Egerton MS 2622

This manuscript contains a collection of treatises on arithmetic, geometry, horticulture, and astronomy, including the 'Treatise on the Astrolabe', an instructional manual written by Geoffrey Chaucer (b. c. 1340s, d. 1400).

Contents:

ff. 2r-12v: De ratione temporum, a set of mnemonic verses on the calendar, written in Latin with accompanying prose explanations, beginning, 'Filius esto dei coelum bonus accipe grates...'

ff. 14r-32r: Alexandre of Villedieu, Carmen de algorismo, a treatise on arithmetic written in Latin verse and prose, beginning, 'Hie algorismus ars presens dicitur, in qua...'

ff. 32v-49v: Johannes de Sacrobosco, De sphaera mundi, a treatise on astronomy written in Latin prose, imperfect at the end; the text beginning, 'Tractatum de spera quatuor eapitulis distinguimus...'; f. 49 has been almost entirely torn out.

ff. 50r-71v: Geoffrey Chaucer, 'Treatise on the Astrolabe', written in Middle English prose, beginning, 'Litil Lewys my sone...'

ff. 72r-73r: A treatise on the making of an astronomical instrument called a 'navicula', written in Latin prose, beginning, 'Ut veraciter et breviter habeatur composicio navicule...'

f. 73r: A prayer in Latin verse, beginning, 'Ore tuo Christe benedictus sit domine iste...'

ff. 74r-80r: Johannes Jacobi, De pestilencia, a treatise on the plague, written in Latin prose, beginning, 'In nomine sancte et individue Trinitatis...'

ff. 85r-88v: A treatise on water divining, written in Latin, imperfect, with most of its leaves torn or mutilated; the text beginning, 'Philosophi naturales dixerunt vas vacuum non esse...'

ff. 89r-98v: A treatise on mensuration, written in Latin prose, beginning, 'Iste tractatus vocatur tractatus arsmetrice...'

ff. 99r-112v: Godfridus super Palladium, a horticultural manual written in Latin prose, beginning with a table of contents (ff. 99r-100v); the text beginning, 'Modus insercionis arborum multiplex est...'

ff. 113r-117r: Nicolas Bollard, De modo plantandi arbores, written in Latin prose.

ff. 117v-135v: Albertus Magnus, Breuiloquium super quatuor libros metheorum, written in Latin prose, beginning, 'De primis igitur campis...'

ff. 136r-165r: The Boke of Algorym, a Middle English translation of a gloss on Alexander of Villedieu's De algorismo (see ff. 14r-32r), beginning, 'This boke is called þe boke of algorym or augrym after lewder vse...'

ff. 166r-169v: A treatise on arithmetic, written in Latin prose, beginning, 'Si vis scire omnes species arismetricas per denarios proiectilos...'

ff. 169v-173v: De arismetrica, a treatise on the use of the astrolabe, written in Latin prose, beginning, 'Nomina instrumentorum astrolabii...'

The manuscript contains numerous additions in different hands, including:

f. 1r: A list of contents with accompanying folio references in a 17th- or 18-century hand.

f. 13r-v: A set of proverbs in English and Latin with accompanying pen-trials in 16th-century hands.

f. 73v: Pen-trials and Latin phrases, written in 16th-century hands.

f. 79r: A marginal ownership inscription in Latin relating to John Thackham, written in a 16th-century hand.

f. 80r: 'Aqua pestilentialis', a herbal recipe in Latin, written in a late 15th-century hand.

ff. 80v-82r: A set of notes on calculations in Latin, written in a late 15th-century hand.

ff. 82v-83r: Thomas Thorleby, 'Novus modus computandi', in Latin with accompanying diagrams, written in a late 15th-century or early 16th-century hand.

f. 84r-v: Monetary reckoning tables in Latin, arranged by day, week, month and year, written in a late 15th- or early 16th-century hand.

f. 165r-v: Pen-trials and Latin phrases, written in 16th-century hands.

ff. 173v-174v: Pen-trials and ownership inscriptions, written in 16th-century hands.

ff. 1v and 83v are blank.

Decoration:

3 large puzzle initials in blue and red with red pen-flourishing (ff. 2r, 32v, 50r). 2 large initials in red with purple pen-flourishing (ff. 85r, 136r).

Small initials in blue with red penwork decoration and pen-flourishing, sometimes in the form of leaves.

Paraph marks in alternating red and blue ink.

Numerical tables in red ink (ff. 17v, 21r, 21v, 23r, 23v, 25v, 26r, 28v, 29r, 29v).

Diagrams and marginal drawings in red and brown or yellow and brown (ff. 82v, 83r, 85r, 89r, 90r, 90v, 91r, 91v, 92r, 92v, 93r, 93v, 94r, 94v, 95r, 95v, 96r (x2), 96v, 97r, 97v, 98r, 98v (x2)).