Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries

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

Cambridge, University Library, MS Add. 9213

Rāzī, Liber Almansoris

Contents

Introduction: This manuscript contains a very early copy of a Latin translation of the Liber Almansoris (Kitāb al-Manṣūrī) (The Book of Medicine dedicated to Manṣūr) by Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Zakarīyā Rāzī (sometimes written as al-Razi, Rases or Rhazes). Rāzī was a doctor, alchemist, and philosopher who was born in the late 9th century in the city of Ray, part of modern-day Tehran. After studying and practicing medicine in Baghdad, Rāzī was invited back to Ray to be the director of its hospital by Prince Mansur ibn Ishaq, the city's governor. Rāzī dedicated two of his books to Prince Mansur ibn Ishaq, the Kitab al-Tibb ar-Ruhani (The Book of Spiritual Medicine) and the Kitāb al-Manṣūrī or Liber Almansoris, i.e., The Book of Medicine dedicated to Manṣūr. The latter was one of Rāzī's earlier works, and it is essentially a medical textbook for students studying medicine: it is divided into ten books on topics such as diagnostics, physiognomy and surgery. The ninth book often circulated independently as the Liber Nonus. Rāzī's Kitāb al-Manṣūrī was translated into Latin by Gerard of Cremona (d. 1187) , probably c. 1180. The demand for access to Arabic medical texts in the medieval west is attested by the activities of translators such as Gerard of Cremona and Constantinus Africanus, who between them produced Latin versions of works by Ibn Sina (Avicenna), Ishaq Ibn Suleiman (Isaac Iudaeus), Hunayn ibn Ishaq al-'Ibadi (Iohannitus), Ibn Wafid (Albenguefit), al-Farghani (Alfraganus), al-Haytham (Alhazen) and others. The Liber Almansoris remained a popular medical text into the early modern period: for example, the Dutch physician and anatomist Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564) wrote his doctoral thesis on the ninth book. There are many uncertainties about the early history of Cambridge, University Library, MS Add. 9213, owing to its apparent age and its textual contents. Its origins are not known, nor is it clear whether it was made for an individual or for use in a religious house. It may have been made in England, although Michael Gullick has proposed a French origin for the volume (personal communication to Jayne Ringrose, recorded in the departmental running files at Cambridge University Library). Its production has been dated to the late 12th or early 13th centuries, i.e., not long after the death of Gerard of Cremona, however according to Danielle Jacquart the style of the translation found in this manuscript differs from that in others works translated by him. This not only prompts doubts about the authenticity of the attribution in this instance, but raises the possibility that the manuscript may have been made at an even earlier date. This is significant in the context of other surviving copies of this work made in western Europe, and makes the manuscript of particular significance for the study of the reception of Arabic scientific texts in north-western Europe. According to the description of this manuscript in Sotheby's Sale Catalogue for 6 December 1993, manuscripts of the complete corpus of ten books of the Liber Almansoris are rare, with only a single other manuscript of English origin known (Worcester Cathedral, MS Q.60), which dates to the early 13th century. Only one copy of the complete corpus of ten books was recorded in the early 14th-century Registrum Anglie at St Albans (described in CBMLC 2, R.96), but the sale catalogue states that that entry in the Registrum Anglie does not correspond with Worcester Cathedral, MS Q.60. Lynn Thorndike and Pearl Kibre in their survey of scientific manuscript recorded around a dozen manuscripts of the complete corpus of ten books of the Liber Almansoris of mainland-European origin, and none earlier than the thirteenth century. The earliest, though incomplete, evidence of the manuscript's provenance does not resolve any of the questions surrounding this manuscript's origin, but it does illustrate something of the manuscript's later medieval reception. Suggestive evidence of provenance is found on f. iv verso, one of the endleaves at the front of the manuscript. An inscription in a fourteenth-century hand at the top of the page reads 'Liber colegii de [...]', pointing to the possession of the manuscript by a college at one of the universities. The removal of the following word makes a conclusive identification impossible, however it may be that the manuscript belonged to Clare College (then known as Clare Hall): a 'Librum Rasis in Almasorio' is recorded alongside three other books in the 'Master's Old Book' (now Clare College Archives, C, 1/7, p. 17) as having been given to the college by William de Acton/Aketon (d. by Feb. 1391). In addition, Linda Voigts has suggested that the mnemonic verse in the margin of f. 188r, in a section of the text dealing with uroscopy, may be by the hand of Roger Marchall (fl. 1436-1477) , physician to King Edward IV. Marchall's handwriting appears in a number of medical manuscripts now in the possession of various Cambridge colleges, but there none of his other, more characteristic interventions (tables of contents, rubrics) are found in this manuscript and this identification remains only tentative. Thirteen manuscripts owned or used by Roger Marchall (and another with possible Marchall connections) are being digitised, catalogued and conserved as part of the Curious Cures in Cambridge Libraries project: Dr Sarah Gilbert| Curious Cures in Cambridge Libraries Project Cataloguer| Cambridge University Library| and| Dr James Freeman| Medieval Manuscripts Specialist| Cambridge University Library References:
R. W. Hunt, ‘Medieval Inventories of Clare College Library’, Transactions of the Cambridge Bibliographical Society, 1.2 (1950), 105–25
CBMLC 2
Danielle Jacquart, ‘Les Traductions Médicales de Gérard de Crémone’, in Gerardo Da Cremona, ed. by P. Pizzamiglio, Annali Della Biblioteca Statale e Libreria Civica Di Cremona, 41 (Cremona, 1992), pp. 57–70
Sotheby's Sale Catalogue for 6 December 1993
See L. Voigts, 'A doctor and his books: the manuscripts of Roger Marchall (d. 1477)', in R. Beadle and A. J. Piper (eds.), New science out of old books: studies in manuscripts and early printed books in honour of A.I. Doyle (Aldershot, 1995) pp. 249-314

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Parchment
Extent: Codex: 1 + ii + 1 + 230 + ii | i leaves.
Foliation:

Late 20th-/Early 21st-century foliation:

i + ii-iii + iv + 1-230 + v-vi | vii

Foliated in pencil in the upper outer corner of each recto by Jayne Ringrose.

Collation

28 quires of mostly 8 leaves. The medieval front endleaves associated with ff. 1-230 are present in the manuscript as ff. i and iv, now mutilated, but with a medieval ownership inscription and medical recipe texts in contemporary hands on f. iv recto and iv verso. Interleaved with the opening bifolium is a paper bifolium (ff. ii-iii) that was probably added when the present binding was applied to the volume. At the close of the manuscript there is another paper bifolium (ff. v-vi) with a watermark that matches the watermark on ff. ii-iii, and also a parchment stub (f. vii) datable to c. 1590-1592. The quires are arranged as follows:

  • Opening bifolium (ff. i, iv) +
  • Quires 1-28 (ff. 1-16)
  • Quire 38 (3rd and 6th singletons, stubs visible; ff. 17-24)
  • Quire 48 (ff. 25-32)
  • Quire 510 (ff. 33-42)
  • Quire 68 (ff. 43-50)
  • Quire 78 (2nd and 7th singletons, stubs visible; ff. 51-58)
  • Quire 810 (3rd and 8th singletons, stubs visible; ff. 59-68)
  • Quires 9-118 (ff. 69-92)
  • Quire 1212 (ff. 93-104)
  • Quires 13-148 (ff. 105-120)
  • Quire 156 (ff. 121-126)
  • Quires 16-288 (ff. 127-230)

i, iv + 1-28 38 (3rd and 6th singletons) 48 510 68 78 (2nd and 7th singletons) 810 (3rd and 8th singletons) 9-118 1212 13-148 156 16-288

Additions

Quire signatures ('1-28') in the bottom right-hand corner of the recto side of the first leaf of each quire, and '+' in the same position on the first leaf after the centre of the quire, written in pencil by Jayne Ringrose .

Binding

17th-century (?second half) binding, 'probably bound for Sir Lionel Tollemache, 1648-1726, third Earl of Dysart' (Sotheby's Sale Catalogue for 6 December 1993, Lot 52). Full bound in sprinkled calf over millboard with matching decoration to left and right covers. Covers are decorated with a blind double fillet frame with Oxford corners inset from the perimeter of the board by c. 10mm. The cover material over the head, fore, and tail edges of the boards is decorated with a thick single fillet tooled in gold. Five raised bands on spine, each decorated with a blind double fillet through their centre (i.e., across the width of the spine). Spine compartments are decorated with a blind single fillet along their upper and lower perimeters. Head and tail bands are a beige fibre wrapped around a core of what appears to be straw or reed; head band is exposed as the upper opening of the spine has been torn away down to the first raised band. Two paper labels fixed to spine with an adhesive:

  • Upper label: 'Medical Tracts MSS XIII' in ink
  • Lower label: 'Add. 9213' in ink (the present Cambridge University Library shelfmark)

No pastedowns; turn ins and inner faces of boards are exposed. The number '15' circled and struck through on the inside of the front cover.

Head, fore, and tail edges of the bookblock are stained red.

Paper bifolia forming two endleaves at each end of the bookblock (ff. ii-iii and ff. v-vi). Each paper bifolium has a watermark at the centrefold of a crown over a scroll-eared escutchon with two bendlets. This watermark is a close visual match for a watermark found in Oxford, Christ Church College, MS Mus. 1018-1020 , a collection of partbooks of music composed by Thomas Talbot, probably copied in the 1630s. The watermark is printed in Ashbee, Thompson, and Wainwright (eds.), The Viola Da Gamba Society Index of Manuscripts Containing Consort Music, 2 vols (2014), II.302.

Parchment endleaves at the opening of the volume (ff. i and iv) are contemporary with the main text and have probably always travelled with the main quire stack as the opening endleaves.

A parchment stub at the end of the volume (f. vii) of a document dated to the 33rd and 34th regnal years of Queen Elizabeth I (c. November 1590 - November 1592).

Accompanying Material

A brief summary of the manuscript, handwritten in ink with additions in an additional hand in pencil, on a paper leaf 203x127 mm. The leaf bears the pressmark L.J.IV.2 with the '2' struck out. The appearance of the leaf, and the presence of the pressmark indicates that the leaf was created before 1955 and during the period where the manuscript belonged to the Tollemache family of Helmingham Hall.

A typewritten letter on a paper leaf c. 177x135 mm dated 4 February 1961 from Neil Ker to Philip Robinson (1902-1991) , enquiring about the location of four manuscripts formerly owned by Sir Thomas Phillips , as well as the location of two others he had previously seen at Helmingham Hall but which had since been sold to Robinson.

Both items are loose leaves kept with the manuscript.

See Peter Kidd, 'The Helmingham Hall Manuscripts', Medieval Manuscripts Provenance: Notes and Observations (18 March 2015)

History

Provenance and Acquisition

Possibly owned by Clare College, Cambridge (then known as Clare Hall): an ownership inscription by a hand of the fourteenth century on f. iv verso reads: 'Liber colegii de [...]'. The removal of the following word makes a conclusive identification impossible, however this may be one of the four books donated to Clare Hall by William de Acton/Aketon (d. by Feb. 1391) (the others were copies of John of Gaddesden, Rosa medicinae, Avicenna, Canon medicinae, tr. Gerard of Cremona, and Bartholomeus Anglicus, De proprietatibus rerum).

R.W. Hunt, 'Medieval Inventories of Clare College Library', TCBS 1.2 (1950), pp. 105-125
CBMLC 10, pp. 138-39, 655
MLGB3
Venn:ACAD (no reference ID - search 'Aketon')

Owned by the Tollemache family of Helmingham Hall, Helmingham, Suffolk, England: Helmingham MS 15, pressmark L.J.IV (paper label, turn-in of the front cover). A loose leaf of paper kept with the manuscript bears a brief description written in ink in a ?20th century hand, with the pressmark reference L.J.IV.2 (with the '2' struck out).

It is not known when the Tollemache family acquired MS Add. 9213; according to Edwards and Griffiths the Tollemache family seems to have began assembling a private library by the mid-16th century, and subsequent generations continued to acquire manuscripts and rare books. The 1993 Sotheby catalogue description suggests that the the manuscript was 'probably bound for Sir Lionel Tollemache (1649-1727) , 1648-1726[sic], third earl of Dysart', which would place the family's acquisition of the volume before 1727.

Probably the manuscript described as 'Liber Medicines Abubecri' in the 1762 Catalogue of the Library at Helmingham Hall in Suffolk (Suffolk Record Office, Ipswich HD 1538/253/167, printed in Edwards and Griffiths, pp. 362-364). Edwards and Griffiths tentatively suggested that the 'Liber Medicines Abubecri' might be their 'MS 64', now Pennsylvania, University of Pennsylvania, Library, Lawrence J. Schoenberg Collection, MS 24 , a copy of the medical works of Isaac Israeli ben Solomon, but since the opening words of MS Add. 9213 are 'Abubecri arazi filij zacarie liber incipit' (1r) it seems much more likely that that the 'Liber Medicines Abubecri' entry in the in the 1762 Catalogue refers to CUL MS Add. 9213.

Peter Kidd, 'The Helmingham Hall Manuscripts', Medieval Manuscripts Provenance: Notes and Observations (18 March 2015)
A.S.G. Edwards and J. Griffiths, 'The Tollemache Collection of Medieval Manuscripts', The Book Collector 49.3 (2000), pp. 349-364. MS Add. 9213 is their MS 63.

Owned by Philip Robinson (1902-1991) , antiquarian bookseller (with his brother Lionel Robinson (1897-1983) ): see correspondence from N.R. Ker, kept with the manuscript.

Purchased by Cambridge University Library as Lot 52 from a sale of Robinson Trust items at Sotheby's on 6 December 1993.

Part 1: Medical texts in Latin including the translated Liber Almansoris of Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Zakarīyā Rāzī [Cambridge, University Library, MS Add. 9213, ff. i, iv, 1-230]

Contents

Language(s): Latin

1. i verso
Medical recipes
Language(s): Latin

Written by at least two hands of perhaps the 14th century. The leaf has been cut in half vertically, so much of the text is lost, however the names and weights of various plants remain, and the form of the text is typical of medieval medical recipes. One is a preparation for cleansing the face ('et clarificandem faciem').

Recto blank.

2. iv recto
Medical recipe
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: iv recto Gutea rosea est infeccio fatiei qu...(?) in naso et in partibus adiacentibus
Explicit: iv recto illo abluerem fatiem

First line of text is damaged as a section of the upper part of the leaf has been cut away.

For 'gutea rosea': i.e. skin complaint/rash affecting the face. Similar to a recipe in London, British Library, MS Sloane 3466, ff. 111r-112v : see eVK 2903.00 (v0096800000).

Some text unclear due to rubbing and stains on the leaf.

3. iv recto
Medical recipe
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: iv recto Nota quod secundum Henricus de amonda uilla probatum in gutea rosea antiquate quod est
Explicit: iv recto et est bona nigutea ...(?)

Also for 'gutea rosea'. Attributed to Henry de Mondeville (fl. 14th century) ('Henricus de amonda uilla'), French surgeon, author of a treatise on surgery, and physician to Philip IV (Philippe le Bel) (1268-1314) , King of France c. 1268-1314.

Some text unclear due to rubbing and stains on the leaf.

4. iv recto
Medical recipe
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: iv recto Iohannes Halaquem illud ...(?) stat
Explicit: iv recto et calido actu superponatur quando vadit dormitum vel ex hiis fiat unguentum

Also for 'gutea rosa'. This recipe is attributed to a Iohannes Halaquem and mentions Galen and Dioscorides as sources of authority.

Some text unclear due to rubbing and stains on the leaf.

5. iv recto
Medical recipes
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: iv recto in merphea . facei . me. digestione et progestione uel sufficienti apponentur(?) uentosa super
Explicit: iv recto metalligas de succo spatule fetide ...(?) ab ad ...(?)

Two remedies for morphew. Some text unclear due to rubbing and stains on the leaf.

6. iv verso
Corrected capitula list for Liber Almansoris Book 2
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: iv verso De signisficacionibus capillorum
Explicit: iv verso De signis inverecundi

28 capitula. The capitula for the entire (Books 1-10) Liber Almansoris are copied on ff. 1r-4v. A reader noticed an error in the capitula for Liber Almansoris Book 2 and has supplied the correct capitula here. Matching tie marks in red are present in the outer margin of f. iv verso and f. 1v, in column b, after the 7th line of text.

7. iv verso
Medical recipes
Language(s): Latin

Three for ?dropsy ('Contra y[dropsis]'?), and two for another illness ('Contra ch' and 'Ad idem': ?chorea/?theria). Added by a 14th-century hand.

8. 1r-195r
Liber Almansoris (The Book of Medicine for Manṣūr) Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Zakarīyā Rāzī
Language(s): Latin
8.1. 1r-4v
Preface and Capitula for the Liber Almansoris (The Book of Medicine for Manṣūr) [Latin] Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Zakarīyā Rāzī
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 1r Abubecri arazi filij zacarie liber incipit qui ab eo uocatus est almansor
Explicit: 1r Ut hoc autem decentur complere ualeam diuinum imploro ducatum et auxilium ut ipsi prius deinde regi placeam eique incessantur adhere possim .
8.2. 4v-195r
Liber Almansoris (The Book of Medicine for Manṣūr) (10 Books) Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Zakarīyā Rāzī
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 4v De forma ossium
Incipit: 4v Creator omnium deus ossa condidit ut per ea corpus sustentaretur et rectificaretur
Explicit: 195r deo cuius beneficio et auxilio hoc ad finem perduximus gratie sint infinite
Final rubric: 195r AMEN

The translation into Latin of the Liber Almansoris is typically attributed to Gerard of Cremona, however, according to Danielle Jacquart, stylistic differences in the text in this manuscript cast doubt on this attribution in this specific instance.

Book list:

  • Book 1: 4v
  • Book 2: 24r
  • Book 3: 33v
  • Book 4: 53r
  • Book 5: 68v
  • Book 6: 86r
  • Book 7: 95v
  • Book 8: 113r
  • Book 9: 129v
  • Book 10: 163v

eTK 0272I
D. Jacquart, 'Les traductions médicales de Gérard de Crémone', in P. Pizzamiglio (ed.), Gerardo da Cremona, Annali della biblioteca statale e libreria civica di Cremona 41 (Cremona, 1992) pp. 57-70
9.1. 113r
Medical recipe
Language(s): Latin

For itching and severe pain. Written in the bottom margin.

9.2. 140r
Medical recipe
Language(s): Latin

For pain and gout. Citing 'Geraldus super viaticum' (i.e. the commentary on the Viaticum of Constantinus Africanus composed by Gerardus Bituricensis .

9.3. 142r
Medical recipes
Language(s): Latin

For stabilising lost and loose teeth. Written in the bottom margin.

9.4. 149v
Medical recipes
Language(s): Latin

An electuary for strengthening the stomach, attributed to Kindī . Rubric and text partially trimmed. Written in the bottom margin.

9.5. 151r
Medical recipe
Language(s): Latin

For dropsy ('In ydropisi scilicet yposarca'). Written in the bottom margin.

10. 195v-198v
Medical notes and glosses associated with the Liber Almansoris (The Book of Medicine for Manṣūr) Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Zakarīyā Rāzī
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 195v Sensus est passio ideoque nerui multum molles ei sunt necessarii Motus uero accio est
Explicit: 198v ego eum diffinire nescio

The extracts here conform to the 'Additio' text in the 1510 printed edition of the Latin text Opera parua Abubetri filii Zacharie filii arasi, 2 vols (Lyon, 1510/11), I:1r–216v; in the 1510 edition, the 'Additions' are printed as an integrated gloss within the main text rather than as a separate section of text at the end. The early date of MS Add. 9213 means that it is likely that these 'Additio' texts and glosses have travelled with the main text since early on in the Latin transmission of the work of Rāzī.

A note in the text on f. 198r column one, towards the bottom of that column reads 'Glose sequitur secundum librum almansoris'.

11. 198v
Medical note on a plant
Language(s): Latin

Full transcription: 'Galen et diascorides cheneuiri est herbas in uere nascens que ramos habet longos . et folia longa . et comeditur cruda . et uocantur ganbul'

12. 199r-227r
Liber elementorum (tr. ?Constantinus Africanus) Isaac Israeli ben Solomon
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 199r Philosophus in plerisque libris suis diffiniuit elementum esse rem ex qua generatione prima aliquid generatur
Explicit: 227r eius forma et ipsius complementum. Iam igitur remouetur ab elementaitate proculdubio
Final rubric: 227r finit liber ysaac de elementis
eTK 1045K
Omnia opera Ysaac (Lyon, 1515)
13. 227r-229r
Template letters
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 227r Tutum est ibi
Explicit: 228v ad te clamat quia non est qui consoletur eam nisi tu Rex nosteR

Several short template letters, somewhat hermeneutic in style, and not identified in any other manuscripts.

In most cases in these template-letters, the addressee is rendered as '.N.', but the text crossing from the bottom of f. 227v to the top of f. 228r mentions a 'dilectissime Will⟨ellmi⟩. There are several references to monks, abbots, and the general setting of life in a religious house among the letters.

14. 229r-229v
Medical notes in Latin and medieval French
Language(s): Latin and medieval French

Added in several (late) 12th and 13th century hands. They address the following:

  • f. 229r: for spasm (an 'experimentum' attributed to 'Magistri Iohannis de tholosa'/'Master John of Toulouse'); for gout; for contracted nerves/sinews/muscles ('contra neruos contractos'); for an electuary called 'dyaspermaton' for inflammation of the stomach and indigestion; for an eye ailment of uncertain type ('contra chater[?] oculorum'); for gout (attributed to 'Serapion': either Johannes Serapion or Serapion the Younger ); a black electuary for melancholy/black bile, leprosy, ulcers and scabies; two for haemorrhoids (including another at the bottom of the first column?)
  • f. 229v: for an unstated purpose, a plaster for rupture/hernia, an unguent for ?hardening of the ?spleen, two for uncertain purposes (text faded/lost), for cleansing (?uncertain), a regenerative powder (for healing wounds?), a medicament for helping women retain food and for cleansing those who may be pregnant ('Medicament[...] cuius retinentur M[ulierem] et putantur quod sint grauide'), a cleansing clyster, for hardness or swollen glands, for an uncertain purpose, for deafness/loss of hearing, for cough

15. 229v-230r
De brevitate vitae (extracts) Lucius Annaeus Seneca (the Younger)
Language(s): Latin

According to an unpublished description by Jayne Ringrose, this appears to relate to psychology. However, folio 230r begins with a reference to 'sen[eca] . de b[re]uitate uite', and apparently comprises a series of extracts from this text. It may either begin on f. 229v and continue onto f. 230r, or vice versa, or the two texts may be unrelated (since it has not been possible to identify extracts among the text written at the bottom of f. 229v).

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: 2r: de fructibus et pomis redolentibus
Form: codex
Support: Parchment (HFFH).
Extent: Codex: 2 + 230 leaves. 220 × 160 mm.

Collation

  • Opening bifolium (ff. i, iv) +
  • Quires 1-28 (ff. 1-16)
  • Quire 38 (3rd and 6th singletons, stubs visible; ff. 17-24)
  • Quire 48 (ff. 25-32)
  • Quire 510 (ff. 33-42)
  • Quire 68 (ff. 43-50)
  • Quire 78 (2nd and 7th singletons, stubs visible; ff. 51-58)
  • Quire 810 (3rd and 8th singletons, stubs visible; ff. 59-68)
  • Quires 9-118 (ff. 69-92)
  • Quire 1212 (ff. 93-104)
  • Quires 13-148 (ff. 105-120)
  • Quire 156 (ff. 121-126)
  • Quires 16-288 (ff. 127-230)

Sequence of medieval quire signatures present in the volume in the centre of the lower margin of the final verso of some quires, some signatures probably trimmed away. Quire 9 is marked with the medieval signature 'V', and several subsequent quires are marked in coherent sequence up to Quire 27 which is marked 'XXiii'. In the medieval quire signature sequence present in the volume since Quire 9 is marked 'V', this puts 'I' in the sequence as Quire 5. There are no remnants of any medieval quire signatures present on Quires 1-4.

A small error is present in the medieval quire sequence: Quire 24 is marked 'XX', Quire 25 was originally erroneously marked 'XXXI', but the first 'X' has been erased at a later. Quire 26 is marked 'XXII'.

Condition

A small piece of parchment cut away from f. iv, obliterating the name of a former owner. Some leaves stained and torn with losses to text and marginal annotations; ff. 18 and 230 badly torn. Some quire signatures and marginal annotations lost or damaged due to trimming.

Layout

185 × 115 mm. Ruled in two-column format, in leadpoint and ink, frame and lines. Typically 30 lines to the column, written above top line.

Hand(s)

Main text is written in a late protogothic with some transitional textualis features by at least two scribes.

Decoration

Flourished initial in the 'Arabesque' style on f. 1r at the opening of the main text in red, green, and blue. Minor flourished initials in red and blue with marginal flourishes confined to the height of the initial at significant divisions of the text.

Plain initials in red or blue at minor divisions of the text.

Rubricated headings (red only).

Guide letters for flourished initials in the margins, many trimmed away.

History

Origin: 12th or early 13th century. ; England or France.

The date of production for this manuscript has traditionally been placed in the late 12th or early 13th century, due to palaeographical features, and also the initial identification of the Latin translation of the Liber Almansoris by Gerard of Cremona (d. 1177) in this manuscript. Work by Danielle Jacquart has raised doubts about the association of the text of the Liber Almansoris in this manuscript with Gerard of Cremona's oeuvre, and as such an entire reassessment of the date of production is worthy of further investigation. The palaeography of the manuscript is typical of work produced in England and France in the second half of the twelfth century; a date of production in the early 13th century is not impossible on palaeographical grounds, but this manuscript would benefit from detailed palaeographical investigation in order to further discussions about its date and place of production.

Part 2 - Binding Fragment [Cambridge, University Library, MS Add. 9213, f. vii]

Contents

Language(s): Latin

1. vii recto
Record of two legal proceedings
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: vii recto ff. mich anno xxxiiio xxxiiii to Eliz regnum
Incipit: vii recto Ebor⟨acum⟩
Explicit: vii recto Johanne ...(?) ||

Verso blank. Leaf inserted with text running parallel to hinge of the right board.

The dating clause at the top of the leaf indicates a date between 17 November 1590 and and 16 November 1592 (the 33rd and 34th regnal years of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I). Since the dating clause includes the descriptor ‘Michaelmas’ (29 September, and also the name for the autumn/winter period of study at Cambridge and Oxford universities) this may indicate a date in the autumn of 1591 around the time of the transition from the 33rd to the 34th regnal year The fragment gives details of legal proceedings. Persons named in the document are:

  • George Tipladye
  • John Crowne
  • Robert Crowne
. The document mentions the villages of Whitwell and Cowesby (written as 'Whitwellby' and 'Cowesbye' in the manuscript) in what is now North Yorkshire.

Physical Description

Form: other
Support: Parchment.
Extent: Fragment: 1 leaf. 43 × 218 mm.

Condition

Fragment. Section cut away from a larger document for use as a binding support. Text lost. The fragment has been folded so that it could be anchored for sewing and a small c. 8 mm stub is visible between f. 230v and f. v recto. The paper bifolium ff. v-vi is nested within the stub and the main portion of the fragment (f. vii).

Layout

39 × 212 mm. Single-column format. No ruling.

Hand(s)

Written in secretary.

History

Origin: Between November 1590 and November 1592. ; England, perhaps Yorkshire.

Additional Information

Record Sources

This catalogue record draws on an unpublished description of the manuscript by Jayne Ringrose, used here by kind permission of the author.

Availability

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Bibliography

    Medieval Inventories of Clare College Library Transactions of the Cambridge Bibliographical Society, , (1, 2, 105-125, 1950, https://www.jstor.org/stable/41337257) Les traductions médicales de Gérard de Crémone Gerardo da Cremona Annali della biblioteca statale e libreria civica di Cremona, , (Cremona, 57-70, 1992) A doctor and his books: the manuscripts of Roger Marchall (d. 1477) New science out of old books: studies in manuscripts and early printed books in honour of A.I. Doyle, , (Aldershot, 249-314, Scolar Press, 1995) Anglo-Norman literature: a guide to texts and manuscripts Anglo-Norman Text Society occasional publications series, Dean, Ruth J.Boulton, Maureen Barry McCann (London, Anglo-Norman Text Society, 1999) The Tollemache Collection of Medieval Manuscripts The Book Collector, , , (49, 3, 349-364, 2000) Lexiques bilingues dans les domaines philosophique et scientifique: Moyen Age - Renaissance: actes du colloque international organisé par l'Ecole pratique des hautes études, IVe Section et l'Institut supérieur de philosophie de l'Université catholique de Louvain, (Paris, 12-14 juin 1997) Textes et études du moyen âge / Fédération internationale des instituts d'études médiévales, (Turnhout, Brepols, 2001) Le transmission de textes en Anglo-Français insulaire Approches techniques littéraires et historiques / IIe Journée d'études anglo-normandes organisée par l'Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres, Palais de l'Institut, 21 mai 2010, Pouzet, Jean-Pascal (Paris, Académie des inscriptions et belles lettres, 2012) The Helmingham Hall Manuscripts, , (2015, 2023-02-01, https://mssprovenance.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-helmingham-hall-manuscripts.html)

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