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 Kk.6.30

Alchemical treatises

Contents

Introduction: This primarily alchemical compendium was condemned by M.R. James as 'A hideous book'. Although the famous bibliographer openly confessed his ignorance of alchemical materials, his descriptions in the 1900-1905 catalogue of Western manuscripts in the library of Trinity College, which contains the richest alchemical holdings in Cambridge, only occasionally hint at his frustrations. His unpublished notes on the manuscripts in Cambridge University Library, however, are sometimes more candid. For the present, 'hideous' manuscript, he judged rather harshly that it is written in 'many hands, all rough and ugly'; instead of providing a full collation, simply described it as 'a conglomerate of quires'; and distilled his distaste into the quoted one-phrase summary. What was this alchemical compendium doing in the University Library's collection? What James, as a scholar of his time, may not have been able to appreciate fully, is that the survival of an early modern alchemical manuscript outside of a specialist collection was in itself remarkable. It is worthwhile, therefore, placing MS Kk.6.30 into its historical context. This was one of a handful of alchemical manuscripts that entered the University Library in 1715 as part of, in James Henry Monk's words, 'the greatest benefaction which Cambridge ever yet received': the library of John Moore, the Bishop of Ely (1646-1714) (see Monk, The Life of Richard Bentley, D.D. (London, 1833), vol. I, p. 377). Moore was a voracious collector of early printed materials; indeed, Thomas Dibdin is said to have referred to Moore as 'the father of black-letter collectors in this country'. While he was Bishop of Norwich (1691-1707), Moore was able to develop and expand his library while delegating practical tasks such as paying for acquisitions to his chaplains. Among them was his son-in-law, Thomas Tanner (1674-1735), who was also a scholar and antiquary and took an instrumental role in recording Moore's collection (on which more below). Over time, Moore's library grew to be one of the most remarkable in England, with particular strengths in the areas of theology, history, and classics; and the many scholarly visitors to Ely Place in Holborn, London, where Moore housed his library following his translation to the See of Ely, enjoyed being granted access to it. At Moore's death, the library was believed to contain nearly 30,000 volumes and was, again according to Monk, 'valuable not only for its extent [...], but for the rarity of its treasures, both printed and manuscript'. The manuscripts, while only c. 1,790 in number, reflect Moore's rather wide-ranging interests. The epitaph on Moore's monument in Ely Cathedral celebrates 'his unrivalled medical knowledge', and therefore the presence of medical manuscripts in his collection is not surprising. The much smaller number of alchemical manuscripts, among them the present manuscript (see also Cambridge, University Library, MS Dd.4.45 , MS Ee.1.13 , and potentially MS Gg.1.8 ), reflects almost certainly a medically inclined individual's natural interest in historical chymical literature rather than an actual desire to make the philosophers' stone. In 1715, these manuscripts entered Cambridge University Library as part of Moore's collection, which had been purchased by King George I of Great Britain and Ireland, Elector of Hanover following Moore's death and then been donated by him to the University in its entirety. If Moore's library had been dispersed, the fate of the alchemical manuscripts might have been very different. Focussing on MS Kk.6.30, a closer look soon reveals that the manuscript's identification as a 'book' is primarily thanks to the function of its binding. Between the boards – a later binding for Cambridge University Library retaining an older spine label reading 'ALKIMIA M.S.' – are at least seven distinct parts of different periods (in the 15th and 16th centuries), origins, and contents; written in several hands on both paper and parchment; and surviving in varying states of preservation. The volume ends with a stub that shows the potential fate all parts might have suffered if someone had not grouped them together at some point. This person was most probably Moore, as Thomas Tanner's historic manuscript catalogue (Cambridge, University Library, MS Oo.7.50(2), entry no. 898) provides nothing to suggest that the present volume was different – apart from the binding – when it was part of Moore's collection. Tanner prosaically described the volume as 'Several tracts of Alchimy and the Philosophers Stone in Latine and old English (imperfect) some by Geo. Riplay' (in fact, a fragment of George Ripley's Compound of alchemy, ff. 41v-45v), and lists three items from the contents: the Breve breviarium of pseudo-Roger Bacon (ff. 87-103r), the Rosarium philosphorum of pseudo-Arnold of Villanova (but presented here anonymously, ff. 111r-117v), and a piece explicitly attributed to Arnold of Villanova, 'Speculativa et practica...de lapide philosophorum' (now known to be a pseudonymous attribution, and a fragment of the Speculum alchimiae, ff. 118r-127v). There are further a great number of untitled, unattributed, and anonymous alchemical recipes, texts, and fragments in the manuscript (e.g. two texts by pseudo-Albertus Magnus on ff. 1r-29a verso), which have only been identified in recent scholarship. Altogether, both the parts of the manuscript and the volume as a whole are a good representation of the alchemical texts that circulated in manuscript in Latin, and as time went on also in the vernacular, in England in the early modern period. As someone who has followed in James's footsteps, with early 21st-century resources at my disposal and a background in the history of alchemy, I would finally like to direct the reader's eye to a feature of this manuscript that has moved from something of a scholarly blind spot into the spotlight: the functional and instructive sketches of alchemical equipment that appear in parts of the text. There is, for example, a drawing labelled 'walworte' showing 'an erbe yat groweth in ye grounde' – recognisable, with some imagination, as the roots of what is now often known as danewort (Sambucus ebulus) – amidst the text of the pseudo-Albertus Magnus Mirror of lights (at f. 11r). Overleaf (f. 11v) is an assemblage of furnaces and flasks, neatly labelled and shown in action, and the following pseudo-Albertus Magnus text from the Semita recta features drawings of alchemical apparatus on several pages, one of them filled almost entirely with illustrations (ff. 17r-17v, 19v, 26v, 28r-28v). These and the other sketches in this manuscript, all accompanied by texts written in the same, serviceable hand, will never match the more obvious beauty of elaborate illuminations, but in the eye of this beholder, they elevate this manuscript from merely instructional to instructive. Like the manicule that points from the margin to the alchemical symbols explained in the text of f. 38v, they continue to ask readers to stop, observe, and learn. Dr Anke Timmermann

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: The manuscript consists almost entirely of paper leaves, except for three parchment leaves (ff. 71, 79, 86).
Extent: Codex: 2 + 61 | 10 | 16 | 23 | 19 | 13 + 2 leaves. 215-225 × 145-155 mm.
Foliation:

20th-century foliation:

[i]-[ii] + 1-29a, 29b, 30-60 | 61-70 | 71-86 | 87-109 | 110-128 | 129-132, 133a-133b, 134-141 + [iii]-[iv]

Numbering in pencil in the upper right-hand corner of the rectos, by an unidentified hand of the 20th century (probably first half), completing and correcting a partial foliation sequence by earlier, 19th-century hands.

Two unfoliated conjoint parchment stubs are found between ff. 92 and 93, and another two between ff. 128 and 129 and after f. 141. These form part of the binding and have therefore not been counted either in Extent or in Foliation. For the purposes of their description here, they have been assigned the numbers ff. [92a]-[92b] and [128a] and [141a] respectively, and are described separately in Parts 6 and 7.

An unfoliated paper stub is found between ff. 117 and 118. Other than a single word on the verso, 'domine', it is blank and has not been photographed.

Folio 133a is a blank but foliated paper stub between f. 132 and f. 133b.

Foliation:

15th- or 16th-century foliation:

'13'-'28' for folios 71r-86v.

Numbering in brown ink in the lower right-hand corner of the rectos.

Collation

The quire numbers have been placed in square brackets to indicate that the number does not represent its actual position in this manuscript, but its order in the quires that can be collated. No collation is given for Parts 7 and 8, both of which comprise fragments.

  • Part 1: collation not established |
  • Part 2: Quire [1]12+2-4 (ff. 61-70: a bifolium has been added to the sexternion, one before the 1st leaf and 1 after the 12th; 8th, 10th, 12th leaves have also been excised) |
  • Part 3: Quire [2]16 (ff. 71-86) |
  • Part 4: Quire [3]12 (ff. 87-98)
  • Quire [4]12-1 (ff. 99-109: 1 leaf missing in the second half of the quire) |
  • Part 5: collation not established |
  • Part 6: Quire [5]14-1 (ff. 129-141: 5th leaf excised)

Part 1: collation not established | [1]12+2-4 (one leaf added before 1st and one after 12th; 8th, 10th, and 12th excised) | [2]16 | [3]12 [4]12-1 (one leaf excised in 2nd half of quire) | Part 5: collation not established | [5]14-1 (5th excised)

Binding

Quarter leather binding with brown leather on the spine and grey paper sides; a flat spine with blind-tooled quarters and red leather strip gold-tooled frame and gold-stamped inscription: ‘ALKIMIA’.

Binding height: 230mm; width: 160mm; depth: 35mm.

History

Provenance and Acquisition

John Moore (1646-1714) , bishop of Ely: no. 898 in the handwritten supplementary list of Moore's manuscripts, now CUL Oo.7.50(2), compiled by Thomas Tanner (1674-1735) after the publication of Bernard, Catalogi librorum manuscriptorum Angliæ et Hiberniæ (c. 1697).

Presented to the University Library in 1715 by George I : donation bookplate engraved by John Pine in 1736 on the front pastedown.

Part 1 [Cambridge, University Library, MS Kk.6.30, ff. 1r-61v]

Contents

Language(s): Middle English and Latin

1. 1r-15v
Mirror of lights [incomplete] Pseudo-Albertus Magnus
Language(s): Middle English
Incipit: 1r In sekyng ouȝte of þe sothenes of this crafte þat men callen alkemye .3. maner of condicions þer muste be knowne
Explicit: 15v Anon it schall be tornede jn to water or els meng it togeder vpon||

The text is imperfect at the end.

eVK2 2853.00 (v0059650000)
eVK2 6049.00 (v0059660000)
eVK2 4593.00 (v0059670000)
Singer, Anderson, Addis (1928-1931), no. 183 ii
Grund (2006), 26, 27 [Table 1], 30, 31, 33 [Table 3], 36, 37
Connolly (2009), p. 292 [other copies]
2. 16r-29a verso
Semita recta [English translation] Pseudo-Albertus Magnus
Language(s): Middle English
Rubric: 16r Here begynnethe a gude chapiter namyde dyabesse the whyche ys clepede rebus
Incipit: 16r Moriene seythe to florydum kepe þou þat j schall schewe the yfe þe werke be of fyr the behovethe to knowe þe quantyte of þe furnes and how it schall be made
Explicit: 29a verso and solde full der þey beth precyous a tyncture there is callede mercury þat transumythe all
eVK2 2934.50 (v0059680000)
eVK2 3978.00 (v0059690000)
eVK2 5667.00 (v0059700000)
eVK2 3611.00 (v0059710000)
eVK2 1962.00 (v0059720000)
eVK2 5684.00 (v0059730000)
Singer, Anderson, Addis (1928-1931), no. 177 xvii
Grund (2006), 26, 27 [Table 1], 30, 31, 33 [Table 3], 36, 37
Connolly (2009), p. 293 [other copies]
4. 29b recto-33v
Unidentified alchemical treatise (including recipes)
Language(s): Middle English
Incipit: || 29b recto hit be drye and þen [...] bodye of glas and þen sette it in a furnes with [...]
Explicit: 33v and quenchede þer in it schall be both whyeght and maleable in all maner of assayes etcaetera

The treatise refers to John Styward on f. 30v: ‘Opus Johannis Stywarde’.

eVK2 5739.00 (v0059740000)
5. 33v-34v
Alchemical recipes
Language(s): Middle English and Latin

The recipes refer to John Frynge (‘Conclusio sepius probata per magistrum johannem frynge et vera utipse confessus fuit pro certe’) and the rector of Wymington, Bedfordshire (‘Opus rectoris de Wymentoun Canonici’) on f. 33v.

eVK2 5347.00 (v0059750000)
eVK2 1599.00 (v0059760000)
6. 35r-36r
Turba Philosophorum (excerpts)
Language(s): Middle English and Latin
Rubric: 35r liber turbe philosophorum
Incipit: 35r Capitulo primo The sotell þat is firste mater of all metalles
Explicit: 36r and moste perfyte dominacion of þe laste redenes þat is þe ende of þe phelosophers warke
eVK2 7033.00 (v0059770000)
Singer, Anderson, Addis (1928-1931), no. 1 xviii
Connolly (2009), pp. 293-294 [other copies]
7. 36r-37v
Turba Philosophorum (excerpts)
Language(s): Middle English and Latin
Rubric: 36r Notabilia phelosophorum
Incipit: 36r Pictagoras seyth take þe combust
Explicit: 37v and anoþer seyth passe noȝte a pece of golde
eVK2 4010.00 (v0059780000)
Singer, Anderson, Addis (1928-1931), no. 1 xviii
Connolly (2009), p. 294 [other copies]
8. 37v-38v
Tract on the operations of alchemy
Language(s): Middle English
Incipit: 37v There ben 7 termes of keys whiche be rotes of oryginall creacion of þe blessede tre beyng grene uppon þe hyll of natoir
Explicit: 38v in all thynges be þes ordered above seyd be naturally knytke knytte withowt handy werkeyng with hete. moyste. Colde and. drye. etcetera Amen

As Connolly (2009), p. 294 notes, the tract is elsewhere entitled: ‘Septem claues huius scientie’.

eVK2 7176.00 (v0059790000)
Singer, Anderson, Addis (1928-1931), no. 749
Connolly (2009), p. 294 [other copies]
9. 38v
List of names for planets and metals (‘Alphabetum alcanamik’)
Language(s): Middle English
Incipit: 38v Golde syluer mars
Explicit: 38v atoun Rede calamyn
eVK2 2062.00 v0059800000
Singer, Anderson, Addis (1928-1931), no. 435
Connolly (2009), pp. 294-295 [other copies]
10. 39r-39v
On making furnaces
Language(s): Middle English and Latin
Rubric: 39r De furnes ffaciendum
Incipit: 39r Some ffornes muste be more and some lesse after þe quantyte of þe wercke
Explicit: 39v and þe furnes muste be covered wiþ a thycke and stronke couercle made of goode erth with a hole in þe tope etcaetera

The tract is preceded by a drawing of four furnaces, which are identified as: ‘The furnes of calcinacion and sublimacion’, ‘Furnes of sublimacion’, ‘The furnes of dystylling’, and ‘The furnes of reuerberacion’.

As Connolly (2009), p. 295 notes, this tract may be derived from a longer text that survives in Cambridge, University Library, Ee.1.13, ff. 150r-150v .

eVK2 4590.00 (v0059810000)
Singer, Anderson, Addis (1928-1931), no. 750
Connolly (2009), p. 295 [other copies]
11. 39v
Alchemical recipe
Language(s): Middle English and Latin
Rubric: 39v Ad vertriandum vasa
Incipit: 39v Take wat vessell þou wylte of earth to glase and anoynt it with paste
Explicit: 39v Rugeplum made of Ceruse and of tyne is a 1000 folde parte better þen Rugeplum made of leede
eVK2 6504.00 (v0059820000)
Singer, Anderson, Addis (1928-1931), no. 750
Connolly (2009), p. 295 [other copies]
12. 39v-40r
Instruction for multiplying the stone
Language(s): Middle English and Latin
Incipit: 39v When þou wulte multeply þe rede stone se howe muche þe stone wheythe and put þerto þe 4th parte of his weythe of mercurij well clensede
Explicit: 40r and multeply þe [fourth] parte with Mercurij as afor seyd etcaetera
Singer, Anderson, Addis (1928-1931), no. 750
13. 40r-41v
Untitled alchemical treatise on the stone and elixer
Language(s): Middle English
Incipit: 40r Ther is a naturall well þat is noyntede made of þe mounte of vulcane
Explicit: 41v after liber turbe þe phelesopheres ston owt to be mad of our es and water lastyng and of nonoþer thynges etcaetera
Singer, Anderson, Addis (1928-1931), no. 750
eVK2 7208.00 (v0059830000)
14. 41v-45v
The Compound of Alchemy or Twelve Gates, Prose version [imperfect] George Ripley
Language(s): Middle English
Rubric: 41v George Ripley
Incipit: 41v Jn the begynnyng when þou mad all thyng of noȝghte / a globous matere and derke vnderconfucion
Explicit: 45v lyeke as jn blackenes moystour doth hym shewe / Be colours varyante ay newe and Newer||
eVK2 2894.00 (v0059840000)
IMEV 595
NIMEV 595
DIMEV 975-11
Rampling (2010), p. 159 (no. 9.i)
15. 46r-47v
Medical recipes
Language(s): Middle English

They address the following:

  • f. 46r: an ointment for pain and inflammation arising from wounds and apostemes, an unguent to heal wounds and apostemes, for felon (a small abscess or boil, or inflamed sore)
  • f. 46v: a 'royal plaster' ('emplastrum regale'), which concludes 'and make Magdalanes' (i.e. a type of medical plaster)
  • ff. 46v-47r: a recipe for nerval, a medicinal ointment for the nerves or sinews
  • f. 47r: a maturative, for disease with hot or cold causes, with the citation 'secundum Rosarium'
  • f. 47v: for conserve of flowers, for syrup of fumitory, for 'diaquilon', also concluding 'make Magdall[enes]'

eVK2 5280.00 (v0059850000)
16. 48r-48v
Alchemical recipes
Language(s): Middle English
eVK2 3888.00 (v0059860000)
17. 49r
Table of months and days
Language(s): Middle English

The table has 12 rows with the names of the months in English written alongside them, and 31 numbered columns, containing no entries.

18. 49r
Nativity of John Corfe (1483)
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 49r figura nativitatis John Corfe 1483 perfecto 26 die Julij hora 8 minuta 41 post meridie[m] / die saturday

Full transcription.

19. 49r
Nativity of Elizabeth Lauwe (1483)
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 49r figura nativitatis Elizabeth Lauwe 1483 perfecto 13 die december hora [8] minuta 30 post meridie[m] / die Saturni

Full transcription.

20. 49r
Nativity of John Robronte
Language(s): Latin and Middle English
Incipit: 49r figura nativitatis John Robronte de Meratyng Anni Christi 1486 \perfecto/ þe 16 da[e] [of] \march/ hora [0] minuta 10 \post meridiem/ diei [...]

Full transcription.

21. 49r
Nativity of John May (1502)
Language(s): Middle English
Incipit: 49r Nativite John May þe sonne of John May þe ȝer of Christ 1502 þe 4th day of Septembre horas 12. Minutas .15. etcaetera

Full transcription.

22. 49r
Nativity of John May (1504)
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 49r Nativite John May þe ȝer Christi 1504. þe .10. day March þe 2a hora .15. minuta. dominus diei. N. dominus hora late paste

Full transcription.

23. 49r
Nativity of William Munde (1506)
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 49r Nativite William filijs de William Munde Anno CHristi 1506 die descembre .5. hora 14 minuta .30. diei N inperfectum

Full transcription.

24. 49v
Note on two motets
Language(s): Middle French
Incipit: 49v mon amye q Leo / Sont deux motez qui fomit entre plussierue lotez

Full transcription.

25. 49v
Prayer
Language(s): Latin and Middle French
Incipit: 49v O Jhesu esto mi Jhesus / Jhesus mercie notre dame aydez - Aydez notre Dame

Full transcription.

26. 49v
Saying
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 49v [?] Viuit et incedit paries si fronte carebit

Full transcription.

27. 49v
Poem on motets
Language(s): Middle French
Incipit: 49v Si deu motets nous ne fuissent

Full transcription.

28. 49v
Memorandum about quantities and types of cloth
Language(s): Middle English
Incipit: 49v Memorandum þat 5 colen elles maketh 4 elles ff and so 500 elles colen maketh 400 elles fflemysche stud 40 boges skynys maketh a kepe item 40 golde skynnes makethe a kepe item bruges mader ys þe [crossed out: bestmader] best mader item 6 a colen threde maketh a doss etcaetera

Full transcription.

29. 49v
Medical recipe
Language(s): Middle English
Rubric: 49v ffor þe Maiyster Roke

Instructions for making an ointment for cleaning and purging sores.

30. 50r-58r
Speculum Alkymy, extract of English translation [A Compendyos Abstract of Alkamy] Roger Bacon
Language(s): Middle English
Rubric: 50r Her begynneth a compendyos abstract of alkamy drawyn out of latyn by /a\ trew grounde on what whys ȝe schall whyche without Error to trewe conclucion of aparfit Elixir bothe for whyȝt and þe rede
Incipit: 50r To all þat [word deleted] vertuosly ar disposide wyllyng to be þe chyldern of doctryn
Explicit: 58r for þat be tokens temperans of fyere and goodnes of praparacion
eVK2 2160.00 (v0059870000)
eVK2 7581.00 (v0059880000)
Singer, Anderson, Addis (1928-1931), no. 194
Connolly (2009), pp. 296-297 [other copies]
31. 58r
Medical recipe
Language(s): Middle English
Rubric: 58r: For to make a tothe to fall oute be yt selfe with a pouder probatum est sine dubio sic serto [sic]

A proven powder for making a tooth fall out by itself.

eVK2 5788.50 (v0059890000)
32. 58v
Recipe for making gilt
Language(s): Middle English
Incipit: 58v þus is made water of sulphurfyse for to gylde with take 2 libri of sulphurfyse and i libri sal vitri and medell þem well togedre
Explicit: 58v ande yȝf þou anoynte þer wiþ a peny of a plate of coper yt schall turnyn to colour of fyn gold
eVK2 6433.50 (v0059900000)
33. 58v-59v
De lapide Raymond Llull
Language(s): Middle English
Incipit: 58v It is opyne and pleyne that the operacion of oure medysyne is the operacion of nature
Explicit: 59v but when þey have mad proieccion þey fonde non profete ffor þey mayde an ende wher þey shulde have be gone
Final rubric: 59v Ramundus de lapide
eVK2 3159.00 (v0059910000)
Connolly (2009), p. 297 [other copies]
34. 59v
Notes on alchemical 'spirit' and alchemical water
Language(s): Middle English
Incipit: 59v ffor soth þe body jncorporates þe speryte, þe spryte tornys þe body jnto speryte
Explicit: 59v wiþout hys body wiþ þe whyche he is laysede and þey be made one, he may not be permanent
eVK2 3159.00 (v0059910000)
Connolly (2009), p. 298 [other copies]
35. 60r-61r
Alchemical recipes
Language(s): Middle English recipes with Latin headings
eVK2 4239.00 (v0059930000)
Singer, Anderson, Addis (1928-1931), no. 752

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: 2r: men may fro
Form: codex
Support: Paper, folded in folio. featuring various watermarks, including a : a hand with a six-pointed star, jug, and bull's head.
Extent: Codex: 61 leaves.
Dimensions (written): 225 × 150-160 mm.

Collation

Collation not established. It is possible that this part consists of several separate codicological units (e.g. ff. 50r-59v) but it has not been possible to securely identify such further parts.

Leaf signatures consisting of a combination of the letter "C" and Arabic numerals (1-6) written in the first half of the quire (ff. 6-10 only).

A catchword in brown ink in the right lower corners of the last versos on f. 5v.

Layout

150-160 × 100-115 mm. Folios 1r-45v and 60r-61r ruled in hardpoint, frame only (only vertical lines visible). Single columns. 26-28 lines to the page.

155 × 105 mm. Folios 46r-47v ruled in ink, frame only. Single columns. 26-27 lines to the page, written below top line.

170-180 × 120-130 mm. Folios 50r-59v ruled in hardpoint, frame only (only vertical line in the outer margin visible). Single columns. 29 lines to the page.

Hand(s)

Folios 1r-45v and 60r-60v perhaps copied by a single hand in a script with both anglicana and secretary features.

Folios 46v-47v (lower half) copied by a single hand in a script with mostly secretary features.

Folios 47v (upper half)-48v copied by a single hand in a script with both anglicana and secretary features.

Folios 49r-49v copied by various hands in cursive scripts with both anglicana and secretary features.

Folios 50r-59v copied by 2 or 3 (?) hands in a script with with both anglicana and secretary features.

Decoration

Alchemical drawings in brown ink, showing: alchemical furnaces and vessels on f. 11v; furnaces on ff. 17r, 17v, 19v, and 39r; alchemical vessels on ff. 26v, 28r [with a heart], 31r, and 34r; and vessels with a distillation setup on f. 28v; and a list of alchemical symbols on f. 38v.

Drawing of the herb danewort (‘Waltworte’) in brown ink on f. 11r.

A drawing of a wheel with holes in brown ink inserted in (and illustrating) the text on f. 16r.

Large (2- or 3-line) initials in brown ink with minor forms of decoration (ff. 1r, 16r, 25r, 33v, 41v, 43v).

Manicules drawn in margins in brown ink (e.g. ff. 5v, 14v, 15v, 17r, 22r, 37v, 38v, 39v, 40r, 41v, 42r, 44v, 45v).

History

Origin: Second half of the 15th century or first quarter of the 16th century. ; England.

A clue for the manuscript's origin may be a Maltese cross with at each of its four ends the number '4' or letter 'q' written in brown ink in the upper margin of f. 1r.

Part 2 [Cambridge, University Library, MS Kk.6.30, ff. 62r-70v]

Contents

Language(s): Latin and Middle English

1. 62r-62v
De consideratione quintae essentiae [excerpts] John of Rupescissa
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 62r Scientia ad extrahendum [quintam] essenciam de Antimonio id est marcasita Plumbea / Deus celi ipse stestis est quod nuncupatur ego stantum Secretum stibi reuelabo
Explicit: 62v Et Scias quod Istud oleum habet dulcedinem maximam
Final rubric: 62v Explicit
eTK 0406I (t0080550000)
eTK 0406I (t0080560000)
2. 62v-68v
Liber Lucis Pseudo-John of Rupescissa
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 62v Incipit Magisterium lucis
Incipit: 62v In nomine domini Amen Ego frater Iohannes de Rupescissa consideraui tribulationes electorum
Explicit: 68v pro Infinita Seculorum Secula Amen
Final rubric: 68v Explicit liber quj vocatur Magisterium lucis
eTK 0255L
eTK 0487J
eTK 0851A
3. 70v
Poem on woman's faithlessness
Language(s): Middle English
Incipit: 70v I se ryght well ther is but lytill trust / On to this world ay so full of bruttylte
Explicit: 70v Thus ham I rokyd hydyr and theder / The deuyll sett fyer on all to geder

Added by a late 15th- or early 16th-century hand.

IMEV 1356
NIMEV 1356
DIMEV 2265-1

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: 63r: et ad montes
Form: codex
Support: Paper, folded in folio. Folios 62r-70v: rumble bell (?)
Extent: Codex: 10 leaves.
Dimensions (written): 215 × 140 mm.

Collation

  • Quire [1]12+2-4 (ff. 61-70: a bifolium has been added to the sexternion, one before the 1st leaf and 1 after the 12th; 8th, 10th, 12th have also been excised)

The quire number has been placed in square brackets to indicate that the number does not represent its actual position in this manuscript, but its order in the quires that can be collated.

Layout

150-155 × 110-115 mm. Ruled in hardpoint, frame and line. Single columns. 27-28 lines to the page, written above top line.

Hand(s)

Folios 62r-68v have been written by a single hand in a cursive script that can be described as Gothica Cursiva Libraria.

The text on folios 70v has been added by a single hand in a cursive script with both anglicana and secretary features.

Decoration

Large (1- to 2-line) initials in red ink.

Headers rubricated in red ink.

Small (1-line) regular initials higlighted in red ink.

Underlining in red ink.

Paraph marks in red.

History

Origin: 15th century. ; England.

Part 3 [Cambridge, University Library, MS Kk.6.30, ff. 71r-86v]

Contents

Language(s): Latin

1. 71r-86v
Codicillus Pseudo-Ramon Llull
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: || 71r perficitur rote prime elimentorum conuersionis ad et in nostro declaramus testamento De modo perficiendi rotam imperfectam
Explicit: 86v nisi inquantum virtus sua valet a[ccidentiam etcaetera]

This is a previously unidentified copy of Pseudo-Lull's Codiccilus. The text in this manuscripts corresponds with Chapters XXXI ('De Inhumatione et vivificatione corporis per (V)') until Chapter L, subsection ‘De sublimacione Mercurij et nutrimento per multiplicacionem’.

eTK 0964C (t0185270000)

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: 72r: suaviter
Form: codex
Support: Paper, folded in folio with four parchment leaves (ff. 71, 78, 79, 86). Folios 72-77 and 80-85: bull.
Extent: Codex: 16 leaves.
Dimensions (written): 220 × 150 mm.

Collation

  • Quire [2]16 (ff. 71-86)

The quire number has been placed in square brackets to indicate that the number does not represent its actual position in this manuscript, but its order in the quires that can be collated.

Quire signatures consisting of combinations of letters (‘a’) and Roman numerals (i-viij) written in dark ink in the lower right corners of the first half of the quire.

A catchword written in the lower right corner of f. 86v.

Layout

145 × 90-10 mm. Ruled in leadpoint, frame only. Single columns. 33-35 lines to the page, written above top line.

Hand(s)

Copied by a single hand in a Gothica Cursiva Libraria with both Uncial 'd' and Humanistic 'd'.

Decoration

Two large (5- to 6-line) Champ-style gold initial against a ground of blue and purple and with spraywork in the same colours extending into the margins (ff. 74r, 80v).

Large (2- to 4-line) initials in blue ink with penwork decoration inside the letter and pen-flourishing in red ink.

Small (1-line) initials alternatively red and blue ink.

History

Origin: 15th century. ; England.

Part 4 [Cambridge, University Library, MS Kk.6.30, ff. 87r-109v]

Contents

Language(s): Latin

1. 87r-103r
Breve breviarum Pseudo-Roger Bacon
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 87r Breve breuiarium abbreuiatum sufficit intelligenti si fuerit diligens ignoranta autem
Explicit: 103r Custodi igitur ipsum etceatera et redde deo gracias
Final rubric: 103r Explicit extractum breuis breuariarum. M. R. B.
eTK 0180N
2. 103v-104v
Alchemical notes and recipes
Language(s): Latin
eTK 1336F (t0255660000)
3. 104v-106r
Liber experimentorum Pseudo-Roger Bacon
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 104v Incipit secretum secretorum [...] de compositione medicine auree que lunam preparatam certissime conuertit in solem
Explicit: 106r omnes iste vie operacionum licet secundum diuersum effectum vere sunt et experte et caetera
4. 106r-108r
Tractatus de vegetabilibus et sensibilibus Pseudo-Roger Bacon
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 106r De vegetabilibus et sensibilibus
Incipit: 106r Inter vegetabilia autem frumentum virtutis maioris obtinet principatum
Explicit: 108r si non adde ad hanc de oleo et iterum solue et coagulam ut ipse nosti
eTK 0770G (t0148840000)
5. 108r-109v
Medical notes
Language(s): Latin
eTK 1398L (t0267500000)
6. 109v
Price list of chemical ingredients
Language(s): Latin

The list begins with ‘Azorum [coe] - vs’ and ends with ‘Sal armoniak - xxd’.

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: 88r: Contingit
Form: codex
Support: Folios 87r-109v: scorpion and bull
Extent: Codex: 23 leaves.
Dimensions (written): 225 × 155 mm.
Folios [92a] and [92b] are parchment stubs between ff. 92 and 93. Both originate from the same manuscript and show fragments of the same Latin text. (See Part 7 for further details).

Collation

  • Quire [3]12 (ff. 87-98)
  • Quire [4]12-1 (ff. 99-109: 1 leaf missing in the second half of the quire)

Layout

155 × 110-120 mm. Ruled in hardpoint, frame only. Single columns. 30 lines to the page, written above top line.

Hand(s)

Copied by a single hand in a script with both anglicana and cursiva features.

Decoration

One large initial in a frame of penwork decoration and with pen-flourishing in brown ink (f. 87r)

History

Origin: Late 15th or early 16th century. ; England.

Part 5 [Cambridge, University Library, MS Kk.6.30, ff. 110r-128v]

Contents

Language(s): Latin and Middle English

1. 110r
De cognitione lapidis philosophici Pseudo-John Dastin
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 110r [C]vm gaudeant vti breuitate moderni verborum abreuiatum verissimum
Explicit: 110r cognosce possibilia Inspice vegitabilia
2. 110r
List of ingredients for an alchemical process
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 110r Sal armoniac ij li. [...] - bulliantur in aceto
Explicit: 110r Sal armoniac [...] - Crudum
3. 110v
Medical recipes
Language(s): Middle English and Latin

'Iesu merci' in the top margin.

They address the following:

  • a powder for all manner of sickness ('...and make powder þerof þat vse euery dai fastyng for al maner sekenes a sponeful'), followed by instructions for a further preparation, to be used twice a week, in the morning, with instructions that one should rest afterwards and not eat within two hours ('...vse it twies a weke first and rest after þat þou ete nott on tway howris')
  • instructions for dealing with bleeding after the removal of an arrow-head, quarrel or spear from one's body, concluding 'quod nempke'
  • for rupture / hernia
  • a plaster and a powder 'sub ligatura'
  • recipes for oil of bay and juice of roses ('succus rosarum')

eVK2 5751.00 (v0059940000)
4. 111r-117v
Rosarium philosophorum Pseudo-Arnold of Villanova
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 111r Hic incipit quidam liber abreuiatus valde certus et probatus thesaurus thesaurorum. Rosarius philosophorum et omnium secretorum
Explicit: 117v quia omnia naturaliter sunt vera que nullus philosofus meliora Dixit
Final rubric: 117v Explicit speculatiua Deo gracias / [crossed out: Magistri Johannis de melvuum] et Eiusdem Arndoldy de villa noua [crossed out: Incipit Practica]
Rabin (2025), pp. 76-112 (ed. and trans.) (MS not used)
5. 118r-127v
Speculum alchimiae (fragment) Pseudo-Arnold of Villanova
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 118r Incipit practica magistri Arnoldi de villa noua de lapide philosophorum
Incipit: 127v Manifestum est quod lapis noster resoluitur in argentum vivum per magisterium artificium
Explicit: 127v et esse socius sapientum antiquorum. deo gracias
Final rubric: 127v Explicit practica magistri Arnolde de villa nova de lapide philosophici et est m[agisterium] solemne
eTK 0847K (t0163330000)
Rabin (2025), pp. 112-189 (ed. and trans.) (MS not used)
6. 127v-128v
Alchemical recipes
Language(s): Latin

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: 111r: Hic incipit
Form: codex
Support: Paper, folded in folio. Folios 110r-128v: Fleur-de-lis and Mountain
Extent: Codex: 19 leaves.
Dimensions (written): 215 × 145 mm.

Collation

Collation not established.

Catchwords written on the right lower margins of versos do not necessarily coincide with the end of quires; one catchword written on the outer lower margin of f. 120r and f. 127r.

Layout

155-175 × 100-115 mm. Ruled in hardpoint, frame only. Single columns. 32-39 lines to the page.

Hand(s)

Folios 111r-117v and 118r-127v have been copied by one or possibly two scribes in a cursive script with both anglicana and secretary features.

Folios 110r-110v and 127v-128v contain recipes by different hands (possibly including the hand(s) seen on 111r-117v and 118r-127v) in cursive scripts with both anglicana and secretary features.

Decoration

This part of the manuscript does not contain any significant form of decoration.

History

Origin: Second half of the 15th century or first quarter of the 16th century. ; England.

Part 6 [Cambridge, University Library, MS Kk.6.30, ff. 129r-141v]

Contents

Language(s): Latin and Middle English

1. 129r
Testamentum (opening line) Pseudo-Ramon Llull
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 129r Sic incipit anima metallorum / O eterna sapiencia Summa et perdurabilis prudencia
2. 129r
Music notation with the opening words of a love song
Language(s): Middle English
Incipit: 129r ffree lusti fresch most goodly

The text is written below one staves with music notation.

IMEV 865.5
NIMEV 865.5
DIMEV 1445-1
Stevens (1961), p. 438
Bartlett (1987), Reel 8
Fallows (2009) [DIAMM]
3. 129r
Astronomical notes
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 129r Memorandum elong. lune ad horam 3am post merediem anno 17o die junij
Explicit: 129r In quorum conclusi reperietur [...] motum - 56
4. 129v-131r
Secretum secretorum Pseudo-Pliny
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 129v Hic incipit tractatus optimus in quo exponit et aperte declarat Plinius philosophus qui sit lapis philosophicus eo ex qua materia debet fieri
Explicit: 131r quod qui ipsam habent incomparabilem habent thesaurum Recipe 7 haec sufficiat quantum ad praesens
eTK 0620F (t0120170000)
5. 131r-131v
Rosarium Philosophorum (fragment) Pseudo-Arnold of Villanova
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 131r Capitulum de ignibus optimis secundum .9. .14.
Incipit: 131r De igne multipici ad operandum in alkis sic intelligendum est. Est autem ignis multiplex et qualitas eius diuersa per quosdam gradus distincta
Explicit: 131v et est iudex iustus discernens et separans iustum ab iniusto bonum a malo purum ab impuro et mundum ab inmundo
Final rubric: 131v Explicit
6. 131v
Alchemical poem
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 131v In speciem solis lunam convertere si vis
Explicit: 131v Ad pondus maste latonem pulueris adde

Another copy of this poem, entitled ‘Conversio lunae in solem’, is extant in Geneva, Bibliotheque de Geneve, Ms. lat. 82, f. 131r.

7. 131v
List of ingredients
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 131v Catelettecum imperiale
Explicit: 131v Binitides vnatae
8. 133b recto
Tract on firing (fragment)
Language(s): Middle English
Incipit: || 133b recto and sett it in þe said furnes in soft fire as a hennys egge oþer ij dais
Explicit: 133b recto and make fire above and be neþe ij dais etcaetera

The text has been crossed out.

Singer, Anderson, Addis (1928-1931), no. 1112 xxvi
9. 133b recto-133b verso
Alchemical recipes
Language(s): Latin

The recipes refer to a certain 'Richard' (‘Secundum Ricardus’) on f. 133b recto.

10. 135r-136r
Alchemical recipes
Language(s): Middle English

Two recipes on f. 136r are attributed to 'Robert Bolton' (‘Secundum R. Bolton’).

eVK2 6570.00 (v0059950000)
Singer, Anderson, Addis (1928-1931), 1112 xxvi
11. 136v-137v
Alchemical recipes and notes
Language(s): Latin

The recipes refer to a 'M. K. G. G.' (‘Secundum M[agistrum] K. G. G.’) on f. 137v.

12.
Alchemical recipes
Language(s): Latin and Middle English

The recipes refer to 'Hulman' on f. 138r. One recipe on ff. 140r-140v ends with the explicit: ‘Explicit capitulum lucie’.

13. 138v
Line on a Canterbury monk
Language(s): Middle English
Incipit: 138v Dan John ledis moncke of Canterbure / and wiliam gold duellyng by þe abbey gate of þe same toun
Greatrex (1995), p. 220
Page (2013), p. 163 n. 33
14. 139r (lower margin)
Astronomical note
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 139r tres menses id est tres dies naturales
15. 141v
Poem on (?) Simon de Langham, Archbishop of Canterbury
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 141v [exultent] celi quia Symon transit ab Ely / Symonu[m] adventum flent in Kent milia centium

Full transcription. The poem may concern the translation of Simon de Langham, Bishop of Ely, to Canterbury, when he was elected Archbishop in 1366.

16. 141v
Poem on (?) John Salmon, Bishop of Norwich
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: 141v Ex Ely veniens si[...]s in honore locatur / Nec rex nec sapiens Salamon tamen ipse vocatur

Full transcription. This poem occurs with minor variations as part of the 14th-century macaronic poem 'Flen, Flyys, and Freris' (Fleas, flies, and friars).

17. 141v
Location with reference to Dagenham
Language(s): Middle English
Incipit: 141v iiij myle beȝonde dagnam in Essexe

Full transcription. The text is continued on the stub of f. [141a] verso.

18. 141v
Account of a petition, dated 1381/2
Language(s): Latin
Rubric: 141v Peticiones
Incipit: 141v Buk. xva et xa In primis petit exonerari de xxxs
Explicit: 141v Anno quinto Richardi Secundi inde editis [?] iregularis memorandum de termino pasche eodem Anno ex parte

The text refers to lands held by John Osbaldeston (name partially written on f. [141a] verso).

Physical Description

Secundo Folio: 130r: tam
Form: codex
Support: Paper, folded in folio. Folios 129r-141v: bull and circle (?)
Extent: Codex: 13 leaves.
Dimensions (written): 215 × 145 mm.
Folio [128a] is a parchment stub before f. 128 and f. [141a] is a parchment stub after f. 141; both originate from the same manuscript and show fragments of the same unidentified 15th-century Latin text (f. [128a] verso and f. [141a] recto). (See Part 7 for further details).

Collation

  • Quire [5]14-1 (ff. 129-141: 5th leaf excised)

Layout

185-190 × 120-125 mm. Ruled in hardpoint, frame only. Single columns. 36-42 lines to the page.

Hand(s)

Folios 129v-131r have been copied in a cursive script with both anglicana and secretary features.

Folios 131r-131v have been copied in a cursive script with both anglicana and secretary features.

Decoration

This part of the manuscript does not contain any significant form of decoration.

History

Origin: Second half of the 15th century or 1st quarter of the 16th century. ; England.

Part 7 [Cambridge, University Library, MS Kk.6.30, ff. [92a]-[92b]]

Contents

1. [92a] verso-[92b] recto
(?) Privilegium concessum rectori et fratribus hospitalis pauperum beatae Mariae Senesnis ab Alexandro IV. Summo Pontifice, Anno 1257 Pope Alexander IV
Language(s): Latin
Incipit: || [92a] verso exequantur illi tamen studeant laudabilius adimplere qui hospitalitati
Explicit: [92b] recto propter que dominus in ultimo districtionis||

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Parchment
Extent: Fragment: 1 fragmentary leaf, comprising a folded strip of parchment recycled from another manuscript and reused as a sewing guard. These stubs have not been photographed.

Hand(s)

Written in Gothic Textualis script.

History

Origin: 14th century. ; England.

Part 8 (first section) [Cambridge, University Library, MS Kk.6.30, ff. [128a] and [141a]]

Contents

1. [128a]
Language(s): Latin
Unidentified text

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Paper
Extent: Fragment: 1 fragmentary leaf, comprising a folded strip of paper recycled from another manuscript and reused as a sewing guard. Only the second of these stubs has been photographed.

Hand(s)

Written in secretary script.

History

Origin: 15th century. ; England.

Part 8 (second section) [Cambridge, University Library, MS Kk.6.30, ff. [128a] and [141a]]

Contents

2. [141a]
Language(s): Latin
Unidentified text

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: Paper
Extent: Fragment: 1 fragmentary leaf, comprising a folded strip of paper recycled from another manuscript and reused as a sewing guard. Only the second of these stubs has been photographed.

Hand(s)

Written in secretary script.

History

Origin: 15th century. ; England.

Additional Information

Record Sources

This catalogue entry draws on:
  • Anke Timmermann, 'Alchemy in Cambridge: An Annotated Catalogue of Alchemical Texts and Illustrations in Cambridge Repositories', Nuncius: Journal of the Material and Visual History of Science, 30:2 (2015)
  • Margaret Connolly Manuscripts in the University Library, Cambridge (Dd-Oo), The Index of Middle English Prose, 17 (Cambridge: Brewer, 2009)
  • and an unpublished description of the manuscript composed between 1926 and 1930 by M.R. James , now held in the University Archives (UA ULIB 7/3/74)

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

    Catalogue of Latin and Vernacular Alchemical Manuscripts in Great Britain and Ireland: Dating from before the XVI Century, Singer, Dorothea Waley (Brussels, Maurice Lamertin, 1928-1931) Alchemical Writings Ascribed to Albertus Magnus Speculum, , (17, 4, 499-518, 1942) British Manuscripts Project: A Checklist of the Microfilms Prepared in England and Wales for the American Council of Learned Sciences 1941-1945, Born, Lester K. (Washington, D.C., The Library of Congress, 1955) Music and Poetry in the Early Tudor Court, Stevens, John (London, 1961) Music Manuscripts Before 1850 from Cambridge University Library and Ely Cathedral Music Manuscripts from the Great English Collections, Bartlett, Clifford (Brighton, 1, Harvester Press Microform Publications, 1987) Scientific and Medical Books Book Production and Publishing in Britain 1375-1475 Cambridge Studies in Publishing and Printing History, Voigts, Linda Ehrsam (Cambridge, 345-402, Cambridge University Press, 1989) The Character of the Carecter: Ambiguous Sigils Latin and Vernacular: Studies in Late-Medieval Texts and Manuscripts York Manuscripts Conferences: Proceedings Series, Voigts, Linda Ehrsam (Cambridge, 91-109, Brewer, 1989) Biographical Register of the English Cathedral Priories of the Province of Canterbury (c. 1066 to 1590), Greatrex, Joan G. (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1995) Database of Alchemical Manuscripts - Cambridge Alchemy Web Site, McLean, Adam (1995) GB-Cu Kk.vi.30 Digital Image Archive of Medieval Music (DIAMM), (2009, https://www.diamm.ac.uk/sources/3784/#/) "ffor to make Azure as Albert biddes": Medieval English Alchemical Writings in the Pseudo-Albertan Tradition Ambix: The Journal of the Society for the Study of Alchemy and Early Christianity, Grund, Peter (53, 1, 21-42, 2006) Manuscripts as Sources for Linguistic Research: A Methodological Case Study Based on the Mirror of Lights Journal of English Linguistics, Grund, Peter (34, 2, 105-125, 2006) Manuscripts in the University Library, Cambridge (Dd-Oo) Index of Middle English Prose, Connolly, Margaret (Woodbridge, D.S. Brewer, 2009) Textual Alchemy: The Transformation of Pseudo-Albertus Magnus's Semita Recta into the Mirror of Lights Ambix: The Journal of the Society for the Study of Alchemy and Early Christianity, Grund, Peter (56, 3, 202-225, 2009) The Alchemy of George Ripley, 1470-1700, Rampling, Jennifer Margaret (2010, unpublished PhD dissertation) The Catalogue of the Ripley Corpus: Alchemical Writings Attributed to George Ripley (d. ca. 1490) Ambix: The Journal of the Society for the Study of Alchemy and Early Christianity, Rampling, Jennifer Margaret (57, 2, 125-201, 2010) Compiling the Book The Production of Books in England 1350–1500, Connolly, Margaret (Cambridge, 129-149, Cambridge University Press, 2011) Magic in the Cloister: Pious Motives, Illicit Interests, and Occult Approaches to the Medieval Universe Magic in History, Page, Sophie (University Park, PA, Penn State University Press, 2013) Alchemy in Cambridge: An Annotated Catalogue of Alchemical Texts and Illustrations in Cambridge Repositories Nuncius: Journal of the Material and Visual History of Science, Timmermann, Anke (30, 2, 345-511, 2015) Essai sur la constitution et la transmission de corpus alchimiques latins aux XIIIe-XVe siècles: Albert le Grand, Thomas d'Aquin, Roger Bacon in Les miscellanées scientifiques au Moyen Age. Transmission et problèmes de méthode cur Micrologus, Calvet, Antoine (27, 199-202, 2019) Paper in Medieval England: From Pulp to Fictions, Da Rold, Orietta (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2020) Alchemy in the Vernacular: An Edition and Study of Early English Witnesses of The Mirror of Alchemy, Norja, Sara (2021, https://www.utupub.fi/handle/10024/151694) Alchemical treatises Dallas medieval texts and translations, Pseudo-Arnald, of Villanova (Leuven, Peeters, 2025) Accessus ad manuscripta Roger Bacon: The Philosopher's Workshop, (n.d., https://rogeriusbacon.wordpress.com/accessus-ad-manuscripta/)

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Wellcome

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Cambridge Digital Library

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