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 1661

Medical treatises and recipes

Contents

Introduction: This manuscript of medical treatises, recipes, and charms consists of five parts that were separately produced in the first half of the 15th century but probably joined together at an early stage. That the five parts were produced in the same milieu and perhaps always intended to be bound together is indicated by the fact that the same hand has decorated the manuscript throughout, except Quires 1, 2 and 9. Each of which was copied by the same scribe and decorated by a different hand. Dr Clarck Drieshen| Project Cataloguer| Curious Cures in Cambridge Libraries

Physical Description

Form: codex
Extent: Codex: ii + 17 | 90 | 16 | 40 | 13 + ii leaves.
Foliation:

18th-century pagination

[i]-[iv] + 1-34 | 35-107, [107a]-[107b], 108-212 | 213-244 | 245-324 | 325-350 + [v]-[viii]

By Daniel Waterland (1683–1740), Master of Magdalene College (1713–1740) (see McKitterick and Beadle (1992), p. xvi). Written in dark ink in the upper right-hand corner of the recto of each leaf.

pp. [107a]-[107b] are unfoliated.

Collation

This collation corrects McKitterick and Beadle (1992), p. 26, where quire 9 is said to have 6 leaves.

  • Quire 18 (pp. 1-16)
  • Quire 210-2+1 (pp. 17-34: 7th and 8th leaves missing and 1 leaf inserted after the 10th leaf) |
  • Quires 3-48 (pp. 35-66)
  • Quire 58-4 (pp. 67-74: 3rd-6th leaves missing)
  • Quires 6-78 (pp. 75-106)
  • Quire 82 (pp. 107-108)
  • Quire 912 (pp. 109-132)
  • Quires 10-148 (pp. 133-212) |
  • Quires 15-168 (pp. 213-240) |
  • Quires 17-218 (pp. 245-324) |
  • Quire 228-1 (pp. 325-332: 4th leaf missing)
  • Quire 238 (pp. 333-250)

18 210-2+1 (7th and 8th leaves missing; one leaf added after the 10th leaf) | 3-48 58-4 (3rd-6th leaves missing) 6-78 82 912 10-148 | 15-168 | 17-218 | 226-1 (4th leaf missing) 238

Additions

Page [iii]: a table of contents for this manuscript added by Daniel Waterland (1683–1740), Master of Magdalene College (1713–1740), entitled: ‘In this volume are containd’. The table lists 18 items, beginning with ‘The Tresour of Poure men’ and ending with the ‘Waters of Several kinds. 341’.

Quire signatures ('1-23') 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 20th century.

Binding

17th-century binding. Armorial binding in sprinked calf over paste- or mill- boards with gilded armorial stamps on upper and lower covers. The armorial stamp on the outside 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 lower 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. Blind-stamped motifs on 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.

Binding height: 220mm; width: 145mm; depth: 50mm.

See Nixon (1984), pp. xviii-xix, 25 [style 'F'].

History

Provenance and Acquisition

Owned or accessed by Gilbert Sherman (fl. 15th century) : his name (later crossed out) inscribed on p. 349: ‘Gilbert Sherman’ [read as ‘Shepman’ by M.R. James (1909).

Owned by Peter Coddon [Cuddon] (fl. 16th century) : his name inscribed on p. 35: ‘Peter Cod[d]un’; p. [107a]: ‘Peter Cuddon’ and ‘Peter Cod[d]on’; p. 322: ‘Peter Cod[d]on’ [2x]; and his ownership inscription on p. 349: ‘Peter Cod[d]un owe me / Peter Codon’. His name has previously been transcribed as ‘Peter Codoy’ by M.R. James (1909) and McKiterick and Beadle (1992). Peter Coddon [Cuddon] was probably a member of the Cuddon family of Dunwich, Suffolk.

Owned or accessed by Anthony [Antoine] Dwke [Dewke/Duke] (fl. 16th century) : his name inscribed in a memorandum that he inscribed twice in the manuscript on p. 132 and p. 271: ‘Memorandum that y Antoyn dwke hate takeyn and receyvyd ye xx daye off [...]’. This memorandum, which has been erased on both pages, has previously gone unnoticed but has now been read with the aid of UV light.

Acquired before 1700 by Samuel Pepys (1633–1703) , naval officer and diarist: listed as no. 6800.81 in Bernard, Catalogi librorum manuscriptorum Angliæ et Hiberniæ (c. 1697); his coat of arms gold-stamped on the outside covers; p. [iv] features a pasted bookplate bearing a portrait of Pepys, his motto 'Mens cujusque is est Quisque' and the text found in the escutcheon stamp on the left cover of the volume; p. 349 features a paper pastedown with Pepys's bookplate engraved with two anchors and the motto 'Mens cujusque is est Quisque'.

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 'No. 1661.' was added in red ink to the inside of the front cover, replacing an older shelfmark '1010 B-315' on p. [i], now crossed out with red ink.

Part 1 [Cambridge, Magdalene College, Pepys MS 1661, pp. 1-34]

Contents

Language(s): Middle English and Latin

1. 1
Medical recipe
Language(s): Middle English
Rubric: 1 A gode medicyne for to don awey ache and brus sode blood of woundes or of brussyng
Incipit: 1 Nym þe fatte bacoun of an old barowe and melte it in a pane
Explicit: 1 and it schal drewe owt þe ache anoygnted twyes on þe day what sor it be

For aches, bruised blood from wounds and bruising.

eVK2 0379.00 (v0074730000)
2. 1-34
The Treasure of Poor Men [derived from the Petrus Hispanus's Thesaurus pauperum] Petrus Hispanus
Language(s): Middle English, Latin and Middle French
Rubric: 1 Here bygynneth þe tresour of poure men
Incipit: 1 A medycyne for þe ston and ache of þe reynes: Tak þe blood of a foxe and anoygnte þe ȝerde þerwith and it shal breke þe ston
Explicit: 34 and þe morwe sterre hs is þe most bryghtest sterre of heuene

The treatise contains various Latin charms (itemised) and recipes with Latin titles: ‘Katarticum Imperiale’, ‘Pulius Walteri’, ‘Pulius pro fluxu’, ‘Electuarium resumptivum’, ‘Diadragantum frigidum’.

eVK2 6051.00 (v0074740000)
Zara (2018)
3. 2-3
Charm to induce a painless childbirth in a pregnant woman
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 2-3 To make a womman to be delyuered of child write in virgine wex þese namys and put hem in here bosume and anon she shal be delyuered . Maria peperit sine dolore . Christus natus Christus passus . Christus te vocat ut nascaris

Full transcription. This is the only charm in the manuscript that has not been crossed out.

Hindley (2020), 81-100
4. 15
Charm against fevers
Language(s): Middle English and Latin
Incipit: 15 Architricline þou suttest a heye and holdest haselyne mayde in þin hondes and as wistely as þe prest makith goddes bodi with word and as wisli as at þe feste of architricline þou ternedest water into wyne as wisteli as þou custest þi dere worthi moder kys asel mayde ȝerde I commaunde þe and hele .N. of þe feueres + In nomine patris et filij et spiritus locuntur nouis serpentes tollent et si mortiferum quid biberint non eis nocebit super egros manum imponent et bene habebunt + Pater est alpha et oo + filius est vita + spiritus sanctus est remedium + Sancte theobalde ora pro nobis + Sancta Petronilla ora pro nobis + In nomine patris et filij et spiritus sancti Amen

Full transcription. The text has been crossed out.

This charm invokes Christ at the Wedding at Cana and identifies him as the host ("architeclinus") who, as the charm also suggests, was seated higher than the other guests due the importance of their role. The charm states that Christ turned water into wine for the wedding feast using a hazel rod. The latter is based on depictions of Christ using a magic wand to resurrect Lazarus from the dead. For the associations between Christ, Architeclinus, and hazel see Willy Braekman, Middeleeuwse witte en zwarte magie in het Nederlands taalgebied (Ghent: Koninklijke Academie voor Nederlandse Taal- en Letterkunde, 1997), pp. 234-239.

Another Middle English copy is found in London, British Library, Sloane MS 962 , f. 38r [edited in Tony Hunt, Popular Medicine in Thirteenth-Century England: Introduction and Texts (Cambridge: Brewer, 1990), pp. 93 no. 51, 360 n. 118]. Latin versions of this charm are found in London, British Library, Sloane MS 962 , f. 156r [ed. Hunt (1990), p. 360 n. 115]; and London, British Library, Lansdowne MS 680 , f. 168v [ed. Hunt (1990), p. 98 no. 85].

5. 15
Charm to staunch blood
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 15 Longius miles lancea latus Christi perforauit et continuo exiuit sanguis et aqua sanguis in remissione peccatori . aqua. in oblacione scelerum + In nomine patris cessat + et filij + recta sanguis + et spiritus sancti non exeat amplius sanguis + consummatum est

Full transcription. The text has been crossed out.

6. 15
Charm to call a horse
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 15 Pro clamant nostra equi
Incipit: 15 In nomine patris et filij et spiritus sancti amen. In virtute trium clauorum quibus ihesus Christus clauatus fuit sanetur iste equus a sua clauatura quam numquam de cetero sibi doleat nec putrescat + In nomine patris et filij et spiritus sancti Amen

Full transcription. The text has been crossed out.

7. 15-16
Charm to extract metal from a wound
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 15 Ad extrahendum quadralem de vulnere Oracio
Incipit: 16 Omnipotens sempiterne deus qui de celo descandisti [sic] et in hunc mundum propter nos peccatores aduenisti ut de peccato nos redimires et qui pro salute nostra vincere voluisti in cruce pependisti quia longius miles hebreus latus tuum perforauit et Johannes testimonium perhibuit et scimus quia testimonium eius verum est . Domine ihesu Christe sicut ista verba sunt vera da michi famulo tuo .N. graciam tuam ad extrahendam istud ferrum de corpore istius Christiani + in nomine patris et filij et spiritu sancti amen Coniuro te ferrum + Per deum vium + Per deum verum + Per agyos + Per otheos + Per theos + Per athanathos + Per kyros + Peracliots vt exeas foras Christi pietate amen

The text has been crossed out.

8. 22-25
Urina Rufina
Language(s): Middle English
Rubric: 22 Urina ruffa is of þe colour of gold it betokneth helthe and good dispocioun of þe body
Incipit: 22 Urine moche blak hapneth in womman and it be menede it hath a litil rednesse it signefieth solucioun of þe menstrues
eVK2 7752.00 (v0074750000)
Tavormina (2014), p. 32 [no. 3.2.1b]
9. 25-26
Cleansing of Blood
Language(s): Middle English
Incipit: 25 Alle vrine is staynyng of blood
Explicit: 26 humytede is cause of thicke substaunce
Tavormina (2014), p. 34 [no. 3.3.1]
10. 26-27
Substances, Colors, and Phlegms in Urine
Language(s): Middle English
Incipit: 26 Urine is departed in .iiiij. parties
Explicit: 27 It is meneliche thynne whanne þe hendis of þe fyngris mowe ben I seye thorwe þe vrine but þei semyth a litil more þan þei buþ in here owyn kynde etcaetera
Tavormina (2014), p. 67 [no. 8.4]
11. 27-28
Twenty Colors of Urine by Digestion Groups
Language(s): Middle English and Latin
Rubric: 27 Coloures of vrine - Coloures of vrine
Incipit: 27 White as pure clene water - Signifieth Indegestioun
Explicit: 28 Colera - Erugiciosa .1. colour of reed coper
Tavormina (2014), p. 31 [no. 3.1.1c]
12. 28
On the Four Elements
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 28 Quatuor sunt
Incipit: 28 Ignis calidus et siccus
Explicit: 28 Terra frigida et sicca
Final rubric: 28 Elementa
13. 28
On the Four Seasons
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 28 Quatuor sunt -
Incipit: 28 Estas calida et sicta
Explicit: 28 Autumpnus frigidus et siccus
Final rubric: 28 Tempora anni
14. 29
Charm to protect food from rats and mice
Language(s): Middle English and Latin
Rubric: 29 Charme for ratones and mees
Incipit: 29 Tak .iiij. stonys of tarie and write vp on iche ston . Alpha + oo + Johannes + alpha + oo + marcus + alpha + oo + lucas + alpha + oo + matheus + alpha + oo + Thanne ley þise iiij stonys of þe .iiij. names of þe iiij. euangelistes in þe .iiij. cornelis of þe hows and þanne sey þis orisoun. As I wente out of þe cite of ierusalem þer þat ratones and mees ? [cor]nes ne gadereth not neiþer of corne þei haue no ioye so be þe preyere of peter and allehalwen goth owt of þis hows so þat corn bred ne chese ne flessh ȝe ne frete ne make it lasse but leue it in pes thorw þe vertu of crist oure lord Lord ihesu crist sone of verri god þe whiche made heuene and erthe see and alle thynges þat in hem buþ þis fruytes chese bred and flessh blisse ȝe gouerneth kepith defendith and multiplieth þat ratones and mees ne non euele bestis hem ne harme but leue hem in pees thorw þin holi name whiche is blissed for euere

The text has been crossed out.

Hindley (2020), 81-100
Hindley (2023), p. 171 fn. 49
15. 31-34
Treatise on planets, zodiacal signs, and divisions of time
Language(s): Middle English
Incipit: 31 Understonde þat þer buþ .vij. planetis
Explicit: 34 and þe morwe sterre hs is þe most bryghtest sterre of heuene
eVK2 7731.00 (v0074760000)

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: 3 -caris
Form: codex
Support: Parchment (FHHF)
Extent: Codex: 17 leaves. 215 × 140 mm.

Collation

  • Quire 18 (pp. 1-16)
  • Quire 210-2+1 (pp. 17-34: 7th and 8th leaves missing and 1 leaf inserted after the 10th leaf)

Catchwords in the lower right corners of last versos

Layout

165 × 110 mm. Ruled in (faint) brown crayon, frame and line ruling. Mainly single columns (except the lower half of p. 13 which has two columns). 29-33 lines to the page, written below top line.

Hand(s)

Copied by a single scribe in an Anglicana formata script.

Decoration

Large (2-line) plain initials in blue or red ink.

Line-fillers consist of horizontal wavy lines in red ink.

Headings and sub-headings highlighted in red ink.

Paraphs in red ink.

Drawing of a jordan in brown ink added to the outer margin of p. 22.

History

Origin: First half of the 15th century. ; England.

Part 2 [Cambridge, Magdalene College, Pepys MS 1661, pp. 35-212]

Contents

Language(s): Middle English and Latin

1. 35-198
Surgical treatise
Language(s): Middle English with Latin incipits
Incipit: 35 O my worscheppeful fadir and ffrende worthieste and most honourable man syre archebyschop of valentyne ffrere theodorys thow vnworthy I bygynne a werk of surgerye
Explicit: 198 and þis medecyne is gode for eiþer partie also be þer cauteries and enoyngnciouns and alle medecines for seide and the oignementis byneþe
Final rubric: 198 Explicit tho theodorik etcetera lankfrank

In three books, each preceded by a table of contents; attributed to Theodoric and Lanfranc. The text begins with a preface (pp. 35-37) but is imperfect due to the loss of folios after p. 70 (4 leaves), and the loss of the lower half of p. 107; the text of book 3 does not correspond its table of capitula, perhaps resulting from a change of scribe or exemplar (see Beadle and McKitterick (1992), p. 25).

Other surgical works were attributed to Lanfranc of Milan and Theodoric Borgognoni [of Cervia], see McKitterick and Beadle (1992), p. 25.

On pp. 58-59 there is a medical recipe with the title: ‘cura vene inscisi per latitudinem secundum dominum Hugonem’.

eVK2 3849.00 (v0074770000)
eVK2 6641.00 (v0074780000)
eVK2 6641.00 (v0074790000)
2. 62
Charm to remove an arrow from a wound
Language(s): Middle English and Latin
Incipit: 62 And also on drawyng out of þe tacle knele a doun on þyn kne and say .iij. Pater noster. and .iij. Aue. and whan þe haue sayd tak þi tacle on þyn hond to gedre enclosed and say with a good deucioun. Nichodemus extraxit clauos de manibus et pedibus domini . et extrahatur sagitta et exibit sanguis.

Full transcription. This charm has not been crossed out. Part of the surgical treatise.

3. 82-83
Magical cure for a fistula
Language(s): Middle English and Latin
Rubric: 82-83 And of þe praptike of almagest an experiment y preued thow we ne ly[g]e no fey þerto as vs semeþ more þat it be whycchecraft þanne wele do in of ony redy man and one þer of is with þe whiche þer haueþ be many y heled tak þis experiment to þe fester preued
Incipit: 83 Take a staf and whenne þu bygynnest to enchauntye sey Pater noster to þe ende and In nomine patris et filij et spiritus sancti amen.
Explicit: 83 and bynde þe cloþ with summe þred seynge on on [sic] euery knotte Pater noster and wiþinne ix dayes a[g]en sey al þe experiment and so with grace of god þe pacient schal be delyuered.

This charm has not been crossed out. Part of the surgical treatise.

4. 83
Magical cure for a fistula
Language(s): Middle English and Latin
Incipit: 83 Also take þe rote of egermoyne and do it about þe necke of þe pacient wiþ a pater noster and prey to cryst inwardly as þe rote dryeþ ry[g]t so þat þe festre mote drie and summe putteþ here to greet feye and appiliche ȝeare fey helpeþ

This charm has not been crossed out. Part of the surgical treatise.

5. 198
Aneasthetic attributed to Theodoric Borgognoni
Language(s): Middle English
Rubric: 198 A confeccion of Theodoricus sope perteynynge to surgerie to make pacientes slepe þat þei ne schulle not wele no kuttyng
Incipit: 198 Tak þe iois of hennebane þe iois of pope þe iois of þe leues of mandrake þe ious of yue þe ious of þe wilde berie not fulleche ripe þe seed of letuse þe seed of hemlok of euereche of alle an ounce
Explicit: 198 þanne forto a rere hym fram slepe tak an oþer simple sponge and put to nastralis and also þe ios of the rote of fenel and also þe iois of rewe and þenne he schal awake
eVK2 6142.00 (v0074800000)
Voigts and Hudson (1992), p. 54 n. 57
6. 198-211
Collection of medical recipes
Language(s): Middle English recipes with a Latin charm

The collection also includes a charm to catch and curse a snake (p. 203), and cosmetic recipes for clearing the face (pp. 204-205)

eVK2 6142.00 (v0074800000)
7. 203
Charm to catch snakes
Language(s): Middle English and Latin
Incipit: 203 For to take a serpent first whanne þu seest hem seye þis verse . Super aspidem et basiliscum ambulabis et conculcabis leonem et draconem makyng a sercle wiþ a staf and whanne þu hast so don sey þries þese wordes curpidos cucidos ter [?] passoun [?] cene [?] coniure te I coniure þe serpent þat þu be a cursede as Judas þat betraiede oure lord and at þe last hyng hym self propata ȝeloȝebera maray; þe holi gost in þe name of þe fader sone and holi gost þries say þat wit þine stafe in þine hande holdyng þe serpent þerewiþ þat þe stoppe noȝt hese heres þe erþe ne wiþ is tayle.

Full transcription. This charm has not been crossed out.

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: 37 whiche is
Form: codex
Support: Parchment (FHHF)
Extent: Codex: 90 leaves. 215 × 140 mm.

Collation

  • Quires 3-48 (pp. 35-66)
  • Quire 58-4 (pp. 67-74: 3rd-6th leaves missing)
  • Quires 6-78 (pp. 75-106)
  • Quire 82 (pp. 107-108)
  • Quire 912 (pp. 109-132)
  • Quires 10-148 (pp. 133-212)

Leaf signatures consisting of leters ('k'-'o')and Roman numerals or horizontal lines in quires 10-14.

 Catchwords in the lower right-hand corners of the last versos of some quires.

Layout

175 × 120 mm. Pages 35-78 have been ruled in (faint) brown crayon, frame and line ruling. Single columns. 29-30 lines to the page, written below top line.

165-180 × 100-115 mm. Pages 78-108 and pp. 133-211 have been ruled in black ink, frame and line ruling. Single columns, except for pp. 200-201. 30-33 lines to the page, written below top line.

165-170 × 100 mm. Pages 109-131 have been ruled in (faint) brown crayon, frame ruling only, with occasional line ruling visible. Single columns. 33 lines to the page, written below top line.

Hand(s)

Pages 35-78 have been copied by a scribe in Bastard anglicana and anglicana formata with secretary influence.

Pages 78-108 and pp. 133-211 have been copied by a scribe in Bastard anglicana.

Pages 109-131 have been copied by a scribe in anglicana formata by the same scribe that copied pp. 1-34 and pp. 235-240.

Decoration

Large (2-line) initials in blue or red ink.

Headings and sub-headings in red ink.

Line-fillers consist of horizontal wavy lines in blue or red ink.

The ascenders on the first lines and descenders on the last lines of pp. feature cadels, often with human or zoomorphic faces, highglihted in yellow.

Paraphs in blue or red ink.

Drawings of owls added in brown ink to the upper margin and outer margin of p. 108, evidently a pun on the Latin name for owl ("bubo") and the medical term "bubo" (ulcer) that appears in the title of the recipe on this page: ‘Of bubo and ϸe cure of hem’.

History

Origin: 15th century. ; England.

Part 3 [Cambridge, Magdalene College, Pepys MS 1661, pp. 213-244]

Contents

Language(s): Middle English

1. 213-229
Notes on unguents
Language(s): Middle English
Incipit: 213 Unguentum for impetigo and serpigo
Explicit: 229 þanne þe pacient be he weel y couered with cloþþe that he kacche hete it

One ointment is said to have been used by Mary Magdalene and Martha: ‘Unguentum alabaustri nardi spycati preciosi þe whyche þat þe romaynes vsden at ierusalem in þe tyme þat oure lord ihesu cryst was doon vp on þe rode and it is preuyd good and trewe for alle manere feuerys colde akyngys in þe yyes and for þe stone in þe bladdere for rupturys and for þe reynes and for þe modir and for þe mygrayne it doth clene away. Thys oynent mary of mawdeleyn and marthe þat were lezerys susteryn vseden whyles þey leueden here in erthe’ (p. 224).

eVK2 4200.00 (v0074810000)
1.1. 224
?Medical recipe/charm
Language(s): Middle English

Written in the top margin by a late 15th-/early 16th-century hand. The text has been cropped, but the rest reads as follows: 'þat þe remaynes usden at ierusalem in þe tyme þat oure lord ihesue cryst was doone upon þe rode and it is preuyd good and trew for alle manere'.

2. 229-230
Treatise on unlucky or perilous days
Language(s): Middle English
Incipit: 229 These be þe perilous dayes in þe ȝer in þe whyche if ony man oþir woman falle lyk . it schall be hard to scape
Explicit: 230 þere be .iij. dayes in þe ȝere þat if eny man lete hym blod in ony of þo iij dayes or ony beste he schal nat leue .iij. dayes aftyr in good poynt. And þese be þe dayes . þe vij of þe kalender of aperille of þe kalender of august and of decembre
eVK2 7268.00 (v0074820000)
3. 230-235
Collection of medical recipes
Language(s): Middle English

On p. 233 features a recipe associated with the king of England: ‘Medecyne whyche þe kyng of ingelond alle þe dayes of hys lyue [sic: used] and passed al oþere medecynes’

eVK2 4495.00 (v0074830000)
4. 235-240
Tract on the seven planets and the four elements [Possible excerpt from book 2 on astronomy and the calendar of Henry Daniel's Liber Uricrisiarum] Henry Daniel
Language(s): Middle English
Incipit: 235 Sol þe sunne is noblest of alle planetis and þerfore he is in þe myddest of alle þe planetis as a lord among hys mene or a kyng amyd wardis
Explicit: 240 and þe speris of þe .iiij. elementis and in what signe what planete regneth so in þe rounde sercle.

On p. 236 is the note: ‘Verbi gratia we arn now in .M. ccc lxxxxij. ȝere of crist’.

eVK2 4581.00 (v0074840000)
Means (1992), p. 604
Tavormina (2014), p. 92 [no. 15.4]
Liber Uricrisarium, ed. by Harvey, Tavormina, and Star (20202), p. xvii
Star (2022), p. 111
5. 241
Unfinished table of contents (title only)
Language(s): English
Incipit: 241 A table for the trew knoulege whe to fynd the medicens of his boke

Added in the 16th century.

6. 244
Erased medical recipe
Language(s): Middle English

Recipe added in the 1th century but later erased. It can be partially read with UV light. Involves the juice of anise and rhubarb.

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: 215 and vp
Form: codex
Support: Parchment (FHHF)
Extent: Codex: 16 leaves. 215 × 145 mm.

Collation

  • Quires 15-168 (pp. 213-240)

Layout

170 × 105 mm. Ruled in brown ink, frame and line ruling. Single columns. 33 lines to the page, written below top line.

Hand(s)

pp. 213-235 have bee ncopied by a single scribe in a cursive script with both anglicana and secretary features.

pp. 235-240 have been copied by a by a scribe in anglicana formata. This is the same scribe that copied pp. 1-34 and pp. 109-131.

Decoration

Large (2-line) and small (1-line) initials in blue or red ink, one blue initial with red penwork decoration (p. 218.

Rubricated letters on pp. 237-238.

Line-fillers consist of horitontal wavy lines in red or blue ink.

Paraphs in red.

History

Origin: First half of the 15th century. ; England.

Part 4 [Cambridge, Magdalene College, Pepys MS 1661, pp. 245-324]

Contents

Language(s): Middle English, Latin, Middle French

1. 245-266
Trilingual herbal (Synonyma) ? John Bray
Language(s): Latin, Middle French, Middle English
Incipit: 245 Alleluya panis cuculi payn de cukulle wodesowre stubwort
Explicit: 266 Zizannia nigella gith [?] lollium cockell

In alphabetical order. This is a copy of a text that is attributed to the English physician and botanist John Bray (fl. 1377) in London, British Library, Sloane MS 282 , f. 167v where the text is entitled: ‘Synonyma de nominibus herbarum secundum magistrum Johannem Bray’. For other copies, see McKitterick and Beadle (1992), p. 26.

eTK 0083G (t0015850000)
eTK 0083G (t0015860000)
Carmona-Cejudo and Olalla (2015), pp. 229-261
2. 266-286
Treatise on the medicinal properties of herbs
Language(s): Middle English
Rubric: 266 Here begynneþ medicines gode for diuers euelys on mennys bodyes be callen erchebysschopes auicenna and ypocras j coupon [?] ie de [?] and on hole materie aȝen brouȝt and ferst of herbis and here vertues
Incipit: 266 Rewe is hot and dreyȝe it doþ good on þ e stomak
Explicit: 286 Also for alle þe forseyde euelys þe ious wyþ sucre or wyþ hony is good
eVK2 4404.00 (v0074850000)
3. 286-288
Treatise on the medicinal properties of rosemary
Language(s): Middle English
Rubric: 286 These ben þe vertues of rose maryne
Incipit: 286 Tak þe floures and bynd hem in a cloþ and bloyle hem in water itil half þe water be wasted and it is good aȝen alle euelys þat beþ wyþ inne þe body
Explicit: 288 And also ȝif ow wylt pute a neddre out of ony place or ony hole mak smoke of þe same tre and he schal gon out
eVK2 6090.00 (v0074860000)
4. 288-309
Versified herbal [Of herbs twenty-three]
Language(s): Middle English
Rubric: 288 Betonica. Of herbis. xxvj. xxiiij.ti
Incipit: 288 I will ȝou tellyn by and bi . as y fond wretyn in a book þat in borwyng y be took . Of a gret ladyes prest . þat of gret name þe mest
Explicit: 309 As knowyn wel þese clerkys good

For other copies, see McKitterick and Beadle (1992), p. 26.

eVK2 2547.00 (v0074870000)
IMEV 2627
NIMEV 2627
DIMEV 4171.4
Keiser (2008), pp. 298-299
5. 309
Medical recipes against sleeplessness
Language(s): Middle English
Incipit: 309 ffor frensye as woodnesse . mak anoynement of houndis fenel
Explicit: 309 And putte a leche of þe water to þe myddil veyne of þe forhed and let hym drawe wel blood . And it schal moche forfete
6. 309-310
Treatise on the virtues of cabbage
Language(s): Middle English
Rubric: 309 These ben þe vertues of caul
Incipit: 309 To nyȝt it growe in gardinys it is holsum for manye þynges who so vseþ it
Explicit: 310 Also heyhoue and caul leuys . y bake to gedere in an er310ene pot on a stwyfe and y leyd al hoot to a mannes pol be hynde . be neme310 fleme and 310e pose . ofte of 310e stomake and of 310e heed. ȝif it be vsid
eVK2 7641.00 (v0074880000)
7. 310-324
Treatise on water and oils
Language(s): Middle English and Latin
Incipit: 310 Aqua specialis. þe whiche is clepid a specyal water . þe whiche y vse for me and for my felawes
Explicit: 324 Oyle of mustard seed is good for ache and sfor litarge and it is mad on þe same maner
eVK2 5329.00 (v0074890000)
7.1. 324
Medical recipe
Language(s): Middle English
Incipit: 324 Oyle of mustard it is cold good And þe oyle schal wynde out

Full transcription. On the use of oil of mustard for wind.

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: 247 galido semen
Form: codex
Support: Parchment (FHFF)
Extent: Codex: 40 leaves. 215 × 145 mm.

Collation

  • Quires 17-218 (pp. 245-324)

Layout

160 × 105-110 mm. Ruled in drypoint. Single columns. 30 lines to the page.

Hand(s)

Copied by a single scribe in anglicana script.

Decoration

Large (2- or 3-line) or small (1-line) plain initials in blue or red ink.

Titles in red ink.

Line-fillers consisting of strings of circles or horizontal wavy lines in blue or red ink.

Paraphs in red ink.

History

Origin: First half of the 15th century. ; England.

Part 5 [Cambidge, Magdalene College, Pepys MS 1661, pp. 325-350]

Contents

Language(s): Middle English and Latin

1. 325-349
Collection of medical recipes
Language(s): Middle English

The collection features an ‘Experyment yprouyd of paganis and of cristene peple aȝens the lepre ȝyf yt be in bygynnynge and also into ij ȝere’ (p. 333); and Oil of Exceter (pp. 347-348)

eVK2 5256.00 (v0074900000)
2. 331-333
Tract on the medicinal virtues of rosemary
Language(s): Middle English
Incipit: 331 These been þe vertuys of rose marynne take þe flowrys and bynde hem in a cloþ and boyle hem [crossed out: ‘toge’] in water til half þe water be wastyd and hyt ys good aȝen alle euellys þat beþ wythinne þe bodye
Explicit: 333 And also ȝyf þu wylt put owt an addere of eni place oþer hole make smoke of þe same tre and he schal gon howt
3. 333-335
Treatise on the twelve medicinal and magical virtues of the adder's skin [derived from Johannes Palinus, De corio serpentis] Johannes Paulinus
Language(s): Middle English
Rubric: 333-334 On paulyn wan þat y was in þe syȝth of alizaundre and loked þer on a certeyn bok salus vite helþe of lyf þat boke made aleyn þe phylosophere and wrote þer ine þyngys þat ben verray and trewe as tellyt in þat same bok and translatyd þat same bok owt of grw in to latyn þer me I fond xij experymentys þat folnyn here
Incipit: 334 Wan þe mone ys atte fulle in waxynge in þe fyrst degre of aryetys in þe moneth of march go and tac a grene nedre in some place a lezard yt ys yclepyd and brenne þat and make þer of powdre and bere þat wyth þe
Explicit: 335 ffor soþe I jon paulyn aue saayd many of þese and y aue fowndyn hem trewe and neuer on false but þey þat knowe nowth þe serpentis þat þys powdre ys mad of þey seyn þat þey be not trewe and no wundyr for þey knowyþ not þe keendys of þe serpent
eVK2 2497.00 (v0074910000)
4. 341-345
Treatise on the medicinal properties of nine waters [The Alchemical Waters of Saint Giles]
Language(s): Middle English
Incipit: 341 Watyr of phylisophrys thus ys makyd tac ysope pullyol ryal rudaene of eche lyche meche þenne grynd hem to gedere on a morter and put hem on astillatorye þys water haþ on hym self many priuy vertuis
Explicit: 345 Take of þe ix wateris before wretyn of eche liche meche a pound litarge of gold a lj vitriol y rubifiede iiij ouncis oleum balsami a pound and an half

This is a previously unidentified copy of The Alchemical Waters of Saint Giles. For an edition of this work from other manuscripts, see Willy L. Braekman, 'The Alchemical Waters of Saint Giles: Text and Context', in Studies on Alchemy, Diet, Medecine and Prognostication in Middle English, Scripta: Mediaeval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, 22 (Brussels: Omirel, 1986), pp. 7-41. Braekman identifies Latin and vernacular versions of the work, including three English copies:

A similar work, not identified by Braekman, is extant in Cardiff, National Library of Wales, Peniarth 369 , ff. 36r-38r entitled: ‘Here bygynnyth doctor Gylys þe boke of vertuse and of wateres þat he made in deserte by þe which all sekenes curyd þat wer curabull’. The connnection between St Giles and the nine waters is unclear, but Braekman suggests that the work may have been attributed to him because of cures that are described in his vita or because he, as the patron saint of blacksmiths, was associated with the furnace and the latter was also employed by alchemists (see Braekman (1986), p. 20). Additionally, the fact that this saint, according to his vita, lived near the mouth of the Rhône and the River Gard in Septimania, may have associated him with healing waters.

5. 345
Psalm 20:6
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 345 Magna est gloria eius in salutari tuo Gloria

Added later by a 15th-century hand.

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: 327 and streyn
Form: codex
Support: Parchment (FHHF)
Extent: Codex: 13 leaves. 215 × 145 mm.

Collation

  • Quire 228-1 (pp. 325-332: 4th leaf missing)
  • Quire 238 (pp. 333-250)

Layout

170 × 100 mm. Ruled in brown ink, frame and line ruling. Single columns. 33 lines to the page, written below top line.

Hand(s)

Copied by a single scribe in an Anglicana script.

Decoration

Large (2-line) plain initials in blue or red ink.

Line-fillers consist of horizontal wavy lines in blue or red ink.

Titles highlighted in red ink.

Paraphs in blue or red ink.

History

Origin: First half of the 15th century. ; England.

Additional Information

Record Sources

This catalogue entry draws on M.R. James A Descriptive Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the College Library of Magdalene College, Cambridge (Cambridge: Cambridge University Library, 1909) and the Catalogue of the Pepys Library at Magdalene College, Cambridge, 7 vols (Woodbridge: Brewer, 1978-1994), V (1992): Manuscripts, Part I: Medieval, ed. by Rosamond McKitterick and Richard Beadle, pp. 25-27.

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

    Bindings Catalogue of the Pepys Library at Magdalene College Cambridge, Nixon, Howard (Woodbridge, VI, Brewer, 1984) Studies on alchemy, diet, medecine [sic] and prognostication in Middle English Scripta, Braekman, Willy Louis (Brussel, Omirel, UFSAL, 1986) Manuscripts (Medieval) Catalogue of the Pepys Library at Magdalene College Cambridge, McKitterick, RosamondBeadle, Richard (Cambridge, V.i, Brewer, 1992) "Ffor as moche as yche man may not haue þe astrolabe": Popular Middle English Variations on the Computus Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies, Means, Laurel (67, 3, 595-623, 1992) "A drynke þat men callen dwale to make a man to slepe whyle men kerven him": A Surgical Anesthetic from Late Medieval England Health, Disease and Healing in Medieval Culture, Voigts, Linda EhrsamHudson, Robert P. (Basingstoke, 34-56, Macmillan, 1992) Vernacular herbals: a growth industry in late medieval England Design and distribution of late medieval manuscripts in England, Keiser, George R. (York, 292-307, York Medieval Press in association with the Boydell Press and with the Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York, 2008) Uroscopy in Middle English: A Guide to the Texts and Manuscripts Studies in medieval and renaissance history, Tavormina, M. Teresa ([Michigan?], 2014) Cambridge, Magdalene College MS Pepys 1661, pp. 245-266: An Edition Analecta Malacitana, Carmona-Cejudo, JessicaOlalla, David Moreno (38, 1, 229-261, 2015) Il «Thesaurus pauperum» pisano: Edizione critica, commento linguistico e glossario Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für romanische Philologie, Zara, Giuseppe (Berlin, De Gruyter, 2018) <hi rend="italics">Liber Uricrisiarum</hi>: A Reading Edition Liber uricrisiarum, Daniel, Henry (Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 2020) The Materiality of Manuscript Charms in Late-Medieval England: Ink and Writing Surface The Journal of the Early Book Society for the Study of Manuscripts and Printing History, Hindley, Katherine Storm (23, 81-100, 2020) Henry Daniel and the Rise of Middle English Medical Writing, Star, Sarah (Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 2022) Textual Magic: Charms and Written Amulets in Medieval England, Hindley, Katherine Storm (Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 2023)

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Wellcome

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