Cambridge, University Library, MS Ii.6.39
Collection of medical, astrological, and theological works
Contents
Physical Description
Mid-20th-century foliation:
Volume 1: [i]-[iii], 1-4 | 5-66 | 67-74 | 75-109, 112-133, [iv]-[vi]
Volume 2: [vii]-[ix], 134-189 | 190-217 | 218-240 | 241-242, [242a], 243-248 | 249-250, [x]-[xii]
Numbering in pencil in the upper right-hand corner of the rectos, written by H.L. Pink . The start of this sequence (ff. 1r-67r follows that written by an unidentified 20th-century hand. From 68r onwards, the foliation continues in sequence (ignoring the sub-divisions in the earlier foliation of the manuscript) throughout both volumes (see below).
Folio numbers ff. 110 and 111 assigned to leaves no longer present in the volume (as per historic foliation practice at Cambridge University Library).
A stub with a fragment of an astrological text has been assigned the folio designation f. [242a] in order to provide a reference for the mutilated leaf without disrupting this foliation sequence.
ff. 249-250 are parchment endleaves.
This foliation sequence is followed in this description.
19th/20th-century foliation:
Volume 1: 1-8 (ff. 67-74), 1-72 (ff. 75-133)
Volume 2: 1-24 (ff. 134-157), 1-8 (ff. 158-165), 1-24 (ff. 166-189) | 1-8 (ff. 190-197), 1-20 (ff. 197-217) | 2-24 (ff. 240-248) | 25-32 (ff. 241-248)
Numbering in pencil in the upper right-hand corner of the rectos, in part by Henry Bradshaw , University Librarian 1867-1886, who subdivided the manuscript's numbering into separate volumes, prefaced by a opening bracket (see f. 75r for an example = (2 . As per the historic foliation practice at Cambridge University Library that Bradshaw established, folio numbers were assigned to leaves no longer present in the volume (but since this foliation sequence is not followed in this description, these folio numbers are not recorded here).
19th-century foliation:
A sequence of partial foliation written on every tenth leaf in Volume 1 and intermittently in Volume 2, in pencil, in the lower right-hand corner of the recto side of the leaf.
Foliation sequence not followed in this description.
13th-century foliation:
Volume 1: i-lix, lxx, lxx (ff. 6-65)
Numbering (Roman numerals) in brown ink at the centre of the upper margin, the upper half of the outer margin, or the upper right-hand corner of the rectos.
The medieval foliator has not included f. 5 and f. 66; and has erroneously jumped from 'lix' (f. 63) to 'lxx' (f. 64), which is then erroneously continued. A modern hand has corrected the last two folios to 'lx' (f. 64) and 'lxi' (f. 65) in pencil and added foliation to f. 66 ('lxij') as well.
Foliation sequence not followed in this description.
Collation
- Four leaves (from another manuscript, reused as flyleaves)
- Quires 1-414 (ff. 5-60)
- Quire 56 (ff. 61-66) |
- Quire 68 (ff. 67-74) |
- Quire 78 (ff. 75-82)
- Quire 88-6 (ff. 83-84: 3rd-8th leaves missing)
- Quire 98-7 (ff. 85: 1st-7th leaves missing)
- Quires 10-128 (ff. 86-109)
- Quire 138-2 (ff. 112-117: 1st and 2nd leaves missing)
- Quires 14-228 (ff. 118-189) |
- Quire 238 (ff. 190-197)
- Quires 24-2510 (ff. 198-217) |
- Quire 268-1 (ff. 215-224 (1st leaf missing)
- Quires 27-288 (ff. 225-240) |
- eight separate leaves
four leaves | 1-414 56 | 68 | 78 88-6 (3rd-8th leaves missing) 98-7 (1st-7th leaves missing) 10-128 138-2 (1st and 2nd leaves missing) 14-228 | 238 24-2510 | 268-1 (1st leaf missing) 27-288 | eight leaves
Additions
Notes on missing leaves and parts in the manuscript, written in pencil in the top margin by Henry Bradshaw (1831-1886) , University Librarian 1867-1886.
Quire signatures (in the form of lower-case letters) 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 a hand of the 19th/20th century.
Binding
Black quarter leather binding with green sides.
Binding height: 135mm (vols 1 and 2); width: 95mm (vols 1 and 2); depth: 30mm (vols 1 and 2).
Bound by J.P. Gray and Son in Cambridge in 1935 (see stamp on vol. 1: front cover, inner and vol. 2: front cover, inner ).
History
Provenance and Acquisition
Thomas Ball (fl. late 16th or early 17th century) : his name inscribed on the lower margins of ff. 53v-54r (written upside down): 'Th. Ball'; and also on ff. 231v-232r: 231v-232r: 'Ball me (?) sanum'; perhaps Thomas Ball (1590-1659), of Emmanuel College Cambridge, and vicar of All Saints Northampton.
John Moore (1646-1714) , bishop of Ely: no. 126 (f. 1r) in Bernard, Catalogi librorum manuscriptorum Angliæ et Hiberniæ (c. 1697).
Presented to the University Library in 1715 by George I : but without the donation bookplate engraved by John Pine in 1736
Part 1 [Cambridge, University Library, MS Ii.6.39, ff. 1r-4v]
Contents
Language(s): Latin
Almost illegible, but probably related to philosophy, logic, or mathematics.
Physical Description
Collation
Four leaves from another manuscript that have been reused as flyleaves for this manuscript.
Condition
Layout
115-120 × 85 mm. No ruling. About 35 lines to the page.
Hand(s)
Written by a single hand in an extremely cursive hand.
Decoration
No decoration.
History
Part 2 [Cambridge, University Library, MS Ii.6.39, ff. 5r-66v]
Contents
Language(s): Latin and Middle French
Full transcription, save for an additional last line which has not been transcribed.
Three medical recipes, followed by instructions for an uncertain purpose that involves reading the Pater noster three times. The first recipe is for an 'Electuarium tremulosis et paralitates et omni cause neruorum ex frigiditate et ?his utelissimum' (a most useful electuary for tremor and paralysis and all causes of nerves from coldness). The second is for an unguent against ?fistula (text ends 'contra fistu'). The third is a drink ('Potus') for an unstated purpose.
A marginal inscription reads: ‘oleis fratris et sicut’.
The text appears to refer to works by Hippocrates: 'Explicit liber Afforisimorum', 'pro[g]nosticon'.
Possibly a blood-staunching charm, using the motif of Christ's baptism in the River Jordan: ‘Le flum Jordan’.
Written twice in different hands: added in the late 13th or early 14th century.
Physical Description
Collation
- Quires 1-414 (ff. 5-60)
- Quire 56 (ff. 61-66)
Condition
Layout
105 × 70 mm. Ruled in leadpoint, frame only, with occasional line ruling. Mainly single columns (except ff. 66r-66r, which has three columns, and 66v-66v, which has two). 26 lines to the page, written above top line.
Hand(s)
Written by a hand in a script with features of protogothic and Northern Textualis.
Decoration
Large (2-4 lines) initials in red or green, often with minor penwork decoration and pen-flourishing in the opposite colour.
Headers higlighted in red ink.
Regular (1 line) capitals higlighted in red ink.
Paraphs in red ink.
Additions
A possible title inscription for this part of the manuscript: ‘liber medicinale’ added to f. 66v in a (?) 14th-century hand.
History
Provenance
John Clastun/Cleistun (fl. 13th century) : his name inscribed on f. 66r: ‘Magister iohannes clastun/cleistun - Magister mei’.
Peter Durant (fl. 15th century) : his name inscribed on f. 66v: ‘Petri durant’.
Part 3 [Cambridge, University Library, MS Ii.6.39, ff. 67r-74v]
Contents
Language(s): Latin and Middle English
This copy contains selected extracts from the work's first twelve tituli.
Physical Description
Collation
- Quire 68 (ff. 67-74)
Layout
100 × 60 mm. Ruled in leadpoint, frame only. Single columns. 30 lines to the page, written below top line.
Hand(s)
Copied by a single scribe in an Anglicana script.
Decoration
Regular (1 line) capitals highlighted in red ink.
Paraphs in red ink.
Underlining in red ink.
History
Part 4 [Cambridge, University Library, MS Ii.6.39, ff. 75r-109v, 112r-189v]
Contents
Language(s): Middle English and Latin
Incomplete; a complete copy of the text occurs on ff. 163v-165r. Only the latter copy attributes the prayer to Thomas Aquinas.
Unique according to Connolly (2009), but another version which attributes the translation to Princess Mary in 1527 occurs in London, British Libary, Add. MS 17012, ff. 192v-194r.
Full transcription.
Complete; an incomplete version of the text occurs on ff. 133r-133v.
Unique according to Connolly (2009), but another version which attributes the translation to Princess Mary in 1527 occurs in London, British Libary, Add. MS 17012, ff. 192v-194r.
Unique copy, but imperfect at the end; based on Petrarch's De remediis utriusque fortunae.
Full transcription; added in the 16th century.
Full transcription; added by two hands in the 16th century.
Physical Description
Collation
- Quire 78 (ff. 75-82)
- Quire 88-6 (ff. 83-84: 3rd-8th leaves missing)
- Quire 98-7 (ff. 85: 1st-7th leaves missing)
- Quires 10-128 (ff. 86-109)
- Quire 138-2 (ff. 112-117: 1st and 2nd leaves missing)
- Quires 14-228 (ff. 118-189)
Condition
Layout
90-95 × 60 mm. Ruled in leadpoint, frame only. Single columns. 26-33 lines to the page, written below top line.
Hand(s)
Copied by different hands in an Anglicana script with Secretary influences (see the single-compartment 'a').
Decoration
Two large (5-6 lines) puzzle initial in blue and red in a frame of red and blue ink with floral motifs inside the letter and a partial (one-sided) border in red ink (ff. 75r, 79v).
Large (3 lines) blue initials in frames of red penwork decoration with pen-flourishing extending into the margins.
Line fillers in blue or/and red ink.
Paraphs in blue or red ink.
Additions
History
Provenance
Thomas [? Colman] (fl. c. 1475-1450) : his name inscribed on f. 67r: 'sir thomas [?] collman]'.
Part 5 [Cambridge, University Library, MS Ii.6.39, ff. 190r-217v]
Contents
Language(s): Latin
Attributed to Adam the Carthusian ('Autore Adamo Carthusiensis') by Thomas Tanner (1674-1735) in an inscription in the upper margin of f. 190r.
Full transcription; added in the 16th century.
Full transcription; added in the 16th century.
Physical Description
Collation
- Quire 238 (ff. 190-197)
- Quires 24-2510 (ff. 198-217)
Condition
Layout
100 × 65-70 mm. Ruled in leadpoint, frame only, occasional line ruling. Single columns. 25 lines to the page, written below top line.
Hand(s)
Copied by a single scribe in a cursive script with Anglicana and Secretary features.
Decoration
Two-line initials in red ink.
Explicits with display capitals highlighted and either underlined in red ink or placed in a frame of red ink (ff. 196r, 213).
One-line capitals highlighted in red ink.
Paraphs in red ink.
Underlining in red ink.
History
Part 6 [Cambridge, University Library, MS Ii.6.39, ff. 218r-240v]
Contents
Language(s): Latin
Added in the late 13th or early 14th century.
Physical Description
Collation
- Quire 268-1 (ff. 215-224 (1st leaf missing)
- Quires 27-288 (ff. 225-240)
Condition
Layout
100 × 60 mm. Ruled in leadpoint, frame only, but only rarely visible: it is not possible to determine whether the text is written above or below the top line. Single columns. 23-25 lines to the page.
Hand(s)
Copied by a single scribe in a protogothic script.
Decoration
Large (2-6 lines) initials in green or red sometimes with Arabesque motifs in the same or opposite colours inside the letters.
Rubrics in red.
One-line capitals highlighted in red.
Run-over symbols (ff. 228r, 240r) highlighted in red.
History
Part 7 [Cambridge, University Library, MS Ii.6.39, ff. 241r-248v]
Contents
Language(s): Latin
The incipit refers to Woodstock, Oxfordshire.
Five short tracts with instructions, the four latter ones beginning: 'Quadrantum in quadante'; 'Si igitur vis sicre in quo gradu altitudinis sit sol'; 'Si vis scire altitudinem aliter rei'; 'Si res erecta ut curris nec sit in plano'.
The remaining text on f. [242a] recto reads 'Cancer' and a fragment of a miniature on f. [242a] verso shows a crab's claw with a star drawn inside it.
The sermon draws from Gregory the Great's Homiliae in Evangelia.
Collection of four exempla; followed by a faint (?) theological note in the lower margin by a different hand.
A Latin verse followed by a French translation, with the latter beginning: 'Chival pu de regaine e a parole feminine'.
Full transcription.
Physical Description
Collation
This part consists of 8 (? separate) leaves.
Layout
85-115 × 65-75 mm. No ruling. Single frames. 25-38 lines to the page.
Hand(s)
Copied by various hands in cursive scripts.
Decoration
One large black initial with red penwork decoration (f. 242r).
One large, two-line plain red initial (f. 244r).
Underlining in red ink.
History
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 enquiries, and to confirm the availability of the manuscript, please contact the Special Collections Reading Room.
Bibliography
-
The Cloud of Unknowing and the Book of Privy Counselling Early English Text Society.
Original Series, Hodgson, Phyllis (London, Oxford University Press, 1944)
A Prayer Attributed to St Thomas Aquinas Dominican Studies, Doyle, A. I. (1, 229-238, 1948)
Deonise Hid diuinite, and Other Treatises on Contemplative Prayer Related to The Cloud
of
Unknowing Early English Text Society. Original Series, Hodgson, Phyllis (London, Oxford University Press, 1955)
Dialogus inter Aelredum et discipulum. An Adaption of Aelred of Rievaulx' "De spiritali
amicitia" Cîteaux, Hoste, Anselm (10, 1959)
A Dialogue between Reason and Adversity. A Late Middle English Version of Petrarch's
De Remediis, (Assen, Van Gorcum, 1968)
The Manuscripts of Petrarch's "De Remediis": A Checklist. Italia medioevale e umanistica, Mann, Nicholas (14, 57-90, 1971)
Contributions to a Bibliography of Wycliffite Writings Notes and Queries, Hudson, Anne (n.s. 20, 12, 443-453, 1973)
Petrarch Manuscripts in the British Isles Censimento dei Codici Petrarcheschi, Mann, Nicholas (Padova, Antenore, 1975)
Preachers, Florilegia and Sermons: Studies on the Manipulus Florum of Thomas of Ireland
Studies and Texts, Rouse, Richard H.Rouse, Mary A. (Toronto, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies,
1979)
A Census of Medieval Latin Grammatical Manuscripts Grammatica Speculativa, Bursill-Hall, G. L. (Stuttgart; Bad-Constatt, Frommann; Holzboog, 1981)
From the Circle of Alcuin to the School of Auxerre Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life
and Thought, Marenbon, John (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1981)
The Cloud of Unknowing and Related Treatises on Contemplative Prayer Salzburg Studies
in English Literature. Elizabethan and Renaissance Studies, Analecta Cartusiana, (Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik, Universität Salzburg, 1982)
An unrecorded Middle English version of Petrarch's "Secretum": A Preliminary Report
Italia medioevale e umanistica, Wilson, Edward (25 for 1982, 389-390, 1983)
Lollards and Their Books History series, Hudson, Anne (London, Hambledon Press, 1985)
Registrum Anglie de libris doctorum et auctorum veterum Corpus of British Medieval
Library Catalogues, (London, British Library in association with the British Academy, 1991)
Anglo-Norman Medicine. - Vol.1: Roger Frugard's "Chirurgia"; "Practica Brevis" of
Platearius, Hunt, Tony (Cambridge, D.S. Brewer, 1994)
Prophetic Song: the Psalms as Moral Discourse in Late Medieval England Prophetic Song
Middle Ages Series, Kuczynski, Michael P. (Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1995)
Intellectual Pregnancy, Metaphysical Femininity, and the Social Doctrine of the Trinity
in <hi
rend="italics">Piers Plowman</hi> Yearbook of Langland Studies, Galloway, Andrew (12, 117-152, 1998)
Manuscripts in the University Library, Cambridge (Dd-Oo) Index of Middle English prose, Connolly, Margaret (Woodbridge, D.S. Brewer, 2009)
"De dignitate conditionis humanae": Translation, Commentary, and Reception History
of the <hi
rend="italics">Dicta Albini</hi> (Ps.-Alcuin) and the <hi rend="italics">Dicta Candidi</hi>
Viator: Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Lebech, MetteMcEvoy, JamesFlood, John (40, 2, 1-34, 2009)
The English Manuscripts of Richard Rolle: A Descriptive Catalogue Exeter Medieval
Texts and Studies, Hanna, Ralph (Exeter, University of Exeter Press, 2010)
Bibliotheca Gregorii Magni manuscripta: censimento dei manoscritti di Gregorio Magno
e della sua fortuna
(epitomi, florilegi, agiografie, liturgia) = Census of Manuscripts of Gregory the
Great and His Fortune (Epitomes,
Anthologies, Hagiographies, Liturgy) Bibliotheca Gregorii Magni manuscripta Biblioteche
e archivi, (Firenze, SISMEL - Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2015)
La Practica de Plateario: edición crítica, traducción y estudio Edizione nazionale
dei testi mediolatini d'Italia, (Firenze, SISMEL: edizioni del Galluzzo, 2016)
Funding of Cataloguing
Wellcome
Digital Images
Abbreviations
View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.
