Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries

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

Cambridge, Magdalene College, Pepys MS 911

A 'Sortes' manuscript including the Experimentarius attributed to Bernardus Silvestris

Contents

Introduction: Cambridge, Magdalene College, MS Pepys 911 (hereafter Pepys 911) is a beautifully illustrated example of a type of medieval book known as a 'sortes' manuscript, essentially a genre of medieval book concerned with various aspects of what we now describe as divination, prognostication, and fortune-telling. Sortes manuscripts seem to have been quite a popular genre of medieval book, and among those that were made in medieval north-western Europe the majority of the surviving sortes manuscripts contain various combinations of a core group of texts attributed (spuriously) to illustrious Classical figures such as Pythagoras and Cicero. The various sortes texts popular in medieval north-western Europe follow a similar pattern for use. They typically begin with a list of questions, for example: Should the reader get married? Will a pregnant woman give birth to a boy or a girl? Or will a missing item be found? The reader is then guided into choosing a random number (typically between 1-10) by throwing dice or turning a wheel or another specified method. That number directs the reader to a numbered table or list of answers. Some sortes texts require readers to chain questions together or to add up several randomly chosen numbers, but the question -> random number -> answer format is consistent across the majority of the surviving sortes texts. The sortes genre of texts seems to have been known in western Europe since late Antiquity, but it experienced a renewed popularity north-western Europe in the 13th century through newly available Latin translations of Hebrew and Arabic sortes texts (Iafrate, 2015). The 13th-century revival of interest in sortes texts in north-western Europe is typically discussed in relation to the oldest surviving example of the genre, a manuscript now at the Bodleian Library: Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Ashmole 304 (hereafter Ashmole 304). Ashmole 304 was copied by the writer, scribe and illustrator Matthew Paris (d. 1259) a monk belonging to the Benedictine Abbey of St Albans in England. Neil Ker seems to have been the first scholar to notice that Pepys 911 is closely related to Ashmole 304, since both contain copies of some of the same sortes texts and they have very similar programmes of illustration. Pepys 911 was copied in England in the second half of the 13th century, and such is the similarity of the text and illustrations between the two manuscripts that Charles Burnett in his study of the manuscripts containing the 'Experimentarius' attributed to Bernardus Silvestris suggested that this manuscript (Burnett's MS 'B') and Ashmole 304 (Burnett's MS 'A') are 'sister' manuscripts copied from the same (lost) exemplar, and placed them in a 'St Albans group'. There is no suggestion that Matthew Paris was either the scribe or the artist of Pepys 911, and although both manuscripts contain a shared core of texts, they each preserve sortes texts not found in the other; nevertheless the shared texts (and the shared organisation of those texts) and the similarity of their illustrations (compare e.g., the Pythagoras portraits and the portraits of the 12 sons of Jacob in both volumes) demonstrates a close relationship between the two books. There are six substantial sortes texts in MS Pepys 911:
  • The 'Experimentarius' attributed to Bernardus Silvestris and extensively discussed by C. Burnett (2r-18v)
  • A sortes text attributed to Pythagoras called the 'Prenostica pitagorice' in some manuscripts (19r-29v) - in this manuscript the text is accompanied by an author-portrait of Pythagoras ('Pitagoras' in the MS), and the questions and answers in the textare accompanied by illustrations of various birds, most with names that probably derive from an original source in Hebrew.
  • A sortes text attributed to the wisdom of the 12 sons of Jacob, the founders of the Twelve Tribes of Israel - in this manuscript the text is accompanied by a half-page miniature of Jacob's 12 sons (30r-33v)
  • A metrical sortes text sometimes attributed to Pythagoras in other copies of the text (ff. 34r-44v)
  • A sortes text arranged around dialogues between birds and celestial figures, accompanied by diagrams describing the relationships of the two groups (ff. 47r-58v )
  • A sortes text supposedly based on the wisdom of Socrates accompanied in this manuscript by several 'wheel of fortune' diagrams presenting the answers to various questions and topics (ff. 59r-68r)
 Dr Sarah Gilbert| Project Cataloguer| Curious Cures in Cambridge Libraries References
C. Burnett, 'What is the "Experimentarius" of Bernardus Silvestris? A Preliminary Survey of the Material', Archives d'histoire doctrinale et littéraire du Moyen Age 44 (1977), pp. 79-125, esp. n. 42 and pp. 101-102
M. Heiles, 'Sortes' in M. Heiduk, K. Herbers, H.-C. Lehner (eds.), Prognostication in the Medieval World (Berlin and Boston, 2021), pp. 960-964
A. Iafrate, 'The Workshop of Fortune: St Albans and the sortes manuscripts', Scriptorium 66.1 (2012), pp. 55-87
A. Iafrate (ed.), Matthieu Paris, Le moine et le hazard: Bodleian Library MS Ashmole 304, Textes littéraires du Moyen Âge, 39 / Divinatoria, 5 (Paris, 2015)
N. Ker, Medieval Manuscripts in British Libraries, 5 vols (1977), vol. II, pp. 233-234

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: 3r: Tabula questionum
Form: codex
Support: The majority of the manuscript is formed of parchment leaves. Parchment endleaves reused from another manuscript, and paper endleaves added during a (re)-binding of the volume.
Extent: Codex: ii + 3 | 67 | 1 + i leaves.
Foliation:

20th-century foliation

i (left pastedown) + iii + iv-vii | 2-68 | viii + [ix]

Foliated in pencil in Hindu-Arabic numerals the upper outer corner of each recto. Researchers should note the following details about the foliation sequence:
  • The front pastedown has the folio designation 'i'.
  • The two paper flyleaves at the beginning of the volume are ff. ii-iii. The final paper flyleaf at the end of the volume lacks a designation in the manuscript, but has been assigned the designation f. [ix] for the preparation of an online catalogue record for this item in April 2023 as part of the Curious Cures in Cambridge Libraries Project - the unofficial status of this designation is indicated by the [square brackets] around the designation in this catalogue record.
  • There are fragments of another manuscript at either end of the volume, these leaves have the designations ff. iv-vi and viii.
  • The foliation sequence for the main Part of the manuscript begins at f. 2, there is no leaf designated f. 1.

Collation

The main Part of this manuscript comprises quires of mostly eight leaves, surrounded by various endleaves from other sources. Ker's collation in MMBL: V describes the 3rd and 6th leaves of Quire 3 as half sheets, and the stubs of each may be seen between ff. 19-20 and 22-23.

  • Two paper flyleaves (ff. ii-iii) +
  • Three parchment flyleaves (ff. iv-vii) |
  • Quire 18-1 (ff. 2-8: 1st leaf cancelled)
  • Quires 2-38 (ff. 9-24)
  • Quire 46-1 (ff. 25-29: 6th leaf cancelled)
  • Quire 58+1 (ff. 30-38: 1st leaf added)
  • Quire 68 (ff. 39-46)
  • Quire 72 (ff. 47-48)
  • Quires 8-910 (ff. 49-68) |
  • One parchment flyleaf (f. viii) +
  • One paper flyleaf (f. [ix])

18-1 (1st leaf cancelled) 2-38 46-1 (6th cancelled) 58+1 (a singleton added before the first leaf) 68 72 8-910

No leaf signatures common to the whole volume.

No quire signatures common to the whole volume.

No catchwords common to the whole volume.

Additions

Quire signatures ('4-9') in the bottom right-hand corner of the recto side of the first leaf of these quires, written in pencil by a hand of the 19th/20th century.

Binding

17th-century binding. Armorial binding in sprinked calf over paste- or mill- boards with gilded armorial stamps on front and rear covers. The armorial stamp on the front cover displays Pepys' armorial crest (camel's head erased bridled and lined ducally gorged), helmet (esquire), and mantling, with the words 'SAM. PEPYS CAR. ET IAC. ANGL.REGIBUS A SECRETIS ADMIRALIÆ' replacing the typical charges in the escutcheon. The armorial stamp on the rear cover replaces the text in the escutcheon with the arms of the Pepys family: Quarterly 1st and 4th on a bend between two horses heads erased three fleurs-de-lis, 2nd and 3rd a lion rampant within a bordure engrailed.

Five raised bands and two half bands on the spine. Decorative head and tail bands in alternate pink and blue segments. Unlabelled spine compartments stamped with a gilded floral design. Title label of red leather fixed to a single spine compartment with the text 'DE VERT. PLANE MSS' gilded. Gilded decorative roll applied to the covers along the head, fore, and tail edges of the boards. Head, fore, and tail edges of the book block sprinkled with red.

Paper pastedowns at both ends of the volume pasted over the turn ins. The left pastedown has the designation f. i, the right pastedown does not have a designation. Two paper endleaves at the opening of the volume (ff. ii-iii) and one paper endleaf at the close of the volume f. [ix].

The contents of the paper endleaves are as follows:

  • front pastdown (f. i): the current shelfmark, 'No. 911' recorded in red ink
  • ii recto: a former shelfmark '543.D.' in ink, struck out.
  • ii recto: a former shelfmark '583' in ink, struck out.
  • ii recto: a note in ink about the contents of the volume, 'Bernardus Silvestris, ultrajectensis clericus, floruit circa A.d. 1110. Oudin. Tom. ii. p. 1005'.
  • ii verso: a title page in ink in a large early modern hand, 'De Virtute Efficacio(?) Planetarum ac Constellationum'.
  • iii recto: a bookplate bearing a portrait of Pepys, his motto 'Mens cujusque is est Quisque' and the text found in the escutcheon stamp on the front cover of the volume.

See H. M. Nixon, Catalogue of the Pepys Library at Magdalene College Cambridge, Volume VI (Cambridge, 1984), style 'FL'.

History

Provenance and Acquisition

Owned by a John Beak who added his name (in a ?15th or ?16th century hand) to f. iv recto, now very faint.

Owned by a Rees Thomas who added his name (in a ?sixteenth century hand) to f. 62v where he styled himself 'Master Rees Thomas Esquire'.

Owned by the mathematician Thomas Harriott (1560-1621) . Harriot wrote his name on ff. iv and v recto.

Owned by John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale (1616-1682) . Parts of Lauderdale's estate were sold in 1684 after his death in 1682, and the manuscript was purchased from that sale by Samuel Pepys .

Owned by Samuel Pepys (1633-1703) , the famous diarist, MP, and administrator of the Royal Navy. Pepys was a collector of fine books and manuscripts and at the time of his death his library numbered approximately 3000 volumes. Pepys bequeathed his library to his alma mater, Magdalene College in Cambridge, along with strict instructions for how the volumes should be arranged and maintained. See Venn:ACAD PPS650S. Pepys purchased the manuscript (as lot 84) 25 January 1692 at a sale of items from the Lauderdale estate.

Acquired by Magdalene College, Cambridge upon the death of John Jackson (d. 1724) : in his will (The National Archives, PROB 1/9, Will of Samuel Pepys, Codicil, 13th May 1703), Pepys left a bequest of approximately 3000 manuscripts and printed books to Magdalene College and instructed his nephew John Jackson to arrange for this but they only came to the college after Jackson died. Jackson respected the instructions given in the codicil to the will as can be evidenced from Magdalene College Archives A/41/1: an indenture between Anne Jackson, widow and executrix of John Jackson (nephew and residuary legatee of Samuel Pepys), and the Master and Fellows being a deed of covenant as to providing a Library at the College for the reception of the collection of the books and papers bequeathed to the College by Samuel Pepys, 1 June 1724. It is here that the manuscript's current shelfmark ‘N.o 911’ was added in red ink to the front pastedown, replacing two older shelfmarks both in brown ink, ‘543.D.’ (struck out with brown ink) and ‘583.’ (struck out with red ink) on f. ii recto.

Part 1: Fragments of the Compilatio Prima Bk 3 [Cambridge, Magdalene College, MS Pepys 911, ff. iv-vi, viii]

Contents

Language(s): Latin

1. iv recto-vii verso, viii recto-verso
Compilatio Prima (Breviarium extravagantium) Bernardus Papiensis (Bernard of Pavia)
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: || iv recto sumptibus quos bono
Explicit: viii verso et compellas ut res ipas[sic] pigno ||

Text identified by N. R. Ker. Ker described the arrangment of the leaves and text as follows: 'Fragments of bk. 3. The leaves at the beginning contain parts of XI.4,5; XI,8: XII,1,2; XIV,3,4; XVI,2.3; XVII.3; XVIII.1,2; XVIII.4,5; XX.2,3. The leaf at the end has XVII.1-3 on the verso and XVIII.2-4 on the recto.'

See E. Friedberg (ed.), Quinque compilationes antiquae: nec non Collectio canonum Lipsiensis (Leipzig, 1897), pp. 30-32
N. Ker, Medieval Manuscripts in British Libraries, 5 vols (1977), vol. II, pp. 233-235
vii verso. vii verso
Volvelle
Language(s): Latin

Volvelle added in the 15th century. The volvelle is designed for use with the sortes texts on ff. 2r-68r. The volvelle is sewn through the conjoined leaves ff. vi-vii and consists of a lower round disc of paper (100mm diameter) and an upper indented disc of paper (65mm diameter point-to-point).

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: Secundo folio v recto: eum uinculo anathematis
Form: codex
Support: Parchment. A bifolium cut in half horizontally , the lower half used for the endleaves at the beginning of the volume (f. iv-vi), and a portion of the upper part used for an endleaf at the close of the volume (f. viii)
Extent: Fragment deriving from the lower part of a bifolium, cut in half horizontally. The lower half of the original bifolium was folded to make four leaves at the beginning (ff. iv-vi, the final two leaves folded double and presented as a single leaf (f. vi)), and a portion of the upper part of the original bifolium was used for the leaf at the end of the volume (f. viii). The leaf at the back of the volume (f. viii) is inserted upside down relative to the rest of the volume. 4 leaves 160 × 110 mm.

Collation

Four tangible leaves, ff. iv-vi at the opening of the volume and f. viii at the close of the volume. The leaf f. vi is of double thickness

No leaf signatures particular to this Part.

No quire signatures particular to this Part.

No catchwords particular to this Part.

Condition

The leaves ff. vi and vii are attached along their fore edge and so only f. vi recto and f. vii verso are visible to the reader. The lower disc of the volvelle on f. vii verso has some folds along the circumference of the shape, but the volvelle is in relatively good condition.

Layout

40 × 40 mm. Fragment cut down from a larger leaf and folded in such a way that the original mise-en-page is difficult to determine. Ruled in ink, ruling visible on f. viii. Leaves were probably arranged in a multi-column format, each column approximately 40mm. 11-12 lines visible in each column of ff. iv-vii, 33 lines visible on f. viii.

Hand(s)

The main text is written in a small northern textualis libraria.

Decoration

Flourished initials in red and blue (red intiials with blue pen flourishing or the reverse) at the minor divisions of the text.

Plain initials in red or blue at minor divisions of the text such as new paragraphs or sub-sections.

Section headings in red.

Volvelle consisting of two discs of paper added to f. vii verso.

Additions

The name 'Thomas Harriot' and 'Thomas Harriotus' added to f. iv recto, v recto in ink, see the Provenance section for further information. Harriot also seems to have added descriptive titles for the volume in ink to f. v recto.

The name 'John Beak' added to f. iv recto in ink, see the Provenance section for further information.

Volvelle consisting of two discs of paper added to f. vii verso in the 15th century. The volvelle is designed for use with the text on ff. 2r-68r.

History

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

Provenance

Both Parts of the volume were together by the end of the 15th century as the 15th century volvelle added to f. vii verso is designed for use with the text on ff. 2r-68r.

Part 2: The Experimentarius attributed to Bernardus Silvestris and other prognostic texts [Cambridge, Magdalene College, MS Pepys 911, ff. 2r-68v]

Contents

Language(s): Latin and medieval French

1. 2r-18v
Liber experimentarius Bernardus Silvestris (attrib.)
Language(s): Latin
1.1. 2r
Preface to the Liber experimentarius Bernardus Silvestris (attrib.)
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 2r Euidencia operis subsequentis
Incipit: 2r Matria huius libelli est uirtus efficacia lune
Explicit: 2r reuelat euidenciam

Rubric added in small text in the upper margin.

This is Burnett's 'preface to the Experimentarius' of this text.

Edited and discussed in C. Burnett, 'What is the "Experimentarius" of Bernardus Silvestris? A Preliminary Survey of the Material', Archives d'histoire doctrinale et littéraire du Moyen Age 44 (1977), pp. 79-125, esp. n. 42 and pp. 123-124
eTK 0850H (t0163840000)
eTK 1574I (t0300560000)
1.2. 2r-2v
Prologue to the Liber experimentarius Bernardus Silvestris (attrib.)
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 2r Utilitas autem huius libelli est
Explicit: 2r-2v per stellam indicem inuenerunt

This is also part of Burnett's 'preface to the Experimentarius' of this text.

eTK 1627B (t0310370000)
Edited and discussed in C. Burnett, 'What is the "Experimentarius" of Bernardus Silvestris? A Preliminary Survey of the Material', Archives d'histoire doctrinale et littéraire du Moyen Age 44 (1977), pp. 79-125, esp. n. 42 and pp. 123-124
1.3. 2v-2v
Introduction to the Liber experimentarius Bernardus Silvestris (attrib.)
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 2v Hic incipit experimentarius Bernardi Siluestris in astronomia . Titulo uero talis est .
Incipit: 2v Experimentarius bernardi siluestris . Non quia inuentor fuit sed fidelis ab arabico in latinum interpres
Explicit: 2v inuocato semper spiritu sancto

This is Burnett's 'Regula I C' of this text.

Edited and discussed in C. Burnett, 'What is the "Experimentarius" of Bernardus Silvestris? A Preliminary Survey of the Material', Archives d'histoire doctrinale et littéraire du Moyen Age 44 (1977), pp. 79-125, esp. n. 42 and p. 111
1.4. 5r-18v
The 'Almazane' of the Liber experimentarius Bernardus Silvestris (attrib.)
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 5r Almazane
Incipit: 5r Tuum indumentum durabit tempore longo
Explicit: 18v Opta que dei sunt fauebit dominus ipse
Final rubric: 18v explicit

Mise-en-page for verse - single-column of text with a majuscule first letter of each line slightly separate from the rest of the text on the line.

This is Burnett's 'Versio I' of this text.

Edited and discussed in C. Burnett, 'What is the "Experimentarius" of Bernardus Silvestris? A Preliminary Survey of the Material', Archives d'histoire doctrinale et littéraire du Moyen Age 44 (1977), pp. 79-125, esp. n. 42 and pp. 108-109

There are four tables that accompany this text:

  • 3r: Tabula questionum
  • 3v: Tabula secunda responsionum
  • 4r: Tabula tercia
  • 4v: Tabula quarto legationum

2. 19r-29v
⟨Prenostica pitagorice⟩
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 19v Si puer uiuit . Uade ad columbam
Explicit: 29v supleat eclipsim series capitalis obortam

Several surviving copies of this text are (spuriously) attributed to the Greek mathematician Pythagoras. Portrait of Pythagoras ('Pitagoras') on f. 19r.

McKitterick and Beadle separate this Item into two separate Items i.e., ff. 19v-20r - the questionum; ff. 20v-29v the responsa.

The text is accompanied by small illustrations of birds. See Decoration below.

As noted by Ker, this text (with the exception of f. 29v can also be found in Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Ashmole 304, ff. 42v-52r .

eTK 1457I (t0278770000)
3. 30r-33v
⟨Duodecim filii Iacob qui et Israel dicitur⟩
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 30v Duodecim filii Iacob qui et Israel dicitur
Incipit: 31r Iudas iudex primus Regalis confitens ueritatem . Uelle dei nosse casit
Explicit: 33v Sors bene succedet adertit quod mens tua credit

The leaf f. 30r is blank.

Illustration of the 12 sons of Jacob on f. 30v. The twelve sons are named as: Iudas, Ruben, Gad, Aser, Neptalin, Manasses, Symeon, Levy, Ysakar, Zabulon, Ioseph, Beniamin.

As noted by Ker, this text can also be found in Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Ashmole 304, ff. 52v-55v .

eTK 1680B (t0319860000)
4. 34v-44v
⟨Pronosticorum Pythagorum uersio metrica and tables⟩
Language(s): Latin
4.1. 34v-35r
⟨Tabula Almadati⟩
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 34v ⟨ T⟩abula almadati
Incipit: 34v De infante si uiuit | Quid erit dic | Quere in | primo gradu | Ariertis
Explicit: 35r gradus | tertius | redii | responde | uade ad iudicem questionis | Oreb | xxxvi

Folio 34r is blank.

As noted by Ker, these tables are not in Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Ashmole 304 .

4.2. 35v-44r
⟨Pronosticorum Pythagorum uersio metrica⟩
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 35v Gosal iudex primus . Qui presagus uel primicerius interpretatur
Incipit: 35v Sub facis uita fiet diuturna beata
Explicit: 44r Eger erit sanus scias quamuis ueteranus

As noted by Ker, this text can also be found in  Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Ashmole 304, ff. 56a recto - 63v .

The words 'Non computentur . rubrice' in red ink in the outer margin of f. 35v.

eTK 1530L (t0292890000)
4.3. 44v
Documentum experimeniti retrogradi
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 44v Documentum experimeniti retrogradi
Incipit: 44v Dato numero primitiuo qui non excedit
Explicit: 44v quod in capite pagine est

As noted by Ker, this section of text is not in Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Ashmole 304 .

5. 45r
⟨?Prognostic schema⟩
Language(s): Latin

A list of 20 words (Lucrum ... Captus) each followed by a number (i-xx) and then the numbers i-xx arranged in 4 groups of 5 numbers.

6. 45r-46v
⟨Explanations of divination through palmistry⟩
Language(s): Latin and Medieval French

A sketch of a hand added to each leaf ff. 45r-46v with explanations of various types of palmistry techniques in Latin and Medieval French. The hand diagrams and accompanying texts were probably added to the leaves in the late-13th or early 14th century.

7. 46v
⟨Medical recipe for 'Glist'⟩
Language(s): Latin
8. 47r-58v
⟨Prognostic diagrams and text⟩
Language(s): Latin
8.1. 47r-48v
⟨Prognostic relational diagrams⟩
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 47r .i. Pauo mittit te ad solem
Explicit: 48v .xx. Dugo te mittit ad pisces
8.2. 49r-58v
⟨Prognostica quorum indices sunt septem planetae et duodecim signa zodiaci⟩
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 49r Mittam te ad amicum et dicet tibi uerum . Sol
Incipit: 49r certe tibi dico prope est
Explicit: 58v In bona hora te mutabis a deo paratum est

This is a series of dialogues presented as a line spoken by a bird and then 20 lines of a response by the personification of a celestial or zodiacal figure.

eTK 0877F (t0169530000)

This item is also in Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Ashmole 304, ff. 64r-70v , but lacks the bird diagrams on ff. 47r-48v and the last six dialogues. Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Digby 46 is a direct copy of Ashmole 304 made before that manuscript was mutilated, and the Digby copy contains the bird-celestial figure roundels and the final six dialogues.

See L. Brandin, 'Les prognostica du MS Ashmole 304 de la Bodléienne' in M. Williams and J. A. de Rothschild (eds.), A Miscellany of studies in Romance languages and literatures presented to Léon E. Kastner (Cambridge, 1932), pp. 57-67
Ker MMBL:II, pp. 234-235
9. 59r-68r
⟨Prenosticon Socratis Basilei⟩
Language(s): Latin
9.1. 59r-60r
⟨Prenosticon Socratis Basilei - Tables⟩
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 59r An erit bonum ire extra donum uel non
Explicit: 60r Bacce lauri \flos/
9.2. 60v
⟨Prenosticon Socratis Basilei - Text⟩
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 60v Puncta saxas tibi fige decem pro limite summo
Explicit: 60v Hic de socraticis constant excerpta libellis
9.3. 61r-66v
⟨Prenosticon Socratis Basilei - Spheres⟩
Language(s): Latin

12 Spheres described as follows:

  • Spera specierum (f. 61r)
  • Spera florum (f. 61v)
  • Spera fructuum (ff. 62r-62v)
  • Spera bestarum (f. 63r)
  • Spera uolatilium (ff. 63v-64v
  • Spera ciuiutatum (ff. 65r-66v)

eTK 0093J (t0018130000)
9.4. 67r-68r
⟨Responsa of the 16 Kings⟩
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 67r Rex turcorum . Quod uis erit erit[sic] et bonum tibi eueniet
Explicit: 68r Grauida pariet filiam de qua bonum erit
eTK 1256G (t0240880000)

This is the 'B' version of this text.

As noted by Ker, most of this Item can also be found in Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Ashmole 304, ff. 32r-40v . Ker also draws attention to a similar text in Windsor, Eton College Library, MS 132, ff. 188r-190v which has similar tables.

See R. McKitterick and R. Beadle, Catalogue of the Pepys Library at Magdalene College, Cambridge: Manuscripts. Part I Medieval, Catalogue of the Pepys Library at Magdalene College, Cambridge, 7 vols (Woodbridge, 1992), vol. 5, p. 6 for additional information.
10. 68r-68v
Craft recipes to make pigments
Language(s): Medieval French
Rubric: 68r Ki uout saucer e conoytre la manere des colours ici les pora saucer
Incipit: 68r Si tou uoys fere blaunk de plumb
Explicit: 68v fere si aueitre chuz de ||

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: 3r: Tabula questionum
Form: codex
Support: Parchment (HFFH).
Extent: Codex: 67 leaves. 165 × 120 mm.

Collation

  • Quire 18-1 (1st leaf cancelled; ff. 2-8)
  • Quires 2-38 (ff. 9-24)
  • Quire 46-1 (6th cancelled; ff. 25-29)
  • Quire 58+1 (a singleton added before the first leaf of the quire; ff. 30-38)
  • Quire 68 (ff. 39-46 )
  • Quire 72 (ff. 47-48)
  • Quires 8-910 (ff. 49-68)

Ker's collation in MMBL: V describes the 3rd and 6th leaves of Quire 3 as half sheets, and the stubs of each may be seen between ff. 19-20 and 22-23.

18-1 (1st leaf cancelled) 2-38 46-1 (6th cancelled) 58+1 (a singleton added before the first leaf) 68 72 8-910

No leaf signatures particular to this Part.

No quire signatures particular to this Part.

Catchwords in ink in the lower inner corner of the last recto of some quires, e.g., 16v, some catchwords obscured due to rebinding.

Condition

In generally good condition. Some leaves have small stains and minor rubbing damage. Loss of some (?red and ?gold) pigment on f. 59r.

Layout

135 × 75 mm. Non tabulated or diagrammatic leaves ruled in leadpoint in single-column format, frame and lines. Non tabulated or diagrammatic leaves have typically 21-28 lines to the leaf and are written below top line. Folios 67-68 are ruled in double-column format and have 30 lines to the column.

Hand(s)

Written in a northern textualis formata typical of the second half of the 13th century.

Decoration

Miniatures in the volume as follows:

  • 19r: Full page miniature of Pythagoras seated and writing on a punched gold ground. Similar illustration in  Oxford, Bodleain Library, MS Ashmole 304, f. 14r .
  • 45r-46v: Full page diagrammatic miniatures of hands (palms up and with palm-creases shown) to illustrate different fortune-telling techniques using various anatomical features of the palms. Instructive notes added to the fingers and various segments of the palm. Note that these illustrations are a later addition to the volume, probably added in the ?14th century, and apart from f. 45r, all of the other leaves were blank at the time the hand illustrations were added.
  • 30v: Half page miniature of the heads of the 12 sons of Jacob on a punched gold ground. Similar illustration in  Oxford, Bodleain Library, MS Ashmole 304, f. 52v .
  • 3r: Illustration of a 'turris astrorum' in the lower margin.
  • 3v: Illustration of seven different towers in the outer margin.
  • 20v-29r: Illustration of birds accompanying passages of text in the 'Prenosticum pitagorice', typically two birds to a leaf in the following order:
    • Columba (dove)
    • Filius columbe
    • Coccinus ('scarlet bird')
    • Anser (goose)
    • Guiza (?)
    • Turtur (turtle-dove)
    • Gallus (cockerel)
    • Uespa (?)
    • Arquia (?heron)
    • Pauo (peacock)
    • Coturnix (quail)
    • Arbe (?)
    • Alia (?)
    • Effroa (?)
    • Coruus (crow)
    • Agauf (?magpie)
    • Bathaiana (?)
    • Uespertilio (bat)
    • Zerzir (?)
    • Rahaham (?)
    • Peret (?)
    • Haziza (?)
    • Nisus (hawk)
    • Zahamat ?)
    • Aquila (eagle)
    • Ozina (?kingfisher)
    • Daa (?)
    • Saaf (?)
    • Cooz (?)
    • Salac (?)
    • Sesuf (?)
    • Tinsemet (?)
    • Anapha (?)
    • Diquifat (?)
    • Coaz (?)
    • Arphaperet (?)
  • 47r-48v: Illustrations in round frames of 20 birds, 9 personifications of celestial bodies (sun, moon, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury, and the Serpent constellation), and 12 zodiac symbols. The illustrations are arranged in five pairs per leaf, each bird paired with either a celestial personification, or a zodiac symbol. Each illustration is set on a gold or a blue ground in a pink or green frame.

Red and blue flourished initials at the major and minor divisions of the texts throughout the Part.

Plain initials in red or blue (sometimes arranged in an alternating pattern) at minor divisions of the texts and for information presented in a list format.

Rubrics and minor headings in red ink throughout the Part.

Additions

See Provenance for the names of former owners or users of the volume present on various leaves in this Part.

History

Origin: Second half of the 13th century. ; England.

Provenance

This manuscript is closely related to Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Ashmole 304 , a very similar manuscript copied almost entirely by Matthew Paris (d. 1259) a monk belonging to the Benedictine Abbey of St Albans in England. Charles Burnett in his study of the manuscripts containing the 'Experimentarius' attributed to Bernardus Silvestris suggested that this manuscript (Burnett's MS 'B') and Ashmole 304 (Burnett's MS 'A') are 'sister' manuscripts copied from the same (lost) exemplar, and placed them in a 'St Albans group'. See

C. Burnett, 'What is the "Experimentarius" of Bernardus Silvestris? A Preliminary Survey of the Material', Archives d'histoire doctrinale et littéraire du Moyen Age 44 (1977), pp. 79-125, esp. n. 42 and pp. 101-102

Additional Information

Record Sources

This catalogue entry draws on N. Ker, Medieval Manuscripts in British Libraries, 5 vols (1977), vol. II, pp. 233-234 and R. McKitterick and R. Beadle, Catalogue of the Pepys Library at Magdalene College, Cambridge: Manuscripts. Part I Medieval, Catalogue of the Pepys Library at Magdalene College, Cambridge, 7 vols (Woodbridge, 1992), vol. V, pp. 5-8.

Availability

Visitors to Magdalene College who wish to consult Special Collections material are required to apply to the Pepys Library in advance of their visit. For information on eligibility and admission procedures see: Magdalene College: Pepys Library.

Bibliography

    N. Ker, Medieval Manuscripts in British Libraries, 5 vols (1977), vol. II, pp. 233-235
    R. McKitterick and R. Beadle, Catalogue of the Pepys Library at Magdalene College, Cambridge: Manuscripts. Part I Medieval, Catalogue of the Pepys Library at Magdalene College, Cambridge, 7 vols (Woodbridge, 1992), vol. 5, pp. 5-8 .

Funding of Cataloguing

Wellcome

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Cambridge Digital Library

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