Cambridge, St John's College, MS D.24
Medical texts
Contents
Language(s): Latin
List of the contents of the volume added in a late-15th century hand, with pressmark and ownership declaration. The pressmark is in a slightly different ink and ?perhaps a different hand to the list of the contents of the volume and the ownership declaration. The list of the contents is as follows:
- Uersus Egidii de urinis cum comento Gilberti
- Ysagoge Iohannicii ad tegni Galieni
- Tegni Galieni
- Liber pulsuum philareti
- Liber amphorismorum ypocratis
- Liber pronosticorum ypocratis
- Liber urinarum Theophili
- Tractatus de libro animalum
- Liber urinarum ysaac
- Liber amphorismorum ypocratis
- Uiaticus Constantini
- Diete uniuersales Ysaac
- Diete particulares Ysaac
- Liber febrium Ysaac
- De urinis significantibus mortem
- Tractatus de effecubus[sic] qualitatum
- Conferencie
This item can be found on p. 88 of the 15th century catalogue of the St Augustine's library, see CBMLC 13.2 BA1.1218, the list of the contents described in the 15th century library catalogue is almost an exact match for the list of the contents given in this volume, and both omit the Liber graduum of Constantinus Africanus found on ff. 3v-10v
John Tiptoft, 1st earl of Worcester (1427-1470) , died in 1470, and so this epitaph was presumably composed and added to the manuscript after his death. In his lifetime, John Tiptoft was a friend and supporter of the monks at Canterbury: some of his visits to the monks of Christ Church are recorded by the chronicler John Stone, and his obituary is recorded in the Canterbury necrology ( London, British Library, Arundel MS 68, f. 45v .
In a late-15th century hand.
Not in H. Walther, Initia carminum.
Written by John of London (see Provenance).
First comment begins: 'Renibus una dicitur quia formaliter'.
Ends in inner margin.
Ends in lower margin.
Possibly an extract from the Clavis sanationis of Simon of Genoa.
There is another copy of this text on ff. 103r-112v.
Finishes abruptly in Book 7 at the end of f. 71r. The remaining leaves in the quire (ff. 71r-74v) are blank.
Rubric added by a commentary hand. There is another copy of this text on ff. 46r-54r.
Rubric on f. 113r mostly lost to rubbing.
Ends with a list of capitula for the next item, Isaac Israeli's Dietae uniuersales.
This text is designated as 'II' and 'III' in the running medieval headers, and seems to have been treated as part of a unit with the preceding Dietis universalibus, which is designated as 'I' in the medieval running headers.
Presented here in 5 books.
Rubric written in drypoint (?or very faint crayon) in lower margin of f. 276r in a medieval hand.
Final rubric struck out.
Folio 343v blank.
For unstated purpose.
Physical Description
19th/20th-century foliation
[a] + [loose paper leaf] + [i] + 1-74, 75-186, 187-275, 276-353
Foliated in pencil in the upper outer corner of the first recto of each quire, starting at the second quire. The medieval flyleaf at the start of the volume has been assigned the folio number [i] by the Curious Cures Project in 2023 during the preparation of this online catalogue record.
Collation
The coincidence of quire divisions with the start and end of the main texts in the manuscript point to it being made of codicological units, which were produced at or around the same time, with identical layouts, and with the intention that they be bound together from the outset. The units are as follows:
- Quires 1-7
- Quires 8-18
- Quires 19-27
- Quires 28-35
- Quire 110 (ff. 1-10)
- Quires 2-5 12 (ff. 11-58)
- Quire 68 (ff. 59-66)
- Quire 78 (ff. 67r-74v: 8th leaf trimmed to ~ 1/3 of a full-size leaf) ;
- Quires 8-910 (ff. 75-94)
- Quire 108 (ff. 95-102)
- Quire 1110 (ff. 103-112)
- Quire 1212 (ff. 113-124)
- Quires 13-15 10 (ff. 125-154)
- Quire 1612 (ff. 155-166)
- Quires 17-1810 (ff. 167-186) ;
- Quire 198 (ff. 187-194)
- Quire 2010 (ff. 195-204)
- Quire 218 (ff. 205-212)
- Quire 2210 (ff. 213-222)
- Quire 2312 (ff. 223-234)
- Quires 24-2610 (ff. 235-264)
- Quire 2712-1 (ff. 265-275: 12th leaf cancelled) ;
- Quires 28-3310 (ff. 276-335)
- Quire 348 (ff. 336-343)
- Quire 3510 (ff. 344-353)
110 2-5 12 68 78 ; 8-910 108 1110 1212 13-15 10 1612 17-1810 ; 198 2010 218 2210 2312 24-2610 2712-1 (12th leaf cancelled) ; 28-3310 348 3510
Catchwords in ink in a medieval hand in the lower inner corner of the last verso of each quire.Condition
Layout
160-170 × 100 mm. On and after 3v: ruled in brown ink, frame and lines. Ruled in double-column format, typically 34-36 lines to the column. Pricking often visible along lower and outer edges. Although not strictly ruled for a gloss-format (i.e., wide-ruling for main text, narrow-ruling for gloss) the wide margins in this volume accomodate substantial annotations.
195 × 170 mm. The leaves ff. 1r-3r are ruled in crayon, frame and lines. Minimally ruled in single-column format, approximately 60 lines to the page. Informal mise-en-page to accomodate branching diagrams and notes.
Hand(s)
Written in a small and relatively informal northern textualis libraria.
Annotated extensively by several scribes writing various forms of northern textualis currens. One of the annotators appears to be the same scribe who added directions for the rubricator, see e.g., 285v marginal annotations, instructions in the lower corners, and rubrics.
Annotations in the hand of John of London (fl. c. 1290-1330) . John of London was a major donor of manuscripts to St Augustine's Canterbury, and his annotations and sometimes his name appear in several volumes belonging to Canterbury that are not recorded as part of his original donation. Precise biographical details about John of London have not been been firmly established at the time of the composition of this record (2023), but John seems to have been active at Canterbury c. 1290-1330, and several plausible historical figures have been put forward for identification with his cognomen. John's annotations appear in this volume on ff. [i] verso, 276r, 281v etc.
Decoration
Historiated initials depiciting scenes of medical treatment or daily life present at the beginning of some texts in the volume:
- On f. 23r, an initial M with a physician examining a large flask and a woman holding a basket.
- On f. 59v, an initial D with a physician examining a large flask.
- On f. 103r, an initial U with a physician examining a large flask standing next to a woman in bed, and another female figure (?a nurse) in the background.
- On f. 113r, an initial C depicting a surgical scene with a physician holding a knife and grasping the head of a man holding a bowl.
- On f. 167r, an initial D with a man and woman embracing eachother.
Decorative initials throughout at the major divisions of some of the texts, most in the style of the initial S on 124v, or with touches of gold. On f. 187r, there is an initial Q with a winged grotesque and foliate interlace.
Flourished initials at major and minor divisions of the text throughout the volume. The flourished initials are typically red with blue labrynthine flourishing (or the reverse), but the bodies of some of the flourished initials are rendered in the 'puzzle' style in red and blue and accompanied by labrynthine flourshing in red or blue.
Lombardic capitals in white on blue or pink grounds for the first few words immediately following a major decorative initial.
Paraph marks in red or blue throughout
Additions
Marginal annotations throughout by several late 13th-century hands.
Quire signatures ('1-35') in the bottom right-hand corner of the recto side of the first leaf of each quire, written in pencil by a hand of the 19th/20th century.
Binding
?Late-13th century binding. Fully bound in undecorated alum-tawed skin over wood boards cut flush with the book-block. Head and tail bands of cream and green ?silk yarn around a thicker core; lower band repaired with blue yarn, stitches visible on the outside of the binding. Four raised bands on spine. Two small printed paper labels fixed to the spine, '24' and 'D' for the present shelfmark. Remains of former fastenings visible on both boards as puncture marks and rust stains. The arrangement of the remains of the former fastenings suggests the volume was initially fastened with a single closure across the centre of the fore-edge, and later with four strap-and-pin fastenings, two across the fore edge, one across the head edge, and one across the tail edge. All substantial remains of the fastenings are gone save for a few anchor pins in the left board, but the pattern of damage for the four-part fastening indicates that the straps were anchored in the left board and the pin plates were fixed to the right board, an arrangement typical of English bindings at this time.
Two parchment pastedowns pasted over the turn-ins, both now lifting. The front pastedown contains:
- The name of Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton in ink (in the form 'Tho: C. S.')
- A St John's College bookplate
- A bookplate recording that this item was part of the Wriothesley-Crashaw donation
- A former shelfmark, in ink and struck out, 'A.4.17'
- The current shelfmark in ink 'D 24'
The rear pastedown contains a medical recipe.
Accompanying Material
Loose paper leaf tucked between the front pastedown and f. [i]r, f. [a] with annotations in ink on the recto and verso as follows: Folio [a] recto contains a note in ink in an early modern hand that mentions St John's College, Cambridge. Folio [a] verso contains a partial and partially numbered list of the contents of the volume in ink in an early modern hand as follows:
- - [unnumbered] Ysaac liber tres .
- 1 [left blank]
- 2 De cibo
- 3 De oleribus
A small paper scrap (c. 100 mm x 20 mm (w x h)), perhaps used as a bookmark with a note in ink on its recto: ‘'Galeni M.S Q Agidius de Urinis . M S . ’'
History
Provenance and Acquisition
Owned by the monastic community at St. Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury, England by c. 1330. The volume has annotations in the hand of John of London (fl. c. 1290-1330) (fl. c. 1290-1330), a donor of manuscripts to St Augustine's and possibly also a member of that community.
Recorded in the St Augustine's Library Catalogue designated as 'BA1' in the CBMLC (see vols. 13.1-3). The history of this St Augustine's Library Catalogue is complex and it only survives in a single later witness, but the original version is believed to have been compiled c. 1375-1420 and to reflect the extant library holdings at the time of its original compilation.
Purchased at an unknown time before 1624 by William Crashaw (1572-1626) , a lawyer, book collector, and former Johnian. Crashaw's collection numbered around 200 manuscripts and 1000 printed books.
The manuscripts and printed books owned by William Crashaw were purchased by Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton (1573-1624) , at an unknown time before Wriothesley's death in 1624. Wriothesley had been a student-contemporary of Crashaw at St John's College and he purchased Crashaw's collection with the intention to present the volumes as a gift to the Library of St John's College. The library was still partly under construction at the time of the purchase resulting in the Wriothesley family storing Crashaw's collection and delivering it piecemeal to the College over a number of years.
After Henry Wriothesley's death in 1624 and William Crashaw's death in 1626, care of Crashaw's books and manuscripts passed to Wriothesley's son, Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton (1607-1667) . Although Crashaw's printed books seem to have passed swiftly to the College, Thomas Wriothesley seems to have taken a particular interest in the manuscripts, adding his name (typically in the form Tho: C. S. for 'Thomas comes southamptoniensis') to most of them, and apparently exhibiting such reluctance to deliver the manuscripts that the College wrote to his mother, Elizabeth Vernon (1573-?1655) to ask her to encourage her son to hand over the volumes.
Given to St John’s College in 1635 by Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton on behalf of William Crashaw and Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton . A bookplate recording the Crashaw-Wriothesley donation is present on the front pastedown.
Additional Information
Record Sources
Availability
Entry to read in the Library is permitted only on presentation of a valid reader's card. For information on eligibility and admissions procedures, see Joining the Library). For further information on the availability of the manuscript, please contact the Manuscripts Reading Room.
Bibliography
-
The ancient libraries of Canterbury and Dover: the catalogues of the libraries of
Christ Church Priory and
St. Augustine's Abbey at Canterbury and of St. Martin's Priory at Dover, James, Montague Rhodes (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1903, https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511920097)
A descriptive catalogue of the manuscripts in the library of St. John's College, Cambridge, James, M.R. (Cambridge, University Press, 1913)
Funding of Cataloguing
Wellcome
Digital Images
Abbreviations
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