Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries

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

Cambridge, Peterhouse, MS 118

Compilation of seven medical books

Contents

Introduction: This manuscript contains a compilation of seven medical books in Middle English. Three of these are treatises translated from a Latin copy of La Chirurgie by Henri de Mondeville (c. 1260-1320), who studied medicine in Montpellier and Paris and served as master surgeon to King Philip IV of France. Although the compilation refers to five treaties, the compiler did not include the third treatise and the fourth treatise was not accessible to them since it was never completed by Henri de Mondeville. The manuscript's compiler has supplemented these treatises with other medical works and organised them into seven books in order to create a complete and unified whole. This compiler may be the scribe who copied the entire manuscript and who identifies himself as Thomas Rosse, a prominent surgeon during the reign of Henry VII, who may also have translated the text itself. According to Lucas (2016), p. 64, other copies of the incomplete work of Henri de Mondeville supplied with other medical materials can be found in: Dr Clarck Drieshen| Project Cataloguer| Curious Cures in Cambridge Libraries

Language(s): Middle English and Latin

1. ii recto
Latin motto
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: ii recto Virtus est vera nobilitas - JHB

Full transcription; added to the manuscript in the 16th century; the same hand has inscribed added a monogram of the initials J.H.B. to the upper margin of f. iii recto (2x) and the outer margin of f. 341v with the name 'George'.

2. ii verso-v verso
Table of contents to a compilation of seven medical books
Language(s): Middle English
Incipit: ii verso Hic incipit Prima tractatu de Anothomia
Explicit: v verso The intencioun of a Surgyoun etcaetera
Final rubric: v verso Explicit quod finem feci

Table of contents to a compilation that contains the works of Henri de Mondeville and Guy de Chauliac. The compilation is divided into seven books:

  • Book 1 (ff. 1r-55r)
  • Book 2 (ff. 55v-65r)
  • Book 3 (ff. 65v-170v)
  • Book 4 (ff. 171r-231r)
  • Book 5 (ff. 231r-235v)
  • Book 6 (ff. 236r-250v)
  • Book 7 (ff. 250v-251r and 252r-341v)

3. 1r-55r
De Anatomia [English translation] Henri de Mondeville [Henricus de Amondavilla]
Language(s): Middle English and Latin
Rubric: 1r Librum primum
Incipit: 1r In the name off oure Lord God Amen. Here begynnyth the practicke of sirurgerie strenghtid be his theorik and made for commune utilite at Paris þe ȝere of oure lorde god a thousand þre vndred and syx. Henricus de Amonda villa Cirurgien to þe hie kynge of fraunsse purpose shortelie to writte and openliche and felyngliche to schewe alle þe hende wirchynge off Cirurgie and it shalle conteyne v trettis the ffirste ys of anothomie as of þe fundament the secunde ys of vniuersell cure and particuler of woundys estoneynges and botches the þride ys of þe cure of all sores þe whyche be neyþer woundis ne botches neyþer grevaunces of þe bones but of þoe whyche fallen communliche to all þe bodye from þe hed to þe fete the fourthe ys of brekynges and puttyngis owte of joynte or oþer wyse crokynge or bowynge of bones the v shal be þe antidotarie
Explicit: 55r Sisannina and oute taken þe bone þat is cleped Os lande þe whiche is rotted in þe wesaunte and ytt ys liche to a letter of grewe þat is claped landa and þe figure of [7] in algorismo sic [7]
Rubric: 55r Explicit primus tractatus huius Cirurgie qui est de Anothomia - da gloriam deo

The first tract of Henri de Mondeville's La Chirurgie and first book in this compilation.

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4. 55v-65r
On apostemes
Language(s): Middle English and Latin
Rubric: 55v Librum Secundum
Incipit: 55v For to knowe þe cure of empostumes þat cummen of mater and corrupcioun fro withinfurþe as I fynde writtyn in a schorte trettis of surgerie þe whiche ys cleped because of his excelence of nobeleie ffilia principis I will writte þe trettis on ynglische tonge because of my goode frende thomas plowden barber begynnynge at þe hed and passing downe to þe fete
Explicit: 65r and bynde faste þer above a gobett of lede oþer of tree þat yt be as grette as alle þe knotte and lett yt be so bownden þre dayes oþer foure þis Cure haþe ben ofte tymes proued
Final rubric: 65r Here endith the Surgerye off enpostumes drawen owte of latyn into ynglische off a boke þe whyche because of hys excelence ys cleped ffilia principis the whyche boke was compilled in monntepellers quod scripsit [erased: 'Thomas Rosse'] - Da gloriam deo

The second book in this compilation.

'Thomas Plowden' is Thomas Plouden (d. 1413), London citizen and barber-surgeon of the parish of All Hallows the Great (see Linda E. Voigts and Michael R. McVaugh, 'A Latin Technical Phlebotomy and its Middle English Translation', Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, 74:2 (1984), 1-69 [esp. pp. 14-16]).

5. 65v-170v
On healing wounds and sores Henri de Mondeville
Language(s): Middle English and Latin
Rubric: 65v Liber Tercium
Incipit: 65v The parfytt sciense of helynge of woundes browsurs and olde sores and þis trettes ys drawen out off latyn into ynglighe after a compilacioun of a wurchypfull and a discrete doctor in surgerie þat hiȝte henricus de amonda villa þat iwas þe kynges cheffe master surgen of fraunse in þe begynnynge of þe whyche þer ben tenne declaracions
Explicit: 170v Put the Corall aȝeynste abowte the mannes nekke and the ache was anone abated and ther he rehersith swyche many wunde[r]s empirica in casis disperate appererd to þe same causes ther that other medycins faylen of surgens and wirchyn thyngis that ben incredebille
Rubric: 170v Explicit

The second tract of Henri de Mondeville's La Chirurgie and third book in this compilation.

6. 171r-230r
Antidotarie Henri de Mondeville [Henricus de Amondavilla]
Language(s): Middle English and Latin
Rubric: 171r Liber Quartum
Incipit: 171r Here begynnes þe .v. tretys þat ys þe antydotorie of Henrycus de Amonda Villa
Explicit: 230r And þat I haue seide it sufficeth of þe vnknowen names of herbes and of þe sinonimes of hem þat ben writtyn in þis antidotarie
Final rubric: 230r Explicit

The fifth tract of Henri de Mondeville's La Chirurgie and fourth book in this compilation.

7. 230r-231r
Collection of medical recipes
Language(s): Middle English and Latin
Incipit: 230r For þe kanker þat is in a mannes jowes take þe asshen of þe bones of þe luce and coles of þe withy and of alumme in like measure and make pouder þerof
Explicit: 231r A nobell water and driynge boþ in woundis and olde sores one ys watter of þe decoccioun of vineger and psidie also of litarge and vineger anoþer of coperose ande vineger

Nine medical recipes that are part of the fourth book, including recipes for a plaster, ointment, water and powder, and a recipe using sixty-three herbs. They address the following:

  • f. 230r: for canker in the jaws, for a man's penis
  • f. 230v: two for kidney pain, for a cleansing water, two for ?rectal prolapse ('For passynge oute of a mannes tayle ende'), for an unstated purpose but using sixty-three herbs
  • f. 231r: for drying wounds and old sores

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8. 231r-235v
Book of remedies for wounds and diseases
Language(s): Middle English and Latin
Rubric: 231r Liber Quintum
Incipit: 231r Nowe ys tyme to passen to medicyns þe whiche bene veryelie aproperd to diuerse members as Galien seithe in his Boke of Sympelle medicins þat þer be nott so verreilie aproperd to one partikell þat þei mowe nowe helpe anoþer but as for þe moste parti þei wurchen sikirlie in þat member þat þei bene aproperd to and þerfore and þerfore [sic] I will begyn firste att medicins of þe hede woundys of the hede have fyve helpes oþer medycyns þe whiche bene approperd to þe hede
Explicit: 235v That he wulle brynge alle synfulle soules to euerlastynge joye þe whiche þe same blessed parfit god in trinite þat reyneþ and leueþ withouten ende graunte to me and to alle men þat rediþe þis Boke Amen Amen
Final rubric: 235v par charite / Sunt tria dampna domus umber mala femina sumus

The fifth book in this compilation.

Juhani Norri in eVK2 has identified this section as drawing on Guy de Chauliac.

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9. 236r-249r
Book on bloodletting
Language(s): Middle English and Latin
Rubric: 236r Liber Sextum
Incipit: 236r For as moche as blodles amonge alle oþer þingis is þe moste commune and þe most gentylle helpe oþer remedie þat ys for þer nis none oþer remedye profitabelle in sekenesse þat cummeþ of blode as Galien seithe in his boke de Ingenis sanitatis þerfore I wyll treten of blodelesse
Explicit: 249r Blodelesse of þe Sophena withein þe fotte is good for retencioun of wymmens flours and for enpostumes of balloks and for ache of þe matrice and for pollucioun in slepinge and for frelnesse of þe flesche and for enpostumes in þe knees
Final rubric: 249r Explicit fflebotomia - Da gloriam deo

The sixth book in this compilation

Robert Mory in eVK2 has identified this section as drawing on Guy de Chauliac.

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10. 249v
On the treatment of ulcers
Language(s): Middle English and Latin
Incipit: 249v Cura of vlcerez of þe ȝerde iff þer be onlie excoriacioun and califaccioun it sufficit to wasche ytt with water of rosis of plantayne and att þe laste with water of alumm
Explicit: 249v and after be ytt cauterized with summe caustik moste with arsenyke puttynge ytt a twyxte þe quyke and þe dede as ytt was seyde in estiomene and be ytt separate and þe place afterwarde mundifyed be þer flesche engendred and confonded

This section is part of the sixth book in this compilation.

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11. 250r-250v
Medical recipes
Language(s): Middle English and Latin
Incipit: 250r Because of colde in wynter þer falle enpostumes and moules in þe helis and þerfor þe Surgene moste consyder twoo þingis in þe cure of þis sekenes one ys forto defende þe dissese þat ytt falle nott anoþer ys forto do awey þe dissese whan ytt ys fallen
Explicit: 250v Anoþer Cauterye euery porre by hym selfe wyþ hotte scaldynge oyle and þen Cauterie þe place cum cauterio punctalis and yt shal[be] cured parfitelie

This section is part of the sixth book in this compilation.

12. 250v-251r
Collection of nine medical recipes
Language(s): Middle English and Latin
Incipit: 250v De vlcus virulentus: And ȝif þe virus be withoute hett and þe member be not hott wasche þe sore with water or with wyne of þe deccioun of mirre wormode horehounde sauge pympinell simple oþer compounde made with honey
Explicit: 250v put þis oyntement in þe wounde and aboue þe wounde for ytt drieþ þe sore and engendriþ flesshe and soudeþ þe wounde but note þis þat cure of alle olde sores ytt ys goode when||

Misplaced recipes relating to the seventh book in this compilation: the recipes are followed by a note on f. 251r: ‘Turne vnto þe ende of þe boke and telle bakwarde vntill ȝe cum into þe xvij leffe þat ys of þe chapiter of olde sores and þer ȝe schall fynde þis worde And ȝiff set owte betwene boþe margynis and þis þes ij letters AB in þe scripte in þe forparte as ytt is here’. This note indicates that these recipes should be inserted in Book 7 on f. 325r at a section that is marked with the letters 'A' and 'B' in the left margin and the text: ‘Ante folia per antea et inquere littera ista: And if’.

13. 252r-341v
Book with remedies for wounds and diseases
Language(s): Middle English and Latin
Rubric: 252r Librum Septimum
Incipit: 252r That þe blade poynte shall not hurte þe dura mater and þis ys þe schappe þerof [drawing] me þinkiþ þat I may nott writtyn þe discripcioun of a leuatorie be letter but þis ys þe maner of schape þerof [drawing]
Explicit: 341v for þere ys þinge þat defamethe a Surgenes name so moche as for to take on hande þat he may nott brynge to a goode ende I may nott els do but conseyle and þerfore be welle ware
Final rubric: 341v Here endyþ þe firste boke of alle maner sores þe whyche fallen moste commone withe þe grace of gode I wille writte þe ij Boke þe whyche ys cleped the Antidotarie - Explicit quod Scripcit Thomas [Rosse]

The seventh book in this compilation.

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Physical Description

Secundo Folio: 2r particule
Form: codex
Support: Paper, folded in folio. Hand with star ( 90 × 25 mm. ), in the centre of the folio, comparable to Heawood 2473, but with the letter 'B' written inside the hand. This example is dated to 1512-1519.
Extent: Codex: i + 346 + i leaves. 280 × 200 mm.
Foliation:

(?)19th- or 20th-century foliation:

i + ii-v, 1-341 + 342

Numbering in pencil in the upper right-hand corner of the rectos.

Collation

The numbering of the quires given here differs from that written in the manuscript. The numbering begins in Quire 3 ('2'); Quire 2 is not numbered (but is implicitly '1'); and Quire 1 is 'a' in Thomson (2016).

  • Quire 16-2 (ff. ii-v : 5th-6th leaves cancelled)
  • Quire 218 (ff. 1-18)
  • Quire 316 (ff. 19-34)
  • Quire 418 (ff. 35-52)
  • Quires 5-1016 (ff. 53-148)
  • Quire 1118 (ff. 149-166)
  • Quire 126-2 (ff. 167-170: 5th-6th leaves cancelled)
  • Quires 13-1716 (ff. 171-250)
  • Quire 1818+1 (ff. 251-269: 1 inserted after the 18th leaf)
  • Quire 1918 (ff. 270-287)
  • Quire 2016+1 (ff. 288-304: 1 inserted after the 16th leaf)
  • Quire 2118 (ff. 305-322)
  • Quire 2218+1 (ff. 323-341: 1 inserted after the 8th leaf)

16-2 (5th-6th cancelled) 218 316 418 5-1016 1118 126-2 (5th-6th cancelled) 13-1716 1818+1 (1 inserted after 18th) 1918 2016+1 (1 inserted after 16th) 2118 2218+1 (1 inserted after 18th)

Bifolia are numbered in brown ink at the centers of the upper margins of the rectos of the first halves of quires. The bifolia in quires 1-12 have been continuously numbered (e.g. '1'-'9' (ff. 1-9), '10'-'17' (ff. 19-26), '18'-'26' (ff. 35-43); the bifolia in quires 13-16 have been continously numbered with combinations of letters and numbers (e.g. 'A1', 'B2', 'C3') ; the bifolia in quire 17 have been numbered with the letter 'z' and numbers (e.g. 'z1', 'z2', 'z3'); and the bifolia in quires 18-22 have been continuously numbered (e.g. '1', '2', '3').

 Catchwords on all versos.

Condition

The manuscript is in a good condition overal, but there are large tears in the paper pastedown on the inside upper cover and f. ii. There holes in the paper on ff. 339-342 and the paper pastedown on the lower cover caused by metal nails in the lower cover.

Layout

215 × 130 mm. Ruled in pencil, frame only. Single columns. 33 lines to the page, written above top line.

Hand(s)

Copied entirely by Thomas Rosse in a cursive hand with both Anglicana and Secretary features (see Origin for further details).

Decoration

Two medical drawings in black ink and outlined in red ink within the text on f. 252r: one of the 'dura mater' and one of a knife called 'levatorie'.

Large (3-4 lines) initials outlined in red ink with penwork decoration and pen-flourishing in red and brown ink (ff. 1r, 171r, 236r [with a human face]).

Large (2-3 lines) red initials with penwork decoration in violet or brown ink inside their letters, some with fish motifs (e.g. see ff. 277v, f290r, 297v).

Small (1 line) red capitals, some with minor forms of decoration.

Linefillers in red ink throughout the manuscript.

Marginal title headings and a scribal colophon rubricated in red ink.

Display script in black and red ink.

Paraphs either highlighted in red ink or drawn in red ink.

Underlining in red ink.

Additions

Quire signatures ('1-21') 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 (see Collation).

Binding

Original (?) 16th-century binding: brown calfskin over over projecting reverse-bevel wooden boards with on each cover two blind-stamped concentric rectangular frames (triple lines) of which the central one is divided into three compartments. The space between the two frames is blind-stamped with a pattern of fleurs-de-lis alternating with flowers, crowns, and chequered shields; brass corner-pieces with decorated bosses; and the remains of two straps from the front board to clasps ast the rear (all gone). A brass frame on the front cover with a title inscription on paper under a thin sheet of horn: ‘ Liber Collegij D. Petri ex Dono Nathaniells Browne, Londinensis mense Ianuarij, Anno 1613’. The spine of whittawed leather (perhaps a later addition) has been nailed to the front boards with strips of brass. It features an early modern title inscription and classmark: ‘ Amand de Villa / 1-2-3’.

Red-speckled bottom, fore, and top edges.

Binding height: 300mm; width: 215mm; depth: 85mm.

History

Origin: Late 15th or early 16th century. ; London

Copied by Thomas Rosse (fl. 1485-1525) , and presumably in London where Rosse was a prominent surgeon during the reign of Henry VII. Rosse's name also occurs in documents dated between 1517 and 1525 (see Talbot and Hammond, Medical Practitioners (1966), pp. 354-355). His scribal colophons on f. iii verso: ‘Explicit etcaetera quod T Roosse’; f. iv recto: ‘Explicit librum Quintum quod Thomas Rosse’; f. 65r: ‘Quod scripsit T[erased: 'homas Rosse']’; and twice on f. 341v: ‘Quod scripsit Thomas [erased: 'Rosse']’; his name also written twice in the upper margin of f. 330v: 'Thomas Roosse', and once or twice on the upper margin of f. 331: 'Thomas Rosse'.

Provenance and Acquisition

Unidentified monogram 'JHB' (or 'IHB') on ff. ii recto (where it is accompanied by the motto 'Vertus est vera nobilitas') and iii recto.

Donated to Peterhouse in January 1613 by Nathaniel Browne (fl. 1613) : donation recorded on the title shield on the outside cover.

Additional Information

Record Sources

This catalogue entry draws on M.R. James, A descriptive catalogue of the manuscripts in the library of Peterhouse (1899); Angela M. Lucas Manuscripts in Christ's, Emmanuel, Jesus, Selwyn and Sidney Sussex Colleges, Peterhouse and Trinity Hall, Cambridge, The Index of Middle English Prose, Handlist 22 (Cambridge: Brewer, 2016); and R. M. Thomson, A Descriptive Catalogue of the Medieval Manuscripts in the Library of Peterhouse, Cambridge (2016) by kind permission of the author. Readers of this record are encouraged to consult Thomson's Catalogue for further information about this manuscript.

Availability

Researchers should note that Peterhouse's western European medieval manuscripts are housed at Cambridge University Library. Scholars who wish to consult Peterhouse manuscripts should contact the Special Collections Reading Room to arrange their visit; all University Library admissions procedures will apply. For information on eligibility and admissions procedures, see Joining the Library. For further enquiries, and to confirm the availability of the manuscript, please contact the Special Collections Reading Room.

Bibliography

    A descriptive catalogue of the manuscripts in the library of Peterhouse, James, M. R. (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1899) Doctors and medicine in medieval England, 1340-1530, Gottfried, Robert Steven (Princeton, N.J., Princeton University Press, 1986) Scientific and medical books Book production and publishing in Britain 1375-1475 Cambridge studies in publishing and printing history, Voigts, Linda Ehrsam (Cambridge, 345-402, Cambridge University Press, 1989) A descriptive catalogue of the medieval manuscripts in the library of Peterhouse, Cambridge, Thomson, R. M. (Cambridge, D.S. Brewer, 2016) Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary in English, 1375–1550: Body Parts, Sicknesses, Instruments, and Medical Preparations, Norri, Juhani (Abingdon, Routledge, 2016) Manuscripts in Christ's, Emmanuel, Jesus, Selwyn and Sidney Colleges, Trinity Hall, Cambridge Index of Middle English prose, Lucas, Angela M. (Cambridge, D.S. Brewer, 2016) The Surgery by Henri de Mondeville: Étude et édition critique d’après le manuscrit Peterhouse MS 118 de Cambridge, Lamour, Corinne (Poitiers, ? 2017) 'Star of the Eye' in English Historical Dictionaries Notes & Queries, Norri, Juhani (66, 2, 222–224, 2019) The First Cataract Surgeons in the British Isles - ScienceDirect American Journal of Ophthalmology, Leffler, Christopher T.Schwartz, Stephen G.Peterson, EricCouser, Natario L.Salman, Abdul-Rahman (230, 3, 75–122, 2021, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002939421001227?ref=pdf_download&fr=RR-9&rr=82905448591c779d) Charisma and Surgery in the Middles Ages: The Example of Henri de Mondeville, Surgeon of Philip IV the Fair Religions, Lamour, Corinne (14, 6, 699, 2023)

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Wellcome

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