Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries

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

Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum, MS McClean 166

Computus and astronomy

Contents

Introduction: Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum, MS McClean 166 (hereafter MS McClean 166) contains three popular astronomical and computistical texts: the Algorismus, Tractatus de sphaera and the Compotus, all by Johannes de Sacrobosco , a popular medieval scientific author. The Sacrobosco texts are found on ff. 12r-71v of MS McClean 166, and the remaining leaves contain a calendar, computus tables, annalistic notes, a medical recipe, and a treatise on the use of the quadrant, a tool typically used for finding the altitude of a celestial body. Both the treatise on the quadrant and the works of Sacrobosco are accompanied by neatly illustrated diagrams to help the reader interpret the concepts discussed in the texts. The date and location of production of the manuscript can be determined with relative accuracy due to the annalistic material and the calendar. The list of important calendrical, computistical, and time-reckoning information on f. 1r suggests that the notes were made c. 1279. The Julian calendar begins with the birth of Jesus, and the notes on that leaf state that 1279 years have elapsed since that event. Jesus is traditionally believed to have died in his 33rd year of life, and the notes also record that it has been 1247 years since he was crucified. Subtracting the year 1279, from the number of years stated to have passed since the creation of the world, 6479, gives a creation date for the world c. 5200 BCE, which also accords with calculations made for the age of the world by St Jerome and Gregory of Tours. The annalistic information on f. 11v includes computistical calculations for the years 1275-1386 and annals for the years 1274 and 788. Taken together, the time-reckoning calculations and the annalistic material point to a date of production in the late 1270s. As M. R. James noted in his Catalogue record for MS McClean 166, the location of production can be inferred through details in the calendar found on ff. 72r-77v; M.R. James noted that in addition to the major feasts typically found in almost every medieval calendar, the calendar in MS McClean 166 includes several entries for local saints associated with the city of Verdun and the wider region of north-eastern France, which suggests that the manuscript originated from that locale. MS McClean 166 has been trimmed and rebound since it was made and the leaves are not in their original order. MS McClean 166 retains an original medieval foliation sequence, written in ink in the typical medieval form of Hindu-Arabic numerals in the upper right-hand corner of the rectos, but the numerical sequence indicates that what was once the final quire in the volume is now instead presented as the first. The first quire (ff. 1-11, original 5th leaf missing) has the medieval folio designations ff. 69-80 (69 largely trimmed away, 73 absent due to loss of 5th leaf after medieval foliation), indicating that it originally followed the present Quire 7, the final quire in the manuscript, which ends with the medieval designation '68' on what is now f. 77. It is not clear why the final quire was displaced, particularly as it means that the Sacrobosco texts, which make up the majority of the volume, now begin later in the codex. Dr Sarah Gilbert| Project Cataloguer | Curious Cures in Cambridge Libraries

Language(s): Latin

1. 1r
Calendrical verse
Language(s): Latin

Full transcription:| Junius aprilis septembris necne nouember | Terdenos retinent contimiando dies . | Praeter quos omnes uno retinent sibi plures | Sed tenet in numero viginti februus octo . | Cui si bissextus fuerit super additur unus

2. 1r
Canons for the use of calendrical tables
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 1r Ad noticiam istius kalendarii primo sciendum est quod xix. litterem ordinem in 4. lineis ponuntur per aureo numero .a. per vnitate .b. per binario .c. per ternario .et ita de alijs . et deseruiunt isto .4. linee .4. ciclis .19libus. prima .primo. secunda secundo. et ita de inceps
Explicit: 1r In sextodecio anno eiusdem cicli primatur lunacio eodem die eiusdem mensis hora prima . Vnum in supradicto spacio . quod eidem diei deseruit scribitur .xvia. litteram . sextum decim annum signis . cui subscribitur unitas prima(?) horam illius diei inportans

This canonical text for using a set of computus tables often circulated with a set of computus tables and both the text and tables (known together as the Kalendarium) have been attributed to Robert Grosseteste , medieval scientist and theologian and former bishop of Lincoln in several manuscripts. The text and tables were attributed to Grosseteste by S. Harrison Thomson in The Writings of Robert Grosseteste (Cambridge, 1940), esp. pp. 94-95 and 106-107, although this particular manuscript was not known to Harrison Thomson. The tables have subsequently been rejected as authentic works of Grosseteste, and the canonical preface to the tables is now regarded as dubia in more recent scholarship, such as J. Morton's assessment of Grosseteste's computistical material where she says Grosseteste is '[p]ossibly [...] responsible for the preface which accompanies the [tables] in the ascribed texts'. See Jennifer Moreton, ‘Robert Grosseteste and the calendar’, in Robert Grosseteste: New Perspectives on his Thought and Scholarship, ed. James McEvoy (Turnhout, 1995), 77-88, esp. pp. 78-79.

The text here seems to interpolate a discussion of bissextile calculations not included in any of the versions of this text printed by Lindhagen.

Printed (not from this MS) in Arvid Lindhagen, 'Die Neumondtafel des Robertus Lincolniensis', Arkiv för Matematik, Astronomi och Fysik 11.2, pp. 1–41
3. 1r
List of important calendrical, computistical, and time-reckoning information
Language(s): Latin

The notes fall into two main groups. The larger group records calendrical and computistical information such as the aureus numerus (golden number) for a particular year (in this case 8). The smaller group records the number of years that have elapsed since a particular event and include the following information:

  • Annus aborigine[sic] mundi vim.cccc.lxxix.
  • Annus ab incarnatione m.cc.lxxix.
  • Annus apassione[sic] domini .m.cc.xlvii.

The number of elapsed years given in the time-reckoning notes suggest that the notes were made c. 1279. The Julian calendar begins with the birth (incarnatione) of Jesus, and the notes state that 1279 years have elapsed since that event. Jesus is traditionally believed to have died in his 33rd year of life, and the notes state that it has been 1247 years since he was crucified (a passione). Subtracting the year 1279, from the number of years given since the creation of the world (ab origine mundi), 6479 gives a creation date for the world c. 5200 BCE, which accords with calculations made for the age of the world by St Jerome and Gregory of Tours.

4. 1v-2v
Tabula terminorum
Language(s): Latin

The table on f. 1v has calculations for specific years between 1044 and 1548; the column for the year 1296 is marked in ?crayon with a red cross. The table on f. 2r has an annotation '1341' in red next to one of the rows. The tables are called 'Tabula terminorum' in a final rubric on f. 2v.

5. 3r-8v
Tractatus quadrantis
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 3r Geometrie due sunt species . theorica et practica . Theorica est que sola mentis ⟨sp⟩eculacione quantitates . proporciones et earum mensuras intuetur . practica est quando alicuius rei quantitatm ignotam . experimento sensibili mensuramus mensuracionis autem artificalis que practica dicitur tres sunt species . Altimetria . steriometria planimetria
Explicit: 8v per eius altitudinem et pro ductum dabit capacitatem
Final rubric: 8v explicit quadrans

M.R. James divided this text into two, the first half on ff. 3-4 and the second part on ff. 5-8, but all of the text on ff. 3-8 is part of the Quadrans vetus. The text is imperfect due to the loss of the original 5th leaf in the quire.

Illustrated, see notes on decoration.

eTK 0585G
Text discussed and edited in F.N.L. Britt, 'A Critical Edition of Tractatus Quadrantis' (unpublished PhD, Emory University, 1972), MS 'E'.
6. 9r-11r
Computus tables for finding the position of the sun
Language(s): Latin

Tables for finding the position of the sun in:

  • A bissextile year
  • One year after a bissextile year
  • Two years after a bissextile year
  • Three years after a bissextile year

A bissextile year is a leap year. In the modern Gregorian calendar we add a leap day on the 29th March, but the practice of adding a leap day every four years (with minor adjustments) significantly predates the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in western Europe. The Romans also adjusted their calendars to the length of the solar year by adding an extra day to February every four years, but they did it by doubling the 24th of February, which was better-known in their calendar as the 6th day before the kalends of March (ante diem sextum Kalendas), causing a doubled 6th day (before the kalends of March) i.e., a bis+sextile day.

7. 11v
Computistical calculations and notes for the years c. 1275-1386
Language(s): Latin
8. 11v
Annalistic note for the year 1274
Language(s): Latin
9. 11v
Annalistic note for the year 788
Language(s): Latin

Full transcription:| Anno domini .788. bremensen funduit ecclesiam mittens Willehadum omnium doctorum promum uersus maritimas et boreales saxonie partes . qui continuo falcem predicationis illius loci misit in botros infidelitatis uindemians . ad fidem catholicam transalbinos populos et frisones prouocauit

10. 11v
Medical recipe
Language(s): Latin

Full transcription:| Pillule sublingua contra fluxum reumatis : Storacis Calamite Mirre(?) Olibani Laudani Calamiare maci...(?) Castorij Cynamonu Nucis muscate Cubebe Opij ...(?)

Some text unclear due to tight binding.

11. 12r-20r
Algorismus Johannes de Sacrobosco
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 12r Algorismus magistri Iohannis de sacro busco
Incipit: 12r Omnia que a primeua rerum origine processerunt
Explicit: 20r qui modus operandi idem est cum predicto . et hec de radicum extractione sufficiant tam in numeris quadratis quam cubicis
Final rubric: 20r Explicit algorismus de sacrobosco

Significant marginal annotation in contemporary hands.

12. 38v
Tractatus de sphera Johannes de Sacrobosco
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 20r Tractatum de spera .4. capitulis distinguimus dicentes . Quid sit spera . Quid eius centrum . Quid axis spere . Quid sit polus . Quot sint spere . Et que sit forma mundi
Explicit: 38v propter hoc legitur dionisius arriopagita in eadem passione domini dixisse . Aut deus nature patitur . Aut mundana machina dissoluetur
Final rubric: 38v Explicit spera

Text accompanied by diagrams (see 'Decoration' for further information).

Significant marginal annotation in contemporary hands.

Quotations from Latin poets in the text are written as prose.

13. 39v-71v
Compotus Johannes de Sacrobosco
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 39v Incipit compotus Johannis de sacrobusco
Incipit: 39v Conpotus est scientia considerans tempora ex solis et lune motibus et eorum ad inuicem coequacionibus distincta
Explicit: 71v .VII. boethius . O qui perpetua mundum ratione gubernas . Terrarum celique sator . qui tempore ab evo . Ire iubes . stabilisque manens stabil das cuncta mouerie . Tu stabilire uelis opus hoc per temporis euum . M . christi . bis . cc . quarto deno quater anno De sacrobusto[sic] discreuit tempora ramis . Gratia cui nomen dederat diuina Johannes . Annuat hoc nobis huius sic carpere fructum . Ecclesie christi quod nos hinc fructificemus .
Final rubric: 71v Amen

Text accompanied by diagrams (see 'Decoration' for further information).

Significant marginal annotation in contemporary hands.

Quotations from Latin poets in the text are written as prose.

14. 72r-77v
Calendar
Language(s): Latin
14.1. 72r
January
Language(s): Latin

Notable feasts:| 31 January - Aldegundis uirginis

As noted by M.R. James in his Catalogue record for MS 166.
14.2. 72v
February
Language(s): Latin

Notable feasts:| 1 February - Brigide uirginis

As noted by M.R. James in his Catalogue record for MS 166.
14.3. 73r
March
Language(s): Latin

Notable feasts:| 1 March - Albini confessoris et donati martyris| 4 March - Adriani martyris| 17 March - Gertrudis uirginis| 24 March - Quintini martyris| 26 March - Liudgeri episcopus|

As noted by M.R. James in his Catalogue record for MS 166.
14.4. 73v
April
Language(s): Latin

Notable feasts:| 22 April - Egressio Noe de archa

As noted by M.R. James in his Catalogue record for MS 166.
14.5. 74r
May
Language(s): Latin

Notable feasts:| 1 May - Philippi et iacobi . walpurgis| 4 May - translacio sancti godehardi| 5 May - Godehardi episcopi deposicio| 7 May - Victoris martyris| 9 May - translacio sancti nicolai | Swiperti (Swiperti in another hand)| 13 May - Seruacii episcopi . 3 lectiones . gingufli (gingulfi in another hand) 15 May - sophie virginis

As noted by M.R. James in his Catalogue record for MS 166.
14.6. 74v
June
Language(s): Latin

Notable feasts:| 25 June - Seuere virginis et martyris . sancti eligij martyris

As noted by M.R. James in his Catalogue record for MS 166.
14.7. 75r
July
Language(s): Latin

Notable feasts:| 4 July - Odelrici episcopi et confessoris| 8 July - Kiliani episcopi| 13 July - Margerete virginis| 14 July - Hinrici[sic] regis (in another hand)| 28 July - Panthaleonis martyris

As noted by M.R. James in his Catalogue record for MS 166.
14.8. 75v
August
Language(s): Latin

Notable feasts:| 5 August - Dominici confessoris . osvaldi regis et martyris

As noted by M.R. James in his Catalogue record for MS 166.
14.9. 76r
September
Language(s): Latin

Notable feasts:| 1 September - Egidii abbatis . lupi episcopi et confessoris | 2 September - Anthonii | 8 September - Adriani martyris | 28 September - Wenceslai martyris

As noted by M.R. James in his Catalogue record for MS 166.
14.10. 76v
October
Language(s): Latin

Notable feasts:| 3 October - duorum Ewaldorum| 4 October - Francisci confessoris| 9 October - Gereonis . uictoris et sociorum eius| 21 October - Undecim milium uirginum| 22 October - Seueri episcopi| 23 October - Seuerini archiepiscopi

As noted by M.R. James in his Catalogue record for MS 166.
14.11. 77r
November
Language(s): Latin

Notable feasts:| 6 November - Leonardi confessoris (in another hand) 7 November - Willibrordi confessoris| 19 November - Vitalis . Simplicij . elizabeth 26 November - Genouese virginis

As noted by M.R. James in his Catalogue record for MS 166.
14.12. 77v
December
Language(s): Latin

Notable feasts:| 9 December - Godehardi episcopi (in another hand)

The calendar contains copious contemporary and later additions.

Mnemonic for the progression of ferial letters for the first day of each month written in red in the lower margin of each page of the calendar: A | dam | de | ge | bat | er | go | ci | fos | a | dri | fex (i.e., ADDGBEGCFADF)

Mneomnic poem for the dies aegyptiaci ('Egyptian days'), each line of the poem contains two numbers, the first of which should be counted (inclusively) from the beginning of the month to find the first 'Egyptian day', and the second of which should be counted backward from the end of the month to find the second. For example, the first number in the January verse is 1 (prima) and the first day counted inclusively from the first day of January is 1 January. The second number in the January verse is seven (septima) and the seventh day counted inclusively from the end of January (i.e., 31 Jan) is the 25th of January, making the 'Egyptian days' for January the 1st and 25th of the month. Full transcription:| Prima dies mensis et septima truncat ut ensis | Quarta subit mortem prosternit tertia fortem | Primus mandentem dirumpit quarta bibentem | Denus et undenus est mortis wlnere[sic] plenus| Tercius occidit et septimus hora relidit| Denus pallescit quindenus federa nescit| Tredecimus mactat julij decimus madefactat[sic] | Prima necat fortem perimitque secunda cohortem| Ternus septembris et denus fert mala membris| Tertia cum dena clamat sit integra vena| Scorpius est quintus . sed tertius ad mala cinctus | Septimus mos anguis virosus denus et anguis

Calendrical poem, one line for each month written in the lower margin close to the left edge of the leaf and preceded by a red paraph mark. Full transcription: | pocula Janus amat| Februarius algeo clamat| Marcius arua fodit| Aprilis florida prodit| Ros et flos nemorum maio sunt fomes amorem| dat iunius fena| Julio refecatur auena| Augustus spicas| September colligit vuas[sic] | Seminat october | Spoliat uirgulta nouember| Querit himere cibum porcum mactando december

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: 2r: litterae dominicales
Form: codex
Support: All medieval leaves parchment (HFFH).
Extent: Codex: 1 + 77 + 1 leaves 225 × 160 mm.
Foliation:

Current foliation sequence:

i + 1-77 + [ii]

Foliated in pencil in Hindu-Arabic numerals in the upper outer corner of each recto. Where there are two uncancelled pencil folio designations on a leaf, the correct designation is the smaller of the two (both physically and numerically), and this smaller designation should be used. The final paper endleaf, f. [ii] was assigned this temporary designation in 2024 for the production of a functional tei-xml catalogue record for the Curious Cures project.

Foliation:

Deprecated foliation sequence.

Folios 1-79 (for ff. i + 1-77 + [ii])

Foliated in pencil in Hindu-Arabic numerals in the upper outer corner of each recto; this foliation sequence has been suspended and is no longer in use. Most of the designations in this foliation sequence have been cancelled by a single diagonal strike through the designation. Where there are two uncancelled pencil folio designations on a leaf, the designation belonging to this sequence is the larger of the two (both physically and numerically) and should not be used.

Foliation:

Deprecated medieval foliation sequence.

Folios 70-80 (73 omitted) for ff. 2-11, folios 1-5 (for the present ff. 12-16), folios 8-68 for the present ff. 17-77

Foliated in ink in the typical medieval forms of Hindu-Arabic numerals in the upper outer corner of each recto. This foliation sequence indicates that the quires in this volume have been rearranged since this foliation sequence was added as f. 1 in this medieval sequence is found on what is now the first leaf of Quire 2, and the present Quire 1 contains the designations that should appear at the end of the sequence. There are several things to note about this foliation sequence:
  • The current f. 1 was probably f. 69 in the medieval sequence as the rest of Quire 1 contains the medieval designations ff. 70-80 and the sequence would then follow on directly from the medieval designations at the end of Quire 7
  • A leaf has been lost from Quire 1 after the medieval foliation sequence was added as there is an interruption in the medieval sequence; i.e., the current f. 4 is the medieval f. 72 and the current f. 5 is the medieval f. 75, but there is no leaf with a medieval f. 73 designation present in the volume.
  • The medieval sequence in the present Quire 2 (ff. 12r-21v) runs from medieval folios 1-12; the present quire contains only 10 leaves and the medieval designations jump from medieval folio 5 (the present f. 16) to medieval f. 8 (very faint) on the present f. 17, indicating the loss of two leaves (medieval ff. 6-7) between the present ff. 16 and 17.

Collation

Quires of 12 and 10 leaves, with indications that some leaves have been lost since the volume was made. A medieval foliation sequence present in the volume indicates that the present Quire 1 was the 7th quire at the time the medieval foliation sequence was added to the volume. The quires are arranged as follows:

  • Quire 112-1 (ff. 1-11: 5th leaf missing, stub visible)
  • Quire 212-2 (ff. 12-21: 6th and 7th leaves missing)
  • Quire 312 (ff. 22-33)
  • Quire 410 (ff. 34-43)
  • Quires 5-612 (ff. 44-67)
  • Quire 710 (ff. 68-77)

112-1 (5th missing) 212-2 (6th and 7th missing)

No leaf signatures visible in the volume.

No quire signatures.

Catchwords present in the lower margin of the last verso of Quires 2-7.

Condition

In good condition.

Layout

170 × 110 mm. Folio 1r ruled in ?leadpoint, frame and lines. Ruled in two columns, 47 lines to the column, written below top line.

130-180 × 105 mm. Folios 1v-2v, 9r-11r, and ff. 72r-77v ruled in ink in tabular formats for calendars and computus tables.

125-140 × 75-95 mm. Non-tabular leaves between ff. 3r-77v: ruled in crayon, frame and lines. Ruled in single-column format, typically 33 lines to the leaf and written below top line. Folio 11v unruled and informally written. Folio 39r unruled.

Hand(s)

Written in a late-13th century northern textualis libraria by at least two scribes. Double-compartment a, sometimes with only a small stub for the upper compartment, particularly when a is in the initial position. Minimal 'biting' of letters. Letters f and s sometimes on the baseline, and sometimes just below it.

Annotations in several informal textualis hands and hands tending toward cursiva in the margins throughout the volume.

Decoration

  • Folio 38v: Unattached sample of acanthus leaf flourishing decoration next to a diagram illustrating the mechanics of a solar eclipse
  • Folio 39r: Small tinted drawing of a peacock

Numerous diagrams throughout the volume:

  • Folio 6r: Geometric diagrams in the lower margin
  • Folio 6v: Diagram to find the height of a turret with an illustration of a building with a turret in red and black ink
  • Folios 7r-8r: Several geometric diagrams in the margins for calculating the surface area and significant angles of various shapes.
  • Folio 8rv: Several diagrams for calculating the surface area and volume of 3D objects. Detailed diagrammatic illustration of a bucket on f. 8r, detailed diagrammatic illustration of a barrel and a tankard on f. 8v.
  • Folio 8v: Erased diagrm of three concentric circles, the whole shape divided into quarters at the cardinals, with erased numbers written in the two outermost circles.
  • Folio 17v: Geometric diagram in the lower margin
  • Folio 20v: Spherical diagram of the heavens in red and black, the circles labelled from innermost to outermost as follows: spera lune, spera mercurii, spera uenis, spera solis, spera marcis, spera iouis, spera saturni, spera octaua, primum mobile
  • Folio 36v: Spherical T-O map with the continents (labelled Asia, Africa, Europa) divided into the seven climate zones
  • Folio 37v-38v: Several lunar and solar eclipse diagrams
  • Folio 41r: Spherical diagram of the hevens in red, green and ochre with the circles labelled from innermost to outermost as follows: Spera lune, Spera mercurij, Spera ueneris, Spera solis, Spera martis, Spera iouis, Spera saturni, Spera stellarum
  • Folio 44v: Spherical diagram for astronomical calculations
  • Folio 48r: Metaphorical diagram illustrating the solar year; draconid ouroboros surrounded by an outer circle bearing the text 'Serpens annus ego dicti sol sic circinat inquo. + Qui fuerat pridem status est iam temporis idem +'
  • Folio 51v: Diagram for comparing solar calculations in the writings of Dionysius Exiguus and Garlandus Compotista
  • Folio 53r: Diagram expressing the quadripartite harmony and the connections between many natural phenomena (e.g., ages of man, humoral liquids, seasons, elements, cardinal directions)
  • Folio 56rv: Diagram of lunar phases relative to the position of the sun
  • Folio 69v: Circular diagram expressing the relationship between a 19-year lunisolar cycle, the claues terminorum, and the lunar epacts.
  • Folio 71v: Circular diagram. Concentric circles described from innermost (text) circle to outermost (text) circle: 1) 19 year lunisolar cycle, 2) Claues terminorum 3) Cycle of epacts, 4) Cycle of embolisms, 5) Number of weeks between Christmas and the 6th Sunday before Easter

Folio 12r: Decorative initial 'O' in gold, red, blue, pink and white with an animal head among foliage in the counterspace.

Puzzle initials in red and blue with red and blue flourishing in the margins and counterspaces at the maajor divisions of the text. See e.g., f. 1r.

Plain initials in red or blue at the minor divisions of the texts, see e.g., f. 6r.

Rubrication throughout at the major divisions of the texts.

Additions

On f. 2v, a branching diagram note on geometrical forms in ink in a medieval hand about the tetragonus (tetragon) form and its possible subdivisions.

On f. 1r, 'No. 70' in ink.

Quire signatures ('1-7') in the bottom right-hand corner of the recto side of the first leaf of each quire, written in pencil by a hand of the 19th/20th century.

Binding

19th-/20th-century binding: half bound in leather with sprinkled paper sides over paste- or mill-boards. Six raised bands on spine. Spine partly covered with a torn fragment of an earlier binding, a dark leather binding with the compartments decorated with gold tools. Dimensions (L x W x H): 235 x 175 x 25 mm.

The covers contain several labels and annotations:

  • '4' written in ink on the front cover
  • A label fixed to the front cover with an adhesive bearing the annotation 'MS. IV.' in ink
  • A number '324' written in white ink on the front cover
  • Two pieces of a torn printed label, one on each cover, the first bearing 'B. BON' and '3', the second bearing 'GNI' and '3', probably originally a larger label bearing the words 'BONCOMPAGNI' and '323'

Paper pastedowns pasted over the turn ins. The front pastedown contains:

  • '166' written in pencil
  • A blind-embossed unidentified heraldic achievement on a small oval piece of paper pasted onto the pastedown
  • A note in pencil 'CLX.198'
  • A note in pencil 'Ce.79'
  • A McClean Collection bookplate ('FROM THE COLLECTION OF FRANK MCCLEAN') with engraving by J. A. C. Harrison S.C. The bookplate has two pencil annotations: 'Boncompagni Catatlogue 323'; and 'MS McCl. 166'
  • Annotation in pencil '6/'
  • Annotation in ink 'C.C.v.8.ti'
The rear pastedown contains:
  • A note in pencil:| 77 ff| aug.14.08| H.A.C
  • A note in pencil: Mc MSS. 166

A paper endleaf probably contemporary with the binding present at each end of the volume. The front endleaf, f. i contains several small annotations in ink and pencil on the recto, perhaps former prices and bookseller notes. On f. i verso there is a partial list of the contents of the volume in ink in two hands:

  • Tabula terminorum
  • Libellus de usu quadrantis
  • Tabulae astronomicae div argumenti
  • Algorismus Magni Johannis de Sacro Busto[sic]
  • folia XXVIII in charta pergam.| Ej. Ejusdem liber de sphaera foll.19. Compotus totidem 33 foll.

Stored in a dark brown hard-cased box bearing a handwritten label 'McClean 166 16.3.9.23'.

Traces of a former binding present on f. 11v as a rust-stain in the centre of the outer margin. The present Quire 1 was once the final quire in the volume, and as such folio 11v was once one of the final leaves in the volume, the rust mark in the outer margin of f. 11v suggests that prior to the displacement of Quire 1, the leaves were bound between boards fastened with a metal clasp positioned at the centre of the fore edge.

History

Origin: Second half of the 13th century. ; France, perhaps at Verdun.

Date of production based on palaeographical features and cluster of late 13th century dates given in annalistic entries on f. 11v. Place of production assigned to France based on palaeographical features, and to Verdu n by M. R. James based on specific feasts in the calendar on ff. 72r-77v

M.R. James, A Descriptive Catalogue of the McClean Collection Manuscripts in the Fitzwilliam Museum (Cambridge, 1912). no. 166

Provenance and Acquisition

Owned by the German mineralogist and geologist Georg Amadeus Carl Friedrich Naumann (1797-1873) . According to the M.R. James Catalogue, Fitzwilliam Museum MS McClean 166 was MS 14 in Naumann's collection

Owned by the Italian mathematician and historian of science Baldassarre Boncompagni (1821–1894) . Fitzwilliam Museum MS McClean 166 was MS 323 in Boncompagni's collection.

E. Narducci Catalogo di manoscritti ora posseduti da D. Baldassarre Boncompagni (Rome, 1862), no. 324

Owned by Frank McClean (1837-1904) : sold to him by the booksellers Wesley & Son of Essex Street, London, probably c. 1894-1904.

Bequeathed to the Fitzwilliam Museum by Frank McClean , together with the rest of his collection, in 1904.

Additional Information

Record Sources

This catalogue record draws on M. R. James, A Descriptive Catalogue of the McClean Collection Manuscripts in the Fitzwilliam Museum (Cambridge, 1912), no. 166

Availability

Visitors to the Fitzwilliam Museum who wish to consult Collection material are required to apply to the Museum in advance of their visit. For information on eligibility and admission procedures see: Fitzwilliam Museum: Study Room.

Bibliography

    A Critical Edition of 'Tractatus Quadrantis', Britt, Frances Nan Long (GA: Atlanta, 1972, PhD) Practical Geometry in the High Middle Ages: Artis Cuiuslibet Consummatio and the Pratike de Geometrie Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society, Victor, Stephen K. (Philadelphia, 1979)

Funding of Cataloguing

Wellcome

Digital Images

Cambridge Digital Library

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