Egerton MS 2900

Catalogue of Additions to the Manuscripts in the British Museum in the Years 1911-1915, 2 vols (London: British Museum, 1969), I, p. 413-15:

'CONSTANTINUS AFRICANUS, Viaticum, with title "Incipit uiaticum a Constantino in Latinam linguam translatum" : the Arabic work of Isaac Judaeus [Isbak ibn Sulaiman] translated and appropriated by Constantinus Africanus (monk of Monte Cassino, d. circ. 1087), see Cat. of Royal MSS., 12 D. ix, art. 1. Preface beg. "Quoniam quidem ut in rethoricis Tullius"; text " Capillus ex fumo crosso (sic) et calido." f. 2 b. Additions to the above are (a) An anatomical description of the human body, in a 13th cent. hand, beg. " Exposicio membrorum. Quo ordine quibusque ossibus uel uenis uel neruis uel quibus compaginibus uel iuncturis uel quo scemate homo in utero formetur uel contineatur." f. 2, continued f. 1 ;--(b) Part of the tract of Johannes Hispalensis, printed by Hermann Suchier in Denkmaler Provenzalischer Litteratur and Sprache, 1883, pp. 473-480 ; see also Opera hactenus inedita Rogeri Baconi, fasc. v, Secreta Secretorum, etc., ed. R. Steele, 1920, pp. xvi and 68, 1. 17 and note. Preface beg. " Cum de utilitate corporis olim tractarernus" ; text, " Quia igitur humanum corpus, O Alexander, alteratur, conuertitur, et per hoc corrumpitur." The text except for certain differences in the wording corresponds with Suchier's edition as far as p. 478, section 2, 1. 95 ; the last nine lines of the MS. do not occur in the printed version. In a hand of circ. 1200. On f. 102 b is the colophon " Dkgnxs fst ppfrbrkxs mfrcfdf sxb," i.e. " Dignus est operarius mercede sua," the vowels being replaced by their succeeding consonants. Followed by fifteen hexameters, in the same hand, beg. "Confert omnimodam paulinum commoditatem," and by two medical recipes in a 13th cent. hand. f. 103 ;—(c) Various medical verses, etc., in 13th cent. hands ; that beg. " Ars, etas, uirtus" is printed in Renzi, Collectio Salernitana, ii, p. 650 ; cf. Flos Medicinae, 11. 1574-6 (Renzi, i, p. 496) and the remainder are chiefly variants of other passages in the same poem. f. 105 :—(d) Prayers, in a 15th cent. hand. f. 104 b. Vellum ; ff. i + 105. 8 7/8 in. X 5 7/8 in. Late xii cent., with additions, the main portion perhaps written in England. Gatherings of 8 leaves, except i4 (2, 3, 4 cancelled). Sec. fol. " capitula." Outline decorative initials on 2 b, 21, 31 b, 46, 62, 78 b, 87 b ; other initials in red and blue. Contemporary English binding of brown leather stamped as follows :—Upper Cover : (a) Central vertical panel, having in the middle five impressions of a circular stamp representing Samson and the lion, with legend SAMSON [cf. similar but not identical stamps, without the legend, on the cover of a Durham MS. of Leviticus and Numbers (Burlington Fine Arts Club, Cat. of Bookbindings, 1891, Plate iv ; Weale, Cat. of Rubbings of Book-bindings in the South Kensington Museum, no. 27, cf. no. 23)]. The left and right sides of the panel are formed respectively by seven juxtaposed impressions of a stamp charged with two dragons inter-laced, the upper one inverted, and eight impressions of a stamp charged with a cockatrice having a row of eight dots in the space between the tail and the back ;—(b) Rectangular border formed at top and bottom by five juxtaposed impressions of a stamp representing Sagittarius (a centaur shooting to r. over shoulder, with three stars in background), and on the left and right sides respectively by eleven juxtaposed impressions of a stamp bearing a lion with palmated tail, looking to r. over shoulder, and eleven and a half juxtaposed impressions of another bearing a stag facing 1., this last being identical with a stamp on the lower cover of the Winchester Hegesippus formerly in the collection of Mr. H. Yates Thompson (Illustrations, vol. iv, 1914, pl. 2 ; sale-cat. 1920, lot 31). The border is separated from the inner panel and from the edge of the cover by bands having a two-line fillet on each side, the inner fillets prolonged at the four corners to form small rectangles with the outer ones : the bands are relieved at intervals with ten-foiled rosettes within circles alternating with groups of four dots within circles. Under Cover (a large portion of the upper layer of leather gone) : (a) Central vertical panel, having in the middle four juxtaposed impressions of a pair of oval stamps of St. Peter with key and legend PETR VS and St. Paul with sword and legend PAVLVS (of. Weale, op. cit. no. 22). These impressions are almost obliterated, but can be distinguished on the under layer of leather. The left and right sides of the panel are each formed by eight juxtaposed impressions of a stamp bearing a contorted gryphon with palmated tail ;—(b) Rectangular border formed at top and bottom by five juxtaposed impressions of a stamp charged with a man on horseback with sword, riding to r. (cf. similar but not identical stamps on the upper cover of Add. MS. 35167 ; and on either side by nine juxtaposed impressions of a stamp bearing two wyverns addorsed, their tails ending in foliage. The border is separated from the panel and from the edge of the cover by bands as on the upper cover, the dots between the rosettes being in this case in groups of three on the outer band and ranging from three to six on the inner band. This MS. is mentioned by Mr. Strickland Gibson (The Localization of Books by their Bindings, in Transactions of the Bibliographical Society, viii, p. 29 ; reprint, 1907, p. 13) as the only example known to him of an early binding composed wholly of leather : it was at that time in the possession of Mr. George Dunn. On f. 103 b is the note " Orate pro datore huius libri unum pater noster et ave maria quia peccatrix fuit etc.", in a 15th cent. hand, and on f. 105 is a Hebrew transliteration of the letters KONDT, which is probably connected with the signature Kond Eyseken on f. 104 b, also in a 15th cent. hand. An erased inscription is on f. 2, of which only the word " monasterii " is legible. Phillipps MS. 6925 (sale-cat. 1903, lot 287). Afterwards belonged to George Dunn (bookplate, f. i ; sale-cat. 1913, lot 451). From the Farnborough Fund'.