Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries

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

Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, MS 178/211

Medical treatises and recipes

Contents

Introduction: This manuscript contains a collection of Latin medical treatises and recipes but also three previously unrecorded recipes in Middle English against head maladies (f. 267r). It is one of the forty-five manuscripts that bear ownership and/or user marks in the hand of Roger Marchall (d. 1477), physician to Edward IV. It is one of the eighteen manuscripts that Marchall is thought to have donated to Gonville Hall (later Gonville and Caius College), alongside other manuscripts to King's College and Peterhouse (see Voigts (1995)). Thirteen manuscripts owned or used by Marchall (and another with possible Marchall connections) have been digitised, catalogued and conserved as part of the Curious Cures in Cambridge Libraries project: In March 2024, Dr James Freeman, Medieval Manuscripts Specialist at CUL, observed that pp. 1-8 in Cambridge, Gonville and Caius, MS 181/214 derive from the same manuscript source as Gonville and Caius College, MS 178/211 , ff. [i]-[iv], another Marchall manuscript. In both MS 178/211 and MS 181/214 leaves from the same legal manuscript have been inserted sideways and reused as flyleaves at the beginning of a volume of scientific texts. In both MS 178/211 and MS 181/214, Marchall made use of the generous marginal space common to legal manuscripts to record his name and a list of the contents of the respective volumes on the last page of that group of endleaves (i.e., Gonville and Caius MS 181/214, p. 8 and Gonville and Caius MS 178/211, f. [iv] verso). Both volumes have been rebound since Marchall's death in 1477, but it is plausible that each had a binding that resembled the other's in Marchall's lifetime as the shared endleaves, both with Marchall annotations, suggest that they were both bound by the same workshop on Marchall's behalf. Dr Clarck Drieshen| Project Cataloguer| Curious Cures in Cambridge Libraries References:
See L. Voigts, 'A doctor and his books: the manuscripts of Roger Marchall (d. 1477)', in R. Beadle and A. J. Piper (eds.), New science out of old books: studies in manuscripts and early printed books in honour of A.I. Doyle (Aldershot, 1995) pp. 249-314

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: The manuscript opens with four unfoliated parchment leaves (ff. [i]-[iv], followed by 288 paper leaves, and ending with four unfoliated parchment leaves (ff. [v]-[viii])
Extent: Codex: ii + 4 | 288 | 4 + ii leaves.
Foliation:

20th-century foliation:

[a-b] + [i]-[iv] + 1-288 + [v-viii] + [c-d]

Numbering in pencil in the upper right-hand corner of the rectos, on every leaf up to f. 182 and then only at the start of a new text thereafter.

Collation

  • Quire 112 (ff. 1-12)
  • Quire 210 (ff. 13-22)
  • Quires 3-812 (ff. 23-94)
  • Quire 912+1 (ff. 95-107: 13th leaf, f. 107, inserted after f. 106)
  • Quire 1012 (ff. 108-119v)
  • Quire 1110 (ff. 120-129)
  • Quire 12-1312 (ff. 130-153)
  • Quires 1410 (ff. 154-163)
  • Quires 158-2 (ff. 164-169: 1st and 2nd leaves cancelled)
  • Quire 16-2112 (ff. 170-241)
  • Quire 2212+1 (ff. 242-254: 13th leaf, f. 254, inserted after f. 253)
  • Quires 23-2412 (ff. 255-278)
  • Quire 2510 (ff. 279-288)

112 210 3-812 912+1 (13th leaf inserted) 1012 1110 12-1312 1410 158-1 (1st and 2nd leaves cancelled) 16-2112 2212+1 (13th leaf inserted) 23-2412 2510

Additions

A table of contents added to f. [iv] verso by Roger Marchall (d. 1477) with the heading: 'Contenta in hoc volumine sunt iste'.

Quire signatures ('1-25') 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

Blind-stamped and -tooled brown leather over wooden boards by J.P. Gray and Son at Cambridge in 1909 (see stamp on the inside of the upper cover).

Binding height: 230mm; width: 150mm; depth: 60mm.

History

Provenance and Acquisition

Roger Marchall (c. 1417-1477) , fellow of Peterhouse and royal physician: the table of contents with his name ('R. Marchall') inscribed below on f. [iv] verso and added headings by his hand on ff. 120r, 130r, 170r, 188r.

L. Voigts, 'A doctor and his books: the manuscripts of Roger Marchall (d. 1477)', in R. Beadle and A. J. Piper (eds.), New science out of old books: studies in manuscripts and early printed books in honour of A.I. Doyle (Aldershot, 1995) pp. 249-314 (p. 271 no. 10)

Perhaps donated to Gonville Hall by Roger Marchall (see Provenance) and certainly at Gonville and Caius College by 1600, when it was recorded as no. 108 in the Ecloga Oxonio-Cantabrigiensis by Thomas James (1600): a 20th-centry printed armorial bookplate pasted on the inside of the upper cover inscribed with the classmark '211 - 178'; and a (?) 17th-century armorial bookplate pasted onto f. [iv] verso, inscribed with the number '178'.

Part 1 [Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, MS 178/211, ff. [i] recto-[iv] verso]

Contents

Language(s): Latin

1. [i] recto-[iv] verso
Decretalis (fragment) Gregory IX; Raymond of Peñafort
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: || [i] recto de personis ydoneis
Explicit: [iv] verso et nullas eis alimonias praestare sed duorum alterum eligat uel non faciat clericos uel||

The text contains one rubric: 'De concessione prebenda et ecclesie non vacantis'

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Parchment (HFFH)
Extent: Codex: 4 leaves. 210 × 140 mm. The measurements pertain to the leaves as found in the manuscript (disregarding the fact that the leaves have been bound horizontally).

Layout

100 Ruled in leadpoint, frame and line ruling. Double columns. Due to the nature of the fragment it is not possible to establish the number of lines to the page, the height of the page, or whether the text has been written above or below the top line.

Hand(s)

Copied by a single hand in Northern Textualis.

Decoration

One header rubricated in red ink on f. [ii] recto.

Added ink drawings of an acanthus leaf and a dog on f. [iii] recto. The same hand has also added drawings to ff. [v] verso-[vi] recto.

History

Origin: Probably second half of the 13th century. ; Probably England.

Part 2 [Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, MS 178/211, ff. 1r-288v]

Contents

Language(s): Latin

1. 1r-119v
Teisir ʻAbd al-Malik ibn Abī al-ʻAlāʼ Ibn Zuhr [Avenzoar]
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 1r Incipit liber theysyr Albumeron Auenzoar in practica medicine
Incipit: 1r Conuenerunt omnes medici quod in habendo corpus molle conseruatur sanitas nutu dei
Explicit: 119v et colliguntur in hoc loco vniversaliter [?]curare egritudinem cum sirupis electuariis et in uno communibus

Divided into three books.

eTK 0263L (t0050820000)
2. 120r-127r
Antidotarium ʻAbd al-Malik ibn Abī al-ʻAlāʼ Ibn Zuhr [Avenzoar]
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 120r Antidotarium [Added by Roger Marchall]
Incipit: 120r Sirupus conveniens sanis et conservat sanitatem
Explicit: 127r et oleo de iasemino quorum partes sint equales et confert cum auxilio dei
Final rubric: 127r Sufficiat ad presens cum laude dei Amen
eTK 1509L (t0288900000)
3. 127v
Table of contents for the works of ʻAbd al-Malik ibn Abī al-ʻAlāʼ Ibn Zuhr [Avenzoar]
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 127v Primus liber continet .16. tractatus
Explicit: 127v Sequitur antidotarium eiusdem
4. 127v-128r
Medical recipes
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 127v In aqua ordei sunt omnes iste proprietates infractio
Explicit: 128r et interius dabatur quantitas vnius fabe de sapa alba dissolicta cum vnio albo
5. 128v
Description of a medical treatment
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 128v Incipiebant ante diem sancti laurencij longo tempore latrinis inuoluntare et calefactionem pedum erga noctem
Explicit: 128v habui tum sudorem [...] circa sextam horam et dolorem dorsi
6. 129v
Reference to Galen's Megategni
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 129v Videtur in prohemio megategri

A short quotation, including

ab universalibus ad individuum multipliciter descendere dividendo

.

7. 129v
Areolae Johannes de Sancto Amando
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 129v Incipiunt areole Johannis de sancto Amando
Incipit: 129v Medicina abstersiua
Explicit: 129v Capitulum . 6m de pouderibus in medicinis compositis||

Imperfect copy, including only the beginning of the work.

eTK 0855F (t0164800000)
8. 130r-165r
De asmate (translated by Armengaud Blasius of Montpellier) Moses Maimonides
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 130r Raby moyses de asmate [added by Roger Marchall]
Incipit: 130r Inquit raby Moyses i[s]raelita strenuus et insignis dominus noster cuius nobilitatem pacem et potenciam augeat dominus
Explicit: 165r cui sit laus et gloria in eternum. Amen
Final rubric: 165r Explicit liber raby moyses egipcii et de regimine egrorum et sanorum et specialiter de asmate cum nequid perfectum medicum inuenire translatus ab arabico in latinum apud montem pessulanum a magistro Armengando blazini mediante fideli interprete. Anno domini nostri Mo CCC. ii. in mense maii deo gracias
eTK 0750L (t0144520000)
Bos (2001)
Bos and McVaugh (2008)
9. 165r-169r
Medical recipes
Language(s): Latin
10. 170r-179r
De venenis
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 170r Tractatus de uenenis et curis eorundem [added by Roger Marchall]
Incipit: 170r Qui corporum curam geris auxiliari ne diuras nam semel pereunti nulla sunt deinde suffragia etcaetera
Explicit: 179r deinde potus emplastrum ex fabis optime masticatis vel ex cepa cum melle trita et [...] parata
Final rubric: 179r Explicit tractatus utilis de venenis
eTK 1205B (t0230790000)
11. 179r-181v
Treatise on theriac
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 179r Incipit tractatus de virtutibus et exhibicione tiriace
Incipit: 179r Tiriaca est sublimior medicinarum compositarum et melior
Explicit: 181v in 5. canonis requirantur
Final rubric: 181v Explicit
eTK 1574B (t0300460000)
12. 182r
Medical recipes
Language(s): Latin
13. 182r-187v
Untitled medical treatise Copho
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 182r Intenditur flegma in hieme et facit cotidianam cum pauca materia
Explicit: 187v In epiala si materia inceperit se movere et signum coctionis in vriam apperuerit purgetur materia.

Corresponds partially with the 'Practica cophonis secundum humores et primo de febribus: Liber Cophonis primus: De febribus et aliarum egritudinum curis' as printed in Renzi de Salvatore, Collectio salernitana, 4 (Naples: Tipografia del Filiatre-Sebezio, 1856).

eTK 0758H (t0146050000)
14. 188r-211r
De febribus 'Ferrarius Salernitanus'
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 188r Tractatis Magistri fferrarij de febribus [added by Roger Marchall]
Incipit: 188r ffebris est calor innaturalis ut ait Johanicius descriptionis cuius expositum
Explicit: 211r ut aranee tela supernatat cum quibusdam ?crinoydibus resolucionibus

Printed in Giacosa (1901), 1-64. Attributed in other manuscripts to Gilbertus Anglicus .

eTK 0551I (t0107330000)
15. 211v-220r
Practica, Book II: De febribus Guglielmo da Saliceto
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 211v Notabilia quedam extracta ex 2o libro M. Willelmi de Placentia
Incipit: 211v ffebris et calor naturalis alteratus in corde
Explicit: 220r Intret balneum in quo non sudet nisi parum
16. 224r-226v
Treatise on the Plague
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 224r Capitulum .26. de febre pestilenciali
Incipit: 224r Multociens accidit aeri alteretur
Explicit: 226v fecimus superius in p[...] cure.
eTK 0886G (t0171160000)
17. 230r-251v
De viribus cordis (translated by Arnaldus de Villanova) Avicenna [Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sīnā]
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 230r Incipit liber Auicenna de viribus cordis in medicinis cordis et medicinis cordialibus translatus a magistro Arnaldo Barhuone
Incipit: 230r Creauit deus ex concauitatibus
Explicit: 251v cum laude dei qui virtutem largiri dignatus est opusculum terminandi
Final rubric: 251v Explicit tractatus Auicenne de medicinis cordialibus translatus a magistro Arnaldo de viilla nova
eTK 0273I (t0053280000)
18. 251v-254v
Aphorismi John of Damascus [Mesuë the Younger]
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 251v Ecce in medicina immensa est profunditas
Explicit: 254v intra venas exists fallax est aff. 1. partes 2c
eTK 0481D (t0094280000)
19. 254v
Note
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 254v Sciendum distinctionem magistrorum
Explicit: 254v Si tu vis esse sapiens contempne gloriam
20. 255r-265v
Practica brevis (incomplete) Joannes Platearius (?)
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 255r Amicum induit qui iustis amicorum precibus
Explicit: 265r Quartane ex melancolia et melancolici et aliis humoribus facte de 4to in 4um affligunt sed non servant certa accessionis tempora quia nunc anticipant nunc postponunt. Item quartana||

f. 265 has been bound upside down.

For an edition of the chapters of the work that feature in this manuscript, see Muñoz (2016), pp. 126-166 [but without this mansucript].

21. 267r-272r
Medical recipes for attributed to 'Magister Henricus Harda'
Language(s): Latin and Middle English
Incipit: 267r Pro emigranea in capite et pro apostemate in capite et pro ydropisis et pro febribus in capite. Recipium: iiij peny weght of pelete of spayne and half peny weght of spykenard and stampe þam togeder
Explicit: 272r et hoc suaviter ce[...]sies probaui.

Similar texts appear to be in Cambridge, Trinity College, O.1.71, ff. 167r-167v ; Oxford, All Souls College, MS 81, ff. 184r-186r; and London, British Library, Add. MS 33996, ff. 92v-93r (Fritz Heinrich, Ein Mittelenglisches Medizinbuch (Halle a. S.: Niemeyer, 1896), pp. 106-107).

22. 279r-281r
Recipes for making amber and ceruse
Language(s): la
Incipit: 279r Composicio ambre
Explicit: 281r et in pannus lineus tingatur et citrini coloris
eTK 0017F (t0003570000)
23. 281r
Tract on pigments from trees
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 281r Sequitur hic qualiter fructus arbori colorati possunt
Explicit: 281r si crocum vna erit crotea et de alijs
23. 281r-282r
Instructions for making stones
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 281r Hic incipit liber docens qualiter fieri possent diversi lapides iudeaceos qui per compositioni in modo qui sequitur fe [sic] divescuntur
Incipit: 281r Et primo de cristallo
Explicit: 282r si tunc satis clare non fuerint micte eas iterum quosque efficiatur sal satis clare
Final rubric: 282r Explicit de compositione lapidis
eTK 0619C (t0119970000)
24. 282r-283v
Craft recipes for pigments and gilding
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 282r Ad litteras roseas scribendum pulcras
Explicit: 283r extrahe et reserua

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: 2r -dorum
Form: codex
Support: Paper, folded in quarto, with various watermarks, including a bull's head, an orb with a cross, and two arrowheads.
Extent: Codex: 288 leaves. 220 × 150 mm.

Collation

  • Quire 112 (ff. 1-12)
  • Quire 210 (ff. 13-22)
  • Quires 3-812 (ff. 23-94)
  • Quire 912+1 (ff. 95-107: 13th leaf, f. 107, inserted after f. 106)
  • Quire 1012 (ff. 108-119v)
  • Quire 1110 (ff. 120-129)
  • Quire 12-1312 (ff. 130-153)
  • Quires 1410 (ff. 154-163)
  • Quires 158-2 (ff. 164-169: 1st and 2nd leaves cancelled)
  • Quire 16-2112 (ff. 170-241)
  • Quire 2212+1 (ff. 242-254: 13th leaf, f. 254, inserted after f. 253)
  • Quires 23-2412 (ff. 255-278)
  • Quire 2510 (ff. 279-288)

Leaf signatures written in Arabic numerals in brown ink, in the lower right-hand corner of the recto side of the leaves in the first half of each quire. Written by the same hand as the quire signatures.

Quire signatures written in Arabic numerals in brown ink, in the lower left-hand corner of the recto side of the leaves in the first half of each quire. Written by the same hand as the leaf signatures.

 Catchwords written in the lower right-hand corners on the verso side of the last leaf of each quire, in frames of brown ink.

Condition

Damp has affected the margins and some of the text areas between ff. 14-21.

Layout

180-200 × 100-105 mm. No ruling. Single columns. 38-45 lines to the page.

Hand(s)

Copied (largely or exclusively) by a single hand in a Gothic cursive script.

Decoration

Large (2-4 lines) plain blue initials.

An added rubric in red ink on f. 130r.

Paraphs in blue or red ink.

Occasional underlining in red ink.

Additions

Quire numbers added in pencil to the lower righthand corners of the first rectos of quires.

History

Origin: 15th century. ; England.

Part 3 [Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, MS 178/211, ff. [v] recto-[viii] verso]

Contents

Language(s): Latin

1. [v] recto-[viii] verso
Liber sextus decretalium (fragment) Boniface VIII
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: || [v] recto generaliter promulgate subiectos eiusdem iurisdictioni archiepiscopi tantum ligant
Explicit: [viii] verso et propter hoc postmodum ipse decanus sententiam tulerit interdicti tanquam spirituali se mucrone defendens||

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Parchment (HFFH)
Extent: Codex: 4 leaves. 220 × 140 mm. The measurements pertain to the leaves as found in the manuscript (and disregard the fact that the leaves have been bound horizontally).

Collation

Condition

There are numerous worm holes in the leaves.

Layout

180 Ruled in leadpoint, frame and line ruling. Double columns. Due to the nature of the fragment it is not possible to establish the number of lines to the page, the height of the text space, and whether the text has been written above or below the top line.

Hand(s)

Copied by a single scribe using aGothica Hybrida Libraria script.

Decoration

Added ink drawings of acanthus leaves and human heads in the margins and initials in black ink at spaces that were left blank for decorated initials on ff. [vii] verso-[xii] recto. These were done by the same hand that added drawings of a dog and an acanthus leaf on f. [v] recto.

History

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

Additional Information

Record Sources

This catalogue entry draws on a description by M.R. James, A Descriptive Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Library of Gonville and Caius College, 2 vols (Cambridge: Cambridge University Library, 1907-1908), I and Kari Anne Rand Schmidt, Manuscripts in the Library of Gonville and Caius College, The Index of Middle English Prose, 17 (Cambridge: Brewer, 2001).

Availability

Visitors to Gonville and Caius College who wish to consult Lower Library material are required to apply to the Library in advance of their visit. For information on eligibility and admission procedures see: Gonville and Caius College: Library Information.

Bibliography

    Magistri Salernitani nondum editi: catalogo ragionato della Esposizione di storia della medicina aperta in Torino nel 1898, Giacoso, Piero (Turin, Fratelli Bocca, 1901) A doctor and his books: the manuscripts of Roger Marchall (d. 1477) New science out of old books: studies in manuscripts and early printed books in honour of A.I. Doyle, Voigts, Linda Ehrsam (Aldershot, 249-314, Scolar Press, 1995) Maimonides, On Asthma, Volume 1: A Parallel Arabic–English Text Edited, Translated, and Anotated The Medical Works of Moses Maimonides, Bos, Gerrit (Provo, Utah, Brigham Young University Press, 2001) Maimonides, On Asthma, Volume 2: Critical Editions of Medieval Hebrew and Latin Translations The Medical Works of Moses Maimonides, Bos, GerritMcVaugh, Michael R. (Provo, Utah, Brigham Young University Press, 2008) La Practica de Plateario: edición crítica, traducción y estudio Edizione nazionale dei testi mediolatini d'Italia, (Firenze, SISMEL: edizioni del Galluzzo, 2016)

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Wellcome

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Cambridge Digital Library

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