Cambridge, Trinity College, MS O.9.37
Medical treatises and recipes
Contents
Language(s): Middle English and Latin
The text begins imperfectly and features spaces left blank for medical illustrations that are referred to in the text but were never executed.
The text is imperfect because the lower of half of f. 30 has been cut out.
Text ends imperfectly.
Added by an (?) early 16th-century hand. Full transcription. Not recorded in the (Digital) Index of Middle English Verse.
The table of contents includes 4 additional chapters (Chapters 76-79).
This wisdom is also cited as a model for a good physician by John Arderne in his Fistula in ano.
The text ends imperfectly at the end due to missing leaves.
Added by a late 15th- or early 16th-century hand. Full transcription.
Added by a late 15th- or early 16th-century hand. Full transcription.
Treated as chapter 76 in the Compendium medicinae.
Incorporated as a chapter in the Compendium medicinae, but not listed or numbered in the table of contents
Treated as chapter 77 of the Compendium medicinae.
Treated as chapters 78 and 79 of the Compendium medicinae. Ends imperfectly.
Physical Description
19th- or 20th-century foliation:
[i] + 1-128 (incl. [91a]) + [ii]
Numbering in pencil in the upper right-hand corners of the rectos; however, from f. 37 a second foliator continues the sequence and corrects the first foliator, whose hand then only occurs every 10 leaves but miscounts and skips a leaf in quire 6. See f. 57r where the number 58 has been crossed out and corrected with 57. Folio [91a] is a stub of a missing leaf, which bears a small amount of text on the verso.17th-century numeration of the sections in the surgical treatise:
1-57 on ff. 36r-91v
Written in brown ink in the outer upper corners of rectos and versos.
Collation
- Quire 112-4 (ff. 1-8: 1st-3rd and 12th leaves missing)
- Quire 212 (ff. 9-20)
- Quire 310 (ff. 21-30)
- Quire 46-1 (ff. 31-35: 4th leaf missing)
- Quire 512-2 (ff. 36-45: 1st and 12th leaves missing)
- Quire 612-1 (ff. 46-56: 1st leaf missing)
- Quires 7-812 (ff. 57-80)
- Quire 912-1 (ff. 81-91: 12th leaf missing)
- Quires 10-1212 (ff. 92-127)
- A single leaf (f. 129)
112-4 (1st-3rd and 12th leaves missing) 212 310 46-1 (4th leaf missing) 512-2 (1st and 12th leaves missing) 612-1 (1st leaf missing) 7-812 912-1 (12th leaf missing) 10-1212
Leaf signatures consisting of combinations of letters of the Roman alphabet and numerals: Quire 1: ‘a’; Quire 2: ‘b’; Quire 3: ‘c’; Quire 4: ‘a’; Quire 5: ‘a’; Quire 6: ‘b’; Quire 7: ‘c’; Quire 8: ‘d’; Quire 9: ‘e’; Quire 10: ‘f’; Quire 11: ‘g’; Quire 12: ‘h’: Single leaf (f. 128): ‘j’.
Catchwords written in the lower right-hand corners of the last versos.Layout
205 × 140 mm. Ruled in leadpoint but usually erased. Single columns. 35 lines to the page, written above top line.
Hand(s)
The original texts in this manuscript were copied by a single hand writing in a cursive script with both anglicana and secretary features.
Decoration
One large (5 lines) 'champ' initial: a gold initial in a frame with a blue and purple ground with spraywork in green and gold on f. 31r.
One large (4 lines) 'champ' initial: a gold initial in a frame with a blue and purple ground with spraywork in green, blue, and gold on f. 122r.
Large (2 lines) initials in blue in frames of red penwork decoration and with pen-flourishing in red ink throughout.
Small (1 or 2 lines) red initials used in the Somnia Danielis (ff. 26r-30v) and the table of contents (ff. 34v-35v).
Incipits and marginal headings rubricated in red ink.
Occasionally, long decorative flourishes in brown ink on descenders of letters on last lines (ff. 81v-82r).
Paraphs in blue or red ink.
Regula initials (1 line) highlighted in red ink.
Double virgula supensivas in red ink.
Underlining in red ink.
Added drawings in brown ink in margins throughout the manuscript: acorns and flower (f. 1r); knotwork motif (f. 2v); knotwork motif (f. 3r); knotwork motif (f. 7r); knotwork motif (f. 20v); flower (f. 22v); a hand holding a flower (f. 23r); a knotwork motif and two squares with geometrif figures (f. 29r); three-dimensional (?) shapes (f. 35r); a bird (f. 39r); a cadel design with a human face (f. 44r); cross lines pattern in plummet (f. 79v); a flower and leaves (f. 110r).
One large knotwork initial "O" outlined in dark ink in a large space that may have been left blank for a miniature on f. 3r.
A large initial "C" in the shape of a winged dragon both on f. 33r (fragmentary) and f. 34r; probably added in the late 16th or early 17th century.
Additions
Numerous additions on blank pages and in margins by late 15th- or early 16th-century hands, including titles for recipes (e.g. f. 56v: ‘Stynkyng’; f. 57r: ‘Guta’; f. 76r: ‘defaute of apet’; f. 108v: ‘Stones’; f. 115r: ‘Siphatie’; f. 117r: ‘for the flower in women’; f. 128v: ‘fleynge of þe moder’) or draft letters and verses: f. 2r (outer margin): ‘Jhesus haue you in hys kepyng’; f. 3r: ‘Mendall’ f. 9r: ‘ones be werie y put inne þere so þat the wonde be fillid full [...]’ f. 15r (upper margin): ‘>Received the xth daye of 9 August [...] the xth yere’; f. 27v: ‘with many tribulan[...] hevene so [...]’; f. 28r (outer margin): ‘Mange hathe dessirid to know thers’; f. 32v (uper margin: ‘After my moste harty comended’; f. 34r: ‘thys boke is ?danyffaule[...] and yse stehy’; f. 37r: ‘Raff good andrewe spelt for me malone’; f. 40r upper margin: ‘I walked by pols [...]’; f. 56r: ‘Rex for the same mane that ys god’; f. 67v: ‘Rex et Regina Ano mundi’ f. 75r: ‘Yf a bargen thow wyllt be p[..]tpe to’; f. 83r: ‘Roule youre hartes [...]’ f. 87v: ‘Rex yf thou wist who’; f. 102v: ‘Howard by what’; f. 103r: ‘Of and in consideracioun of the summe of xli of good and lafull mone of England to be paid vnto the said margeret wheth’ f. 103r: ‘This ys to warne all men what Jhon Com kise me [...] John Com kise’; f. 127r: ‘Robert Sippin ys a knave a lought a luber a Rascal a [...]’; f. 128v: ‘to tinke’; f. 117r: ‘and yf thow wist what’; f. 117r: ‘Whan the son shineth’. Other more substantial inscriptions are listed as separate items under the list of contents in this catalogue record. Inscriptions that may refer to owners, readers or users of this manuscript are listed in the Provenance section.
17th-century enumeration of medical sections written in brown ink in the upper outer corners of both the rectos and versos of leaves between f 36r and f. 91v.
Quire signatures ('1-9' for Quires 5-12, plus f. 128) 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
18th- or 19th-century half white vellum binding with grey paper sides and plain white paper pastedowns on the inner covers; flat spine with three paper labels with the printed classmark numbers: ‘O’, ‘9’, ‘37’.
Binding height: 295 mm; width: 200 mm; depth: 40 mm.
History
Provenance and Acquisition
Mary Hogan (fl. 16th century) : her name and a monogram of her name inscribed on f. 29v (lower margin): ‘Mary Hooggon’ [a second hand has attempted to copy her signature] and ‘MH’.
Anna Hogan (fl. 16th century) : her name inscribed on f. 30v: ‘Anna Hoogoon’ [a second hand has attempted to copy her name]
Anthony (fl. 16th century) : his name inscribed on f. 34r: ‘anthony’.
Robert Crondal (fl. 16th century) : his full name inscribed on f. 42r; possibly also inscribed his first name on ff. 15r (‘Robert’) [2x]; and 52r (‘Robart’ [2x]). The family name Crondal may be a locative, referring to the village of Crondall in Hampshire.
Thomas Johnson (fl. 16th century) : his name inscribed on f. 52r: ‘Thomas Johnsonne’ [2x].
?John ?Bareheasy (fl. 16th century) : his name inscribed on f. 52r: ‘J ?Bareheasy’
One of the manuscripts of Thomas Gale (1635/6-1702) , dean of York, antiquary and fellow of Trinity College Cambridge. The manuscript is listed as no. 305 (see f. 1r) in the list of Gale's manuscripts in Bernard, Catalogi librorum manuscriptorum Angliæ et Hiberniæ (1697).
One of the manuscripts of Roger Gale (1672-1744) , antiquary and scholar, son of Thomas Gale. Inherited from his father.
Donated to Trinity College by Roger Gale (1672-1744) , son of Thomas Gale (1635/6-1702), in 1738. The alpha-numerical elements of its current classmark are printed on three (much worn) labels pasted onto the spine (‘O.9.37’), and those of its current and previous classmarks are inscribed in the manuscript: inside of the front cover (‘O.9.37’ in brown ink); f. 1r (‘G.20’ [crossed out], ‘O.4.47’ [crossed out], and ‘O.9.37’ in brown ink). Its printed ex libris featuring its armorial coat of arms and name (‘Collegium S.S. et Individuae Trinitatis in Academia Cantabrigiensi’) pasted in inner corner of the lower margin on f. 1r.
Additional Information
Record Sources
Availability
Visitors to Trinity College who wish to consult Special Collections material are required to apply to the Library in advance of their visit. For information on eligibility and admission procedures see: Trinity College: Information for Readers.
Bibliography
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The western manuscripts in the library of Trinity College, Cambridge: a descriptive
catalogue, James, M.R. (Cambridge, 3, Cambridge University Press, 1902)
Beiträge zur mittelalterlichen. Volkskunde. V Archiv für das Studium der neueren Sprachen
und Literaturen, Förster, Max (127, 31-84, 1911)
Two Middle English Texts of the Somnia Danielis Anglia, Bühler, Curt F. (80, 264-273, 1962)
Four Middle English translations of John of Arderne Latin and vernacular: studies
in late-medieval texts and manuscripts, Jones, Peter Murray (Cambridge, 61-89, Brewer, 1989)
Healing and society in Medieval England: a Middle English translation of the pharmaceutical
writings of Gilbertus Anglicus. edited with an introduction and notes Wisconsin publications
in the history of science and medicine, (Madison, University of Wisconsin Press, 1991)
Obstetrical and gynecological texts in Middle English Studies in the Age of Chaucer:
Yearbook of the New Chaucer Society, Green, Monica H. (14, 53-88, 1992)
Epilepsy: The Falling Evil Popular and practical science of medieval England, Keiser, George R. (East Lansing, MI, 219-244, Michigan State University Press, 1994)
Manuscripts in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge Index of Middle English prose, Mooney, Linne R. (Woodbridge, D.S. Brewer, 1995)
Women's healthcare in the medieval West: texts and contexts Collected studies, Green, Monica H. (Aldershot, Ashgate, 2000)
Uroscopy in Middle English: A Guide to the Texts and Manuscripts Studies in medieval
and renaissance history, Tavormina, M. Teresa ([Michigan?], 2014)
“That swevene hath Daniel unloke”: Interpreting Dreams with Chaucer and the Harley
Scribe The Chaucer Review, Harrington, Marjorie (50, 3-4, 315-367, 2015)
The Five Wits in English Medical Literature, 1375-1600 Revista Canaria de Estudios
Ingleses, Taavitsainen, IrmaHonkapohja, Alpo (87, 87-105, 2023)
Funding of Cataloguing
Wellcome (cataloguing). All images provided by Trinity College, Cambridge.
Digital Images
Abbreviations
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