Cambridge, Magdalene College, Pepys MS 1307
Medical texts
Contents
Language(s): Middle English and Latin
Chapters: Aurea alexandrina - Zynzebere conditum. In this version of the text the recipe-preparations are arranged in alphabetical order. The first few words of each recipe are typically in Latin, but the majority of the text of each recipe is in Middle English.
Text ends imperfectly. Chapters Aure alexandrina - Zynzebere conditum. In this version of the text, a list of plants is presented alphabetically, and their therapeutic or other qualities are described.
For a plaster called 'basilicon' (see f. 45r). Written in the bottom (f. 15r) and top margin (f. 15v), by a 15th-century hand.
For a 'marvellous oil of grain' for treating impetigo, serpigo and for silently removing infections. Written in the bottom margin by a 15th-century hand.
For an unknown purpose (top margin, cropped) and for an 'oleum [?]frax'' (blank space within the text block), written by hands of the 15th century.
An unguent called 'basilicon', for bruises, sores and as a maturative. Written in the bottom (f. 33v) and top margin (f. 34r) by a 15th-century hand.
An unguent called 'vade mecum', for an unspecified purpose. Written in the bottom (f. 35r) and top margin (f. 35v) by a 15th-century hand.
A 'marvellous unguent', for an unspecified purpose. Written in the bottom (f. 37r) and top margin (f. 37v) by a 15th-century hand.
For fistula. Written across the bottom margin by a 15th-century hand.
A note on the use of a plaster called 'basilicon' for swollen legs, dissolving apostemes and healing sores. Written by a 15th-century hand. Another entry concerning plaster was written underneath but has been erased.
A note on a 'queen's powder' for bladder stone and purging the kidneys (f. 47v, bottom margin) and on an 'Italian powder' for purging the head and stomach (f. 48r, top margin). Written by a 15th-century hand.
A note on a marvellous unguent for the 'mormal', canker, fistula, cleansing humours and nourishing good flesh, and on an unguent called 'vade mecum', which is for 'many other things' (see also f. 35r).
Text ends imperfectly in 'P'. This text is arranged across several leaves, with pre-filled head-letters in red ink in unequal alphabetical groups running down the left edge of the page (aaaa, bbbbbbb, ccc, etc), and then the main text of each lemma added in black ink. The final few head-letters of most sections are unused.
On the naming of a medicine called 'diacastorum', and its use for severe headache, epilepsy, vertigo, migraine, headache in one place ('monopagicis'), paralysis of any member, and complaints of the spleen and kidneys. Written by the same hand as the text added to f. 64v.
See Tavormina (2014) for a discussion of medieval uroscopies including this text. McKitterick and Beadle (1992) provide the following information supplied by A. I. Doyle about this text: 'Dr Doyle notes that the contents of ff. 61 et seq. appear to correspond with Durham, University Library, Cosin V.v.13, f. 32v, which in turn is related to Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Hatton 29 , Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Digby 95 , and Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Ashmole 1438 Pt. 1 .' See also Durham, University Library, MS Cosin V.iii.10, ff. 4r-8r (not mentioned in McKitterick and Beadle (1992).
Added by the same hand as the note on f. 58v. A longer version in Cambridge, University Library, MS Ii.6.17, ff. 42r-47r .
Physical Description
20th-century foliation
i + 1-64 + ii
Foliated in ink in Hindu-Arabic numerals in the upper outer corner of each recto.Collation
- Quire 18 (ff. 1-8)
- Quire 26 (ff. 9-14)
- Quire 38-1 +1 (the current third leaf (f. 17) repaired from the bottom half of the original third leaf and the top half of the original fourth leaf, the current 8th leaf an added singleton; ff. 15-22)
- Quires 4-78 (ff. 23-54)
- Quire 88+2 (inserted bifolium after the second leaf, ff. 57-58; ff. 55-64)
18 26 38-1 +1 (3rd leaf consists of two separate halves of two original leaves joined together, their other halves discarded, the 8th leaf a singleton) 4-78 88+2 (inserted bifolium after the second leaf)
No leaf signatures.
No quire signatures.
Catchwords in the lower margin of the last verso of some quires, usually enclosed in a rectangular frame or a scroll frame.Condition
Layout
150 × 105 mm. Written in single-column format, typically 24 lines to the page; ruling erased.
Hand(s)
The majority of the texts are written in the Anglicana formata form of Cursiva Antiquior with some Secretary features.
The notes on ff. 58v and 64v are written in a current form of Secretary.
Decoration
Initials in red in the 'Lombardic Capitals' style at the major and minor divisions of the text.
Wavy line fills in red ink throughout the volume.
Guide letters in light brown ink visible within the matrix of most decorative initials.
Additions
Pepys bookplate (the letters 'S' and 'P' entwined with ropes and crossed anchors below the motto 'Mens cujusque is est Quisque' on ff. 57v and 64r.
Several erasures in the upper and lower margins of ff. 1r-3v.
Quire signatures ('4-8') 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 20th century.
Binding
17th-century binding. Armorial binding in sprinked calf over paste- or mill- boards with blind-tooled decoration and gilded armorial stamps on the front and rear covers. Each cover is decorated with a blind double-fillet frame set at the perimeter of the boards, and an additional vertical double-fillet inset from the joint by c. 20mm, dividing the centre panel into two vertical segments, one narrower and one wider. The narrower segment has blind-stamped fleurons in the upper and lower left corners, and the wider segment has blind-stamped fleurons at all four corners and also contains the gilded armorial devices. 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.
Four raised bands and two half bands on the spine. Decorative head and tail bands in alternate ?pink and ?blue segments, now very soiled. Spine is unlabled and all compartments are stamped with a gilded floral design. 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 and brown ink.
Marbled paper pastedowns at both ends of the volume pasted over the turn ins.
One parchment endleaf at each end of the volume, ff. i and ii, both bearing traces of adhesive residue on their outermost face suggesting that they were once pastedowns in a former binding. The front flyleaf, f. i recto, bears the following annotations:
- - The current shelfmark, 'No. 1307' in red ink, added by John Jackson, Pepys' nephew and heir.
- - A former shelfmark, '831-B.' in black ink, struck out with red ink, the deletion by John Jackson, Pepys' nephew and heir.
- - A former shelfmark, '628' in black ink, struck out with red ink, the deletion by John Jackson, Pepys' nephew and heir.
There is an engraved portrait Pepys bookplate bearing the text 'Mens cujusque is est Quisque' and 'SAM . PEPYS . CAR . ET IAC . ANGL . REGIB . A SECRETIS ADMIRALIÆ' and the signature 'R.W.Sculp'
See H. M. Nixon, Catalogue of the Pepys Library at Magdalene College Cambridge, Volume VI (Cambridge, 1984), style 'FL'.
History
Date and place of production based on palaeographical and orthographical features.
Provenance and Acquisition
Owned by Samuel Pepys (1633-1703) , the famous naval administrator, member of parliament, and diarist. McKitterick and Beadle noticed that this manuscript is not identifiable in Bernard's Catalogi of 1697; in 1694 Pepys submitted a list of his manuscripts for inclusion in the Catalogi, and as MS 1307 is not on that list McKitterick and Beadle surmise that the volume 'may have come into Pepys's possession after 1694'.
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.o1307’ was added in red ink to the i recto, replacing two older shelfmarks ‘831- B. ’ and ‘628’ in brown ink on f. i recto, now both crossed out with red ink.
Additional Information
Record Sources
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
-
Manuscripts (Medieval) Catalogue of the Pepys Library at Magdalene College Cambridge, McKitterick, RosamondBeadle, Richard (Cambridge, V.i, Brewer, 1992)
Middle English Antidotarium Nicholai: Evidence for Linguistic Distribution and Dissemination
in
the Vernacular International Journal of English Studies, Carrillo-Linares, María José (5, 2, 71-92, 2005)
Uroscopy in Middle English: A Guide to the Texts and Manuscripts Studies in medieval
and renaissance history, Tavormina, M. Teresa ([Michigan?], 2014)
The Antidotarium magnum: A Short Description, Green, Monica H. (2019, https://www.academia.edu/40255503/The_Antidotarium_magnum_A_Short_Description_2019_)
Funding of Cataloguing
Wellcome
Digital Images
Abbreviations
View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.
