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 Ee.2.20

Medical texts

Contents

Introduction: In broad terms, there exist in codicological studies two interpretative models for the production of medieval books. There are manuscripts that were made in a single campaign, though the concept of the 'codicological unit' or booklet reminds us that this could have involved two or more scribes (to say nothing of artists and illuminators) working in parallel with one another on separate quires. In contrast to these stand 'composite' manuscripts, whose constituent parts originated at different times and/or places and which were bound together at some later date. The key distinction between the two is one of intent: those involved in the making of this first type of manuscript - or those instructing their work - planned for their products to form a single book, whereas the makers of a composite manuscript were not known to one another and did not conceive of their work coming together in this way. The present manuscript illustrates, however, that such distinctions may not always be straightforwardly drawn. Medieval books were never truly 'finished', but could be expanded and supplemented according to the wishes or interests of their readers. The contents of MS Ee.2.20 form a coherent whole, comprising medical texts and commentaries on diagnosis by pulse and urine, the signs of illness and prognosis, therapeutics and treatment (including bloodletting), types of medicines and materia medica and their qualities or characteristics. They were all copied around the middle or second half of the thirteenth century and the book given to an unnamed recipient by a friar named Nicholas de Badele - around that time and certainly not much later, judging by the script in which the donor inscription was written (see f. 1r). Nevertheless, there is a distinct change in the appearance of the manuscript two-thirds of the way through. The neat gothic bookhands with which almost all of the contents had thus far been copied give way to early renditions of the cursive script known as 'anglicana', and the elaborate puzzle initials found at the openings of and medial points within the texts cease to appear from this point onwards. Such evidence points to the manuscript being a composite. However, the shift occurs not at the division between two quires, but on the verso of the seventh leaf of what is now Quire 16. The scribe responsible for copying Isaac Israeli's work on fevers (in Constantinus Africanus's Latin translation) concluded his stint near the bottom of the first column of f. 159r, leaving the rest of that quire blank. Another scribe then began copying a complementary text on fevers at the top of f. 159v, which he continued on a further quire. So, although these were made separately from one another, we know that the first part was copied and decorated before the second - and that the scribe of the second text on fevers intended his production to expand the contents of this specific manuscript. The first part of the manuscript also comprises a number of codicological units. Although the script, decoration and presentation of the first part are consistent, there are minor variations in page preparation - the number of ruled lines, the dimensions of the written space - which often coincide with slight differences in scribal hand. Until the end of Quire 8, these occur at quire divisions. Quire 9 and the first six leaves of Quire 10 contain Giles of Corbeil's treatise on urines, interspersed with a commentary attributed to Gentilis Fulginas (but perhaps in large part Giles's own work). It concludes with a further note on urines to f. 90v. Once again, this left two leaves blank at the end of the quire. The fore-edge of folios 91 and 92 show that they had been pricked according to the layout used for the preceding commentary (though they may never have been ruled), but were then re-pricked and ruled to provide a more spacious layout. A different scribe then began copying Theophilus's text on the same subject, which he completed on the second leaf of the following quire. On the verso, another scribe began yet another treatise on urines, the Liber urinarum of Isaac Israeli (again in a Latin translation by Constantinus Africanus). The contents of medieval books could contract as well as expand. Evidence that MS Ee.2.20 is not quite in the form in which Nicholas de Badele or later readers encountered it is supplied by a table of contents on f. 1r. This was not contemporary with the production of the manuscript, but was written by a current hand later in the fourteenth century. It was written into space left by what appears to be an earlier list, written in leadpoint, that is now legible only in part. The later list begins with 'Glosa super viaticum constantini', referring to Gerardus Bituricensis's commentary on the Viaticum of Constantinus Africanus. This breaks off at the end of the first quire; comparison with other copies suggests the loss of several quires. Nevertheless, the list continues to tally with the manuscript's contents as far as Johannes de Sancto Paulo's De simplicium medicinarum uirtutibus (ff. 60r-64r). The next in the table is 'Item de diebus creticis', which may refer to Galen's work of the same name. That is not present in the manuscript, but could have continued on the remaining leaves of Quire 6, of which only five leaves remain (bearing contemporary leaf signatures 'I' to 'V' in leadpoint), and on quires after that - all now lost. 'Item summa Ricardi de signis', the next item, may be an accidental repetition of Richard the Englishman's Signa, earlier recorded as 'Item de signis discretionis temporum' (which words occur in the opening lines) - or some other treatise, now also lost. There is no obvious match, either, for the next: a 'tractatus de c[onservation]e[?]' or 'de c[aus]e sanitatis', which may have been an extract of fen 3 from Avicenna's Canon medicinae. The Quid pro quo and Constantinus Africanus's Liber graduum then follow, but out of order. The remaining entries correspond with the rest of the manuscript. Dr James Freeman|Medieval Manuscripts Specialist|Cambridge University Library

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: 3r: al uel nigri
Form: codex
Support: Parchment
Extent: Codex: ii + 1 + 58 ; 5 ; 12 ; 16 ; 24 ; 48 | 76 + ii leaves. 270 × 195 mm.
Foliation:

20th-century foliation:

[i-ii] + 1 + 2-59 ; 60-64 ; 65-76 ; 77-92 ; 93-116 ; 117-164 | 165-240 + [iii-iv]

Written in pencil in the top right-hand corner of the recto side of each leaf, by an unidentified hand.

Foliation:

19th-century foliation:

Written intermittently in pencil in the bottom margin of the recto or verso side of the leaf.

Collation

The text of Gerardus Bituricensis's commentary ends abruptly at the end of Quire 1, pointing to the loss of several quires at this point. Comparison of the fourteenth-century table (f. 1r) with the contents of the volume points to further losses from and after Quire 6. For further discussion, and for an analysis of the production of the manuscript, see the introductory Summary.

  • Quire 112 (ff. 2-13)
  • Quires 2-412 (ff. 14-49)
  • Quire 510 (ff. 50-59) ;
  • Quire 6five (ff. 60-64) ;
  • Quire 78 (ff. 65-72)
  • Quire 84 (ff. 73-76) ;
  • Quires 9-108 (ff. 77-92) ;
  • Quires 11-1612 (ff. 93-164) |
  • Quire 176 (ff. 165-170)
  • Quire 1812-2 (ff. 171-180: 9th-10th leaves cancelled)
  • Quire 198 (ff. 181-188)
  • Quires 20-2312 (ff. 189-236)
  • Quire 244 (ff. 237-240)

112 2-412 510 ; 6five ; 78 84 ; 9-108 ; 11-1612 | 176 1812-2 198 20-2312 244

Additions

Two tables of contents: the earlier written in leadpoint (now legible only in part), and the later written in a current script by a hand of the 14th century (f. 1r). See Summary for further discussion. Several of the entries are annotated with the 19th-century folio references for the texts listed therein.

Quire signatures ('a, c-f' - for Quires 1-5; and '1-24') 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 two hands of the 19th/20th century.

Collation formula by the hand of H.L. Pink , (rear pastedown).

Binding

Quarter leather binding with marbled paper sides and vellum tips, by J.P. Gray and Son, Cambridge, 1952 (binder's stamp and annotation on front pastedown).

History

Provenance and Acquisition

'Ex Dono Fratris Nicholas de Badele': 13th/14th-century inscription recording the donation of the manuscript by Nicholas de Badele (fl. 13th century), presumably its former owner, to an unnamed recipient, perhaps his convent. Badele has so far not been identified elsewhere. See Jones (2024), pp. 137, 243.

Sir Thomas Knyvett (1539-1618) of Ashwellthorpe, book collector: characteristic shelfmark 'Sed: 26' (f. 240v) and ownership inscription and motto 'Piu fa tempo che forza' (f. 2r). No. 26 in the catalogue of Knyvett's manuscripts made shortly after his death (now Cambridge, University Library, MS Ff.2.30), where it is described as 'Liber Medicus, in maxime antiquo Caractere'. See McKitterick (1978), p. 160.

Thomas Knyvett (1596-1658) , grandson of Sir Thomas Knyvett (1539-1618): inherited this manuscript together with Knyvett's collection. See McKitterick (1978), pp. 33-34.

John Knyvett (1623-1673) , great-grandson of Sir Thomas Knyvett (1539-1618) and son of Thomas Knyvett (1596-1658): inherited this manuscript together with Knyvett's collection. See McKitterick (1978), p. 36.

Thomas Knyvett (d. 1693) , great-great-grandson of Sir Thomas Knyvett (1539-1618) and son of John Knyvett (1623-1673), inherited this manuscript together with Knyvett's collection. Thomas died without heir and the Knyvett library was fragmented after his death: 57 of Knyvett's manuscripts had been acquired by John Moore [see below] by 1698. See McKitterick (1978), p. 37.

John Moore (1646-1714) , bishop of Ely: no. 103 (f. 1r) in Bernard, Catalogi librorum manuscriptorum Angliæ et Hiberniæ (c. 1697).

Presented to the University Library in 1715 by George I (1660-1727) . Without the donation bookplate engraved by John Pine (1690-1756) in 1736.

Part 1 [Cambridge, University Library, MS Ee.2.20, ff. 2-159]

Contents

Language(s): Latin

1. 2r-13v
Commentary on Constantinus Africanus, Viaticum Gerardus Bituricensis
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 2r: Cum omnia ex quatuor elementis generata a medicus quodammodo sunt agnoscenda
Explicit: 13v: vngula concomitantibus id est consequentibus et si legatur fomentacionibus||

Text ends imperfectly. 'Glosa super viaticium constantini' in table of contents (f. 1r).

eTK 0325J (t0063910000)
2. 14r-18v
De modo medendi
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 14r: De modo medendi / Quot et quibus modis medetur
Incipit: 14r: In medendis corporibus et maxime purgandis variis sepe molestamur impedimentis
Explicit: 18v: in cibis quam in potibus quam medicinis convenientibus
Final rubric: 18v: Explicit

Text preceded by a list of capitulae. Attributed variously to 'Archimatthaeus', Copho, Gerard of Cremona or Gerard of Montpellier, Johannes de Sancto Paulo or Matthaeus Ferrarius (see eTK) or to Ricardus Anglicus (CUL catalogue). 'Item tractatus quidam de modo medendi' in table of contents (f. 1r).

eTK 0691A
3. 18v-25r
Pomum ambre
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 18v: Pomum ambre duplicatum ad reuma suspendendum ad debilitatem
Explicit: 25r: confice cum sera et reserua in pixide
Final rubric: 25r: Explicit pomum ambre

Unprinted. 'Item quidam tractatus de pomo ambre' in table of contents (f. 1r).

eTK 1057D
4. 19v-28r
Medical recipes
Language(s): Latin

Added to the margins by hands of the late 13th century. They address the following:

  • f. 19v: for saucefleme (left-hand margin), an electuary for ?toothache and another that is a restorative (bottom margin)
  • f. 20r: for uncertain purposes (left-hand and bottom margins)
  • f. 21r: for ?quinsy (left-hand margin)
  • f. 21v: a pill for an uncertain purpose (bottom margin)
  • f. 24v: unguents against pustules on the face, to cleanse the skin and against fissures in the hands and feet (bottom margin)
  • f. 25r: another unguent for all kinds of jaundice (top margin)
  • f. 28r: an antidote for bladder pain, a clister for the same purpose, two other medicines for the stone and another for an uncertain purpose (presumably the same/similar to the preceding items) called 'Diacison' (bottom margin)

5. 25r-28v
De medicinis repressiuis (Micrologus, Part 4) Richard the Englishman, medical writer
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: (prologue) 25r: Laxatiua solent multum laxando nocere
Incipit: (text) 25r: Aloe quia a prima litera incipit erit principium in repressiuis
Explicit: 28v: ana et forcius addito ferugine
Final rubric: 28v: Epliciunt [sic] expressiua magistri ricardi

'Item expressiva Magistri Richardi' in table of contents (f. 1r).

eTK 0084I (t0016150000) (prologue)
eTK 0814E (t0156600000) (text)
6. 28v-41r
Summa de medicinis et particularibus
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 28v: De capillis et primo de tinea capillorum
Explicit: 41r: in corpore pul litargis et ceruse quo unguento vngatur . po [?probatum]
Final rubric: 41r: Explicit ista summa de medicines et particularibus

'[A] collection of experimenta credited to an otherwise unidentified Cancellarius. Amongst these experimenta are pills of the kings of England used to clarify vision, an experimentum against scrophula credited to a peasant (rusticus), a maturative plaster against pleurisy by master Lucian (two other experimenta are also credited to him) and a powder of master Andrew against lientery, a form of diarrhoea' (Jones (2024), p. 137).

Title taken from the closing rubric, which appears to followed by an erasure. 'Item summa de Medicinis particularibus' in table of contents (f. 1r).

eTK 0366M (t0072200000)
7. 41v-55r
Signa (Micrologus, Part 5) Richard the Englishman, medical writer
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 41v: Finis meae [sic] dun taxat in laudabilis existit
Explicit: 55r: in acutis precipue cum lingue ingredine signum est mortale
Final rubric: 55r: Explicit summa Ricardi de signis

'Item de signis discretionis temporum' in table of contents (f. 1r).

See also Cambridge, University Library, MS Ii.1.16, ff. 162r-181v, which differs from this copy, and where a hand of the 17th/18th century has attributed the text to 'Richardus Anglicus [...] vixit anno domini 1230'.

eTK 0561J (t0109180000)
Beusing (1922), partial edition
8. 55r-59v
De pulsibus
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 55r: Cogitanti mihi uestrum uotum bonum sub orta est
Explicit: 59v: egritudini habebit tractatum qui quantum sit utilis tibi uidebit
Final rubric: 59v: Explicit

Attributed to 'Archimatthaeus' (Renzi). Title as given in eTK. 'Item quidam tractatus de pulsibus' in table of contents (f. 1r).

eTK 0229I (t0043820000)
9. 59v
Prayer for a physician
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 59v: Medicus discretus hanc orationem dicat, antequam alicui, det medicinam
Incipit: 59v: Deus qui mirabiliter hominem creasti et mirabilius conformasti que dedisti medicinam ad regenerandam sanitatem humanorum corporum ; da benedictionum tuam sanctam de celis super hec antidotum et electuarium et cetera ut in quorum corpus introierit sanitatem mentis et corporis accipere mereantur . Per christum dominum nostrum . Amen

Full transcription.

eTK 0175K
eTK 0410J
eTK 0410K
eTK 0410L
10. 60r-64r
De simplicium medicinarum uirtutibus Johannes de Sancto Paulo
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 60r: Cogitanti mihi de simplicium medicinarum uirtutibus earum
Explicit: 64r: et pluribus aliis libris non modicam parere vtilitatem
Final rubric: 64r: Explicit liber de simplici medicina

'Item de simplicium medicinarum uirtutibus' in table of contents (f. 1r).

Printed in Omnia opera ysaac vol. II (Lyon, 1515), ff. 186v-189v
G.H. Kroemer (Leipzig, 1920)
eTK 0229E (t0043760000)
11. 65r-74v
Liber graduum Constantinus Africanus
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: (prologue) 65r: Quoniam simplicis medicine disputacionem uniuersaliter pro ut ratio
Incipit: (text) 65v: Rosa frigida in primo gradu scilicet in fine secundi subtilem
Explicit: 74v: cornu uaccini id est exagium fluxum sanguinis ex omni loco sist

'Item liber graduum' in table of contents (f. 1r).

Printed in Omnia opera ysaac vol. II (Lyon, 1515), ff. 78r-86r
eTK 1303E (t0250190000)
12. 75r-75v
Quid pro quo
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 75r: Libellus de equipollenciis medicinarum
Incipit: 75r: Pro aristologia longa ruta domestica in duplo
Explicit: 75v: Pro zinziberi piretrum

'Item de equipollenciis medicinarum' in table of contents (f. 1r).

eTK 1129I (t0217080000)
13. 76r-76v
De visceribus
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 76r: Sciendum est quod urinalia dicere renum significat
Explicit: 76v: sed deficie signe dolorem ypocondrii destri uel sinistri

Title as given in eTK 1396L. Also titled Regula urinarum (eTK 1395M), which elsewhere is attributed to Bartholomaeus Salernitanus (e.g. Cambridge, Gonville and Caius, MS 159/209, pp. 43-44) (the text here is similar but longer).

eTK 1395M (t0266990000)
eTK 1396L (t0267140000)
eTK 1396L (t0267150000)
14. 77r-90v
Commentary on Aegidius Corbeiensis (Giles of Corbeil), De urinis ?Gentilis Fulginas; ?Aegidius Corbeiensis (Giles of Corbeil)
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: (prologue) 77r: Liber iste est noue institucionis studiose compositionis artificio
Incipit: (text) 77r: Renibus una dicitur quia colligitur et unitur in renibus uel quia ibi formaliter generatur
Explicit: 90v: non potentis humores dissoluere in aliquam uentositatem que posit eleuate eam

The commentary printed in 1483 as by Gentile da Foligno/Gentilis Fulginas and later comprising a prologue ('Liber iste nove'), 'expositio' (beginning 'In libro isto'), and 'commentum' (beginning 'Renibus una dicitur quia formaliter'). Choulant suggested that only the expositio was by Foligno, with the commentum (which circulates earlier) perhaps by Giles of Corbeil himself.

'Item Egidius de vrinis cum commento' in table of contents (f. 1r).

eTK 0820G (t0157840000) (see also eTK 0790H) [prologue]
eTK 1348G [text]
Choulant (1826), 1 (MS not recorded) [Prooemium only]
15. 77r-90r
De urinis Aegidius Corbeiensis (Giles of Corbeil)
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 77r: Dicitur urina quoniam sit renibus una
Explicit: 90r: Aggrauat et cumulat mala circumstancia culpam

Without the epilogus.

eTK 0422G (t0083470000)
Wickersheimer, 196-97
WIC 4432
Choulant (1826), 1-18 (MS not recorded)
16. 90v
On urines
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 90v: Urina viridis cotidie in unitata mortem signat
Explicit: 90v: uel tocius corporis contentum in urina signat in quo loco continetur tria morbi contentum in urina

?Ends imperfectly. A further text on urine, perhaps forming part of the preceding commentary but not found in other copies - see, for example:

17. 91r-94r
Liber urinarum Theophilus
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: (prologue) 91r: De urinarum differentia negocium multi ueterum medicorum
Incipit: (text) 91r: Urina est colamentum sanguinis . hanc autem superfluitatem
Explicit: 94r: et differencias conuenientur exposuimus
Final rubric: 94r: Expliciunt urine theophili

'Item vrine theophili' in table of contents (f. 1r).

eTK 0371A [prologue]
eTK 0393L [prologue]
eTK 1607L [text]
eTK 1608C [text]
18. 113r
Liber urinarum Isaac Israeli; Constantinus Africanus [translator]
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: (prologue) 94v: In latinis quidem libris nullum auctorem inuenire potui
Incipit: (prologue) 94v: Urina est colamentum sanguinis et aliorum humorum
Explicit: 113r: urina spumosa in superficie sicut uuea dolorem renum significat
Final rubric: 113r: Finito libro sit laus et gloria christo finit finit

'Item vrine constantini' in table of contents (f. 1r).

eTK 0688B (prologue)
eTK 1608C (text)
19. 113v-116v
Regulae de urinis (Micrologus, Part 2) Richard the Englishman, medical writer
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 113v: Quinque dicuntur generalia et principalia in urina
Explicit: 116v: Inuitus pollacis et epaticis morbi prolixitate
Final rubric: 116v: Haec secundum Iohannes salernitanus medicus

Attributed to 'John of Salerno' in the closing rubric. Without the opening verse (see eTK 1205G and WIC 15458).

'Item quidam tractatus de vrinis' in table of contents (f. 1r).

eTK 1247I (t0239280000)
eTK 0223A (variant incipit)
eTK 1179J (t0226220000) (with erroneous incipit)
20. 117r-159r
Liber febrium Isaac Israeli; Constantinus Africanus [translator]
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: (prologue) 117r: Quoniam te filii karissime Iohannes lacrimas cordis dolorem
Incipit: (text) 117r: Liber iste in quinque partes diuiditur . prima de essencia febris
Explicit: 159r: sanguinem qui est eius materia propter vicinitatem cordis

'Item ysaac de febribus libri' in table of contents (f. 1r).

eTK 1304M (t0250390000) (prologue)
eTK 0820J (text)

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Parchment (FHHF)
Extent: Codex: 58 ; 5 ; 12 ; 16 ; 24 ; 48 leaves. 270 × 195 mm.

Collation

  • Quire 112 (ff. 2-13)
  • Quires 2-412 (ff. 14-49)
  • Quire 510 (ff. 50-59) ;
  • Quire 6five (ff. 60-64) ;
  • Quire 78 (ff. 65-72)
  • Quire 84 (ff. 73-76) ;
  • Quires 9-108 (ff. 77-92) ;
  • Quires 11-1612 (ff. 93-164)

Leaf signatures in leadpoint (Quire 6 only).

 Catchword (end of Quire 1 only); rest cropped.

Layout

Folios 2-59: 190 × 130 mm. Ruled in leadpoint, frame and line. Two columns, 42 lines to the page, written below top line.

Folios 2-59: 190 × 130 mm. Ruled in leadpoint, frame and line. Two columns, 42 lines to the page, written below top line.

Folios 60-64: 185-190 × 130-135 mm. Ruled in leadpoint, frame and line. Two columns, 42 lines to the page, written below top line.

Folios 65-74: 190 × 135 mm. Ruled in leadpoint, frame and line. Two columns, 37 lines to the page, written below top line.

Folio 75: 210 × 160 mm. Ruled in leadpoint, frame and line. Four columns, 58 lines to the page, written below top line.

Folio 76: 190-220 × 165-170 mm. Ruled in leadpoint, frame only (f. 76r) and frame and line (f. 76v). Two columns, 56-63 lines to the page, written below top line (f. 76r) and above top line (f. 76v).

Folios 77-90: 200 × 150 mm. Ruled in leadpoint, frame and line. Two columns, 52-54 lines to the page, written below top line.

Folios 91r-159r: 170-185 × 115-125 mm. Ruled in leadpoint, frame and line. Two columns, 40 lines to the page (42 on f. 91r only), written below top line.

Hand(s)

The bulk of the manuscript written by up to perhaps six hands, writing similar versions of gothic bookhand, with changes in scribal hand often coinciding with slight variations in ruling and layout: ff. 2r-59v, 60r-64r, 65r-74v, 77r-90v, 91r-94r, 94v-159r.

Additions in an early form of anglicana, by two hands: ff. 75r-75v, 76r-76v.

Decoration

Four- to fourteen-line puzzle initials in red and blue, with infill and marginal flourishing in red and blue, with feathered tails extending down the margin (ff. 2r, 12r, 14r, 25r, 28v, 41v, 55v, 65r, 117r, 123v, 128v, 145r).

Two- to six-line initials alternating in red or blue, with contrasting infill and marginal flourishing in blue or red (ff. 2r-159r).

History

Origin: Mid- or second half of the 13th century. ; England.

Part 2 [Cambridge, University Library, MS Ee.2.20, ff. 159-240]

Contents

21. 159v-169v
Febres ?Ferrarius Salernitanus
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 159v: Febris ut testatur Iohannitius est calor in naturalis cursum
Explicit: 169v: conficice inde electuarium cum predictis sirupis
Final rubric: 169v: Explicit liber magistri ferrarii de febris

Preceded by a list of capitulae. 'Item liber Magistri ferarii de febribus' in table of contents (f. 1r).

eTK 0553C (t0107580000)
22. 171r-176r
Summula Antidotarii Nicolai
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 171r: Sumula super antidotarium Nicholai
Incipit: 171r: Cum in humano corpore sciendum amare medicine
Explicit: 176r: si dimittantur illio in mora morantur

Title taken from opening rubric. 'Item summa super antidotarium Nicholai' in table of contents (f. 1r).

eTK 0305N (t0059490000)
23. 172v
Key to symbols for weights and measurements
Language(s): Latin

Added to the bottom margin.

24. 177r-181r
Practica Archimattheus
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 177r: Practica Archimathei
Incipit: (prologue) 177r: Cum opus quodlibet suo habeat acestari artifici
Incipit: (text) 177r: Dissinteria est fluxus uentris cum excoriacione
Explicit: 181r: in cura accipere peces quam senes aut decrepices
Final rubric: 181r: Explicit practica archimathei

List of capitulae between end of prologue and beginning of text. 'Item practica archimathei' in table of contents (f. 1r).

eTK 0329D (t0064610000)
25. 181v-207r
Practica Rogerius de Baron
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 181v: Incipit practica Rogeri
Incipit: 181v: Sicut ab antiquis habemus auctoribus et eorundem ratio
Explicit: 207r: quo fluere solebant materia propinata matrice educunt
Final rubric: 207r: Explicit summa Rogeri

'Item practica Rogeri' in table of contents (f. 1r).

eTK 1479M (t0282900000)
26. 198v
Medical recipes
Language(s): Latin

Three medical recipes, presumably for fevers, written in the bottom margin by a hand of the 13th century.

27. 207r-210v
Phlebotomia ?Richard the Englishman, medical writer
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 207r: Tractatus de fleobotomia
Incipit: 207r: Propositum quidem est presentis negotii breuiter percurrere in quibus egritudinibus
Explicit: 210v: solet ad oculos decendere et lippocomiam generare

One of two treatises on bloodletting ascribed to Richard the Englishman (see Sharpe (1997), p. 474). 'Item tractatus de fleubotomia' in table of contents (f. 1r).

eTK 1142G (t0219600000)
eTK 1086B (variant incipit)
Buerschaper, diss. (Leipzig, 1919)
28. 211r-217v
Summa de modo medendi ?Gerard of Montpellier; ?Gerard of Cremona
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 211r: Parua summa Gerardi
Incipit: 211r: Cum onis scientia ex fine et utilitate sua naturaliter
Explicit: 217v: unde predictis prosunt dari
Final rubric: 217v: Magister de medicinarum

Preceded by a list of capitulae. 'Item summa Magistri Gerardi' in table of contents (f. 1r). For a brief discussion of the problem of authorship see Wickersheimer, 204–05.

eTK 0327K (t0064290000)
Wickersheimer, Suppt., 93
29. 219r-240v
Breviarium de signis morborum Johannes de Sancto Paulo
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: (prologue) 219r: Assiduis petitionibus me karissime compendiose membrorum signa
Incipit: (text) 219r: Quoniam longitudini in hoc opere parcere destinamus
Explicit: 240v: scripta operarium opera vestra dirigente Deo Omnipotente
Final rubric: 240v: Explicit Liber Breuiarium Magistrum Iohannem de sancto Paulo

Book 2 (f. 222v), Book 3 (f. 227v), Book 4 (f. 232v), Book 5 (f. 235v). Each book is preceded by a list of capitulae.

'Item breuiarium Iohannis de sancto paulo' in table of contents (f. 1r).

eTK 0153F (t0029490000) (prologue)
eTK 0153F (t0029500000) (prologue)
eTK 1284F (t0246560000) (text)
eTK 1284F (t0246570000) (text)
30. 240v
Note
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 240v: Nota quod non gradus eligancium sed vite melioris accio apud dium comprobatur

Full transcription. Added by a hand of the 15th century.

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Parchment FHHF)
Extent: Codex: 76 leaves. 270 × 195 mm.

Collation

  • Quire 176 (ff. 165-170)
  • Quire 1812-2 (ff. 171-180: 9th-10th leaves cancelled)
  • Quire 198 (ff. 181-188)
  • Quires 20-2312 (ff. 189-236)
  • Quire 244 (ff. 237-240)

Catchwords.

Layout

Folios 159v-169v: 205-210 × 140-145 mm. Ruled in leadpoint, frame and line. Two columns, 54-55 lines to the page, written below top line.

Folios 171r-217v: 205-215 × 145 mm. Ruled in leadpoint, frame and line. Two columns, 52-66 lines to the page, written above top line.

Folios 219-240: 205-210 × 140 mm. Ruled in leadpoint, frame and line. Two columns, 55 lines to the page, written below top line.

Hand(s)

Written in an early form of anglicana.

Decoration

Three- to seven-line flourished initials in blue, with contrasting infill and marginal flourishing in red.

Two- to seven-line plain initials, alternating in red and blue.

History

Origin: Mid- or second half of the 13th century. ; England.

Additional Information

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 enquiries, and to confirm the availability of the manuscript, please contact the Special Collections Reading Room.

Bibliography

    Aegidii Corboliensis carmina medica, (Leipzig, Apud Leopoldum Voss, 1826, http://archive.org/details/aegidiicorbolien00gill) A catalogue of the manuscripts preserved in the library of the University of Cambridge, (Cambridge, 2: Ee-Ff, Cambridge University Press, 1857) Johanns von Sancto Paulo: Liber de simplicium medicinarum virtutibus. Und ein anderer Salernitaner Traktat: Quae Medicinae pro quibus morbis donandae sunt nach dem Breslauer Codex herausgegeben . Johanns von Sancto Paulo, Kroemer, Georg Heinrich (Borna-Leipzig, 1920) Leben und Werke des Richardus Anglicus, samt einem erstmaligen Abdruck seiner Schrift "Signa", Beusing, Hermann Heinrich (Leipzig?, 1922, https://digitalcollections.crl.edu/record/934804) The library of Sir Thomas Knyvett of Ashwellthorpe, c.1539-1618 Cambridge University Library historical bibliography series, McKitterick, David (Cambridge, Cambridge University Library,, 1978) The Medicine of the Friars in Medieval England Health and Healing in the Middle Ages, Jones, Peter Murray (Woodbridge, Boydell & Brewer, 2024, https://www.jstor.org/stable/jj.5558126)

Funding of Cataloguing

National Library of Israel (digitisation)

Digital Images

Cambridge Digital Library

Abbreviations

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