicit: 339 de signis et moribus naturalibus . hominum ad Regem magnificum Alexandrum qui dominatus fuit toti orbi dictus monarcha in septentrione
Final rubric: 339 ffinito libro . sit laus et gloria christo . precium iiij est
Edited (not from this MS) in R. Steele, Opera hactenus inedita Rogeri Baconi (Oxford 1909-1940), 5:40-150

Page 340 blank.

The title of the text 'Secreta Secretorum' added in a Parkerian hand in red crayon in the upper margin of p. 205.

Page 340 blank.

Edited (not from this MS) in R. Steele, Opera hactenus inedita Rogeri Baconi (Oxford 1909-40),

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: 207: cam . doctrinam . pertinentem
Form: codex
Support: Parchment (HFFH).
Extent: Codex: 69 leaves.

Collation

  • Quires 10-178 (pp. 203-330)
  • Quire 18five (pp. 331-340)

No leaf signatures particular to this Part.

No quire signatures particular to this Part.

Catchwords in the lower margin of the last verso of most quires in this Part, e.g., p. 314.

Condition

In good condition.

Layout

155 × 95 mm. Ruled in ink, frame and lines. Ruled in single-column format, typically 23 lines to the page and written below top line.

Hand(s)

Written in Anglicana Formata.

Decoration

Plain initials in the 'Lombardic' style in red or blue at the major divisions of the text.

Occasional paraph marks in red.

History

Origin: Probably late 14th or early 15th century. ; England.

Date and place of production based on palaeographical features.

Additional Information

Record Sources

This catalogue entry draws on M.R. James , A Descriptive Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, 2 vols (Cambridge, 1912), no. 456. Images and a description of the manuscript are also available on the Parker Library website: Corpus Christi College, MS 456.

Availability

Visitors to Corpus Christi College who wish to consult Special Collections material are required to apply to the Parker Library in advance of their visit. For information on eligibility and admission procedures see: Parker Library: Information for Readers.

Custodial History

Recorded as no. 281 in Thomas James, Ecloga Oxonio-Cantabrigiensis (1600).
Recorded as no. 1547 / no. 280 in Edward Bernard, Catalogi librorum manuscriptorum Angliæ et Hiberniæ, in unum collecti, cum indice alphabetico (c. 1697).
Recorded as 'T.2' in William Stanley, Catalogus librorum manuscriptorum in Bibliotheca Collegii Corporis Christi in Cantabrigia: Quos legauit Matthaeus Parkerus Archiepiscopus Cantuariensis (1722) (see p. 1).
Recorded as no. 456 in James Nasmith, Catalogus librorum manuscriptorum quos Collegio Corporis Christi et B. Mariae Virginis in Academia Cantabrigiensis legauit Reverendissimus in Christo Pater Matthaeus Parker, Archiepiscopus Cantuariensis (1777).

Bibliography

Funding of Cataloguing

Wellcome (cataloguing).

Andrew W. Mellon Foundation (digital images).

Digital Images

Cambridge Digital Library

Abbreviations

View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.

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