Add MS 41486

ALCHEMICAL TRACTS AND RECIPES, in Latin, including:-

(1) 'ln nomine domini dei omnipotentis Incipiam scribere auctoritates et operationes meliores et leuiores magnorum uirorum philosophorum quamplurimorum probatas et ueras de scientia alchimie.' The opening words resemble a prologue found in some MSS. of Albertus Magnus, Libellus de Alchimia, cf. D. W. Singer, Cat. of Alchemical MSS., 1928, no. 178, and Speculum, xvii, 1942, p. 514. f. 1 - (2) 'Nunc dicendum est de combustione metallorum: Sciendum est quod omnia corpora metallorum'; cf. Lynn Thomdike, A Catalogue of Incipits of Medieval Scientific Writings in Latin, 1937, col. 646; Vatican MS. Palat. 1339 (Deptl. Microfilm 432), f. 15 b. ff. 1-1b.

(3) Chapters on metals, viz.:-on copper, beg. 'Sic autem est regimen eius [sc. ueneris] et preparatio sicut ponit Aristoteles in primis. Accipias ergo de uenere laminas tenues incisas'. For a similar recipe see Osiris, vi, 1937, p. 84, no. 288. ff. 1b-2;-'Sequitur de preparatione martis', beg. 'Accipe ergo de limatura eiusdem quantum uis'. f. 2;-'Item aliud nobile capitulum de marte', beg. 'Accipe libram unam de oleo'. Singer, Cat., no. 717 B. ff. 2-2b;-

'Incipiunt duo gloriosa capitula de luna', beg. (f. 2b) 'Accipe calcem lapidis'. Thorndike, Incipits, col. 613. ff. 1b-3.

(4) 'Item aliud experimentum Constantini magni philosophi in tempore nostro [Constantinus Africanus, d. 1087] et loquitur uersifice de hoc experimento', beg., in hexameters, 'Perpetuo mansura uenus sic luna fit usque / Mercurio mediante diu per frustra minuta', but the remainder is in prose. f. 3.

(5) Chapters on the confection of gold, viz.: 'Nunc dicendum est de operatione solis artificialis de parua expensa opus nobile ab Aristotele commendatum', beg. 'Accipe limaturam de marte'. ff. 3-3 b;-'Sequitur aliud capitulum de regimine solis et uocatur a philosophis regimen lconum', beg. 'Combure uenerem cum sulfure'. f. 3 b;-'Sequitur aliud capitulum de regimine solis artificialis set spectat ad diuitem quia pauper non potest habere expensas unde ipsum perficetur', beg. 'Accipe ergo de calce solis' (cf. Razes, De Aluminibus et Salibus, ed. J. Ruska, I935, p. 66). ff. 4-4b.

(6) 'Incipiunt diuersa capitula de diuersis operationibus cuiusque corporis et spiritus et primo dicendum est de regimine mercurii', beg. 'Regimen ergo eius et operatio fit quinque modis'; followed by two similar recipes. ff. 4b-6.

(7) 'De secretis ad comburendum corpora. Incipiunt secreta secretorum que nulli sunt reuelanda.' Ends 'per mercurium quod Aristoteles dixit in libro perfecti magisterii: unumquodque corporum uel spirituum per se bene preparatum est elexir'. ff. 6-6 b.

(8) 'Regula Theorice', beg. 'Nota quod quidam philosophus dicit quod metalla differunt sola accidentali forma', ends 'nisi reducantur in primam naturam i.e. in talem calcem et tunc possibile est hoc concedo'. An extract from Albertus Magnus, Libellus de Alchimia, ed. Borgnet, Opera, xxxvii, pp. 547-548, §§2-3, differing considerably from the printed version. The same extract, without title or ascription, also occurs in Vatican MS. Palat. 1339 (Deptl. Microfilm 432), ff. 15-15b. For MSS. of the whole work see Pearl Kibre, Speculum, xvii, 1942, pp.511-515. ff. 7-8.

(9) Chapters on salts, including: 'Nunc dicendum est de sale armoniaco quid sit et unde fiat', beg. 'Recipe tres partes urine antiquate' (variant version on f. 129b). f. 8;-'Sequitur de sale communi', beg. 'Recipe de eo quantum uis et prohice in aquam calidam', ends 'sapo sapientum et radix omnis operis'. ff. 8-8b;-'De sale alcali', beg. 'Accipe alumen alafor quo uitrarii utuntur'. f. 8b;-'Sequitur de sale tincar arabicum nomen eius latine borax. Sic fit', beg. 'Accipe unam libram salis communis preparati'. f. 8b;-'Preparatio salis gemme est sicut salis communis' (rubric only, no text). ff. 8-9.

(10) 'Incipit tractatus duodecim aquarum et primo dicendum est de aqua quae fit de mercurio.' Beg. 'Tere ergo mercurium cum sale', ends 'lac uirginis et est alba. Finitur de aquis'. An abbreviated version of the recipes printed in Zetzner, Theatrum chemicum, iii, pp. 104-106. ff. 9-9b.

(11) On sal-ammoniac and arsenic, viz.: 'De sale armoniaco', beg. 'Nunc uero sciendum est quod sal armoniacus nobilior' ends 'lapis qui nutit et parit et uestigia eius manent in secula'. ff. 9b-10;-'Nunc dicendum est de regimine arsenici', beg. 'Arsenicum est lapis mineralis', ends 'ueram formam nouam albam uel rubeam'. ff. 10-10b;-'Item alia preparatio arsenici', beg. 'Accipe de arsenico crudo quantum uis', ends 'et combure cum eo qualecumque corpus uolueris'. f. 10b;-'De eadem', beg. 'Item aliter potest fieri. Pone ipsum in aqua salis', ends imperf. f. 10b. These recipes closely resemble the corresponding sections of Razes, De Aluminibus et Salibus (cf. art. 5). A leaf (originally f. xi) is missing after f. 10. ff. 9b-10b.

(12) Miscellaneous recipes, including several from the Mappae Clavicula (cf. art. 29). Beg. imperf. '[sino]pidis misii et eris usti' (M.C. § 24);-Recipe beg. 'Auri argenti partes 2' (a conflation of M.C. §§ 23 and 25). f. 11;-

'Aurum durum fusile facere et melius' (M.C. § 26). f. 11;-'Ut ferrum in calibem mutetur', beg. 'Sume capillos humanos' (recurs on f. 108; printed by J. A. Corbett, Cat. des MSS. alchimiques latins de Paris, 1939, p. 299, no. 1). f. 11b. ff. 11-11b.

(13) Extract, beg. 'Cortex maligranati ferrum congelat in calibem', and ending 'color qui subtilior est', from' the Liber Alchimiae of Hermes (cf. art. 44). ff. 11b-12.

(14) Miscellaneous recipes, of which several recur elsewhere in the MS., including: 'Quomodo stagnum fiat album et durum sine stridore', beg. 'Funde stagnum decies' (similar recipes on ff. 27b, 29b). f. 12;-'De temperando uitro quod non frangatur', beg. 'Habeat (l. habeas) tabellas uel caldariam' (recurs on f. 123 b). ff. 12- 12b;-'De mollificatione cristalli', beg. 'Sume capram lactantem' (recurs on f. 46b and again, under the title 'Doctrina Magistri Guillelmi', on f. 123b). f. 12b;-'De aqua quae ferrum cauat', beg. 'Accipe sal et carbonem candentem' (recurs on f. 216b);-'De mollificatione omnium corporum', beg. 'Ut omnia corpora mollificentur', ends 'aqua de cepa rubea' (a fuller version on f. 42). f. 12b;-'Quomodo gemme debeant mollificari', beg. 'Accipe yrcum rubeum' (recurs on f. 46b). ff. 12b-13;-

'De eodem', beg. 'Item aliud. Sanguinem yrci cum amurca' (recurs on f. 46 b; variants on ff. 13b, 157b). f. 13 ;-'De eodem', beg. 'Item fac yrcum ieiunare tribus diebus' (recurs on f. 46b). f. 13.

(15) 'De permutatione metallorum': 19 hexameters, beg. 'Uertere de facili poteris genus omne metalli', based on various sources, such as Hermes, De opere lapidis, and the Centimetrum Problematum (Singer, Cat., nos. 791, 824). Followed by various recipes, including 'De ere usto', beg. 'Sume de ere drachmas 30', an extract from Geber, Liber de Septuaginta (cf. art. 18; ed. Berthelot, p. 359), and 'De faciendo igne[m] qui non extinguitur', beg. 'Accipe sextarium unum uini nigri' (recurs, as 'Aqua ardens', on f. 39b; cf. Corbett, op. cit., p. 279). ff. 13-14b.

(16) 'De sole', beg. 'Fabro quodam existente in terra Saracenorum in theloneo suo': the so-called 'Historiola Antiqua', printed, e.g., in Zetzner, Theatrum Chemicum, iii, p. 170; cf. Singer, Cat., iii, p. 1162; 0siris, vi, 1939, p. 478; Corbett, op. cit., pp. 81, 105. ff. 14b-15.

(17) Synonyma Alchemica, beg. 'Aer uetus alicanthi flos', ends 'Zarfa iuppiter. Zogar capilli'. Imperf. Two leaves, originally ff. xx, xxi, are missing after f. 18. ff. 15b-21.

(18) Sections from the Liber de Septuaginta of Geber, the fragmentary remains of which are printed by Berthelot, Archéologie et Histoire des Sciences, 1906, pp. 301-363, viz.:-(a) 'Liber diuinitatis qui est primus de septuaginta', beg. 'Laudes sint deo habenti gratiam' (Berthelot, pp. 310-315). ff. 21-26b. (For the contents of ff. 26b-30b see art. 19.)-(b) 'Incipit liber de ablutione lapidum et extractione spirituum a corporibus nec non et corporum a corporibus. Liber sexagesimus primus de septuaginta', beg. 'In hoc libro dicam quomodo abluuntur lapides' (Berthelot, pp. 357-362). The first paragraph is repeated on ff. 62b-63 below. Followed as, e.g., in Sloane MS. 1754, f. 58b, by an additional section, 'Quomodo argentum uiuum fiat rubeum', beg. 'Si autem argentum uiuum rubeum facere uolueris', and by ten hexameters, beg. 'Est secretorum lex septuaginta uirorum'. ff. 30 b-35 b;-(c) 'Liber capituli qui est secundus de septuaginta', beg. 'lam antecessit nobis' (Berthelot, pp.315-316).Followed, as in Trinity Coll., Cambridge, MS.0.8.25, ff.52b- 53, by 'Quomodo albificatur sulfur sublimando' (Singer, Cat., no. 102C). ff. 35 b-37.

(19) 'De sale metallino', beg. 'Sal autem metallinum hoc modo conficitur' (cf. f. 158b); ends imperf. through loss of one leaf and two quires (originally ff. xxx-l) after f. 26. The table of contents (ff. 225-227) shows that the missing portion contained further recipes and the Liber Lapidum of Marbod (Migne, Patr. Lat., clxxi, 1737-1770). After the lacuna text beg. imperf. (f. 27) 'et ad bonitatem deueniet... bonum inueniemus'(printed in Corbett, op. cit., p. 300, no. 4). Followed by other recipes, most of which recur, in the same order, in Cambridge Univ. Lib. MS. Ii. iii. 17, ff. 92-93 b (cf. Deptl. Microfilm 433); included are: 'De luna', beg. 'Sume ex auripigmento unciam unam'. f. 27;-

'De colorando ferro colore solis', beg. 'Cornu combure' (repeated on f. 138b; printed ibid., no. 7). f. 27;-'De sole', beg. 'Uirgam eream sume' (repeated on f. 138b). ff. 27-27b;-'De albificatione uasorum', beg. 'Lupinos in aqua coque' (repeated on f. 138b; printed ibid. no. 8). f. 27 b;-'Ut stagnum durum fiat et sine stridore', beg. 'Auri dragmam unam' (printed ibid., no. 9). f. 27 b;-

'De mollificatione auricalci', beg. 'Sume alumen yameni plumosum'. ff. 28-28 b;-'De parte occulta et supra cohoperta. Rauzes', beg. 'Quicunque es in argentum transmutare cupit' (occurs also in Bologna Univ. MS. 138 (104), f. 316). ff. 28b-29;-'De philosophorum archiuo', beg. 'Sume stagni dragmas decem'. ff. 29-29b;-'Ad faciendum uasa fusilia de stagno', beg. 'Ex stagno laminas subtiles' (printed ibid., no. 10). f. 29b;-Recipe for softening glass and gems, beg. 'Sanguis yrci' (repeated from ff. 13, 13b). f. 30;-'De compositione margarite de semine alcoti', beg. 'Tere semen alcoti' (recurs on f. 136). f. 30. ff. 26b-30b (for ff. 30b-37 see art. 18).

(20) 'Libri huius aquarum series xii splendet capitulis', followed by table of the 12 chapters. Text beg. 'De aqua rubicunda. Ovorum uitella equaliter teres'. Edited from other MSS. by J. Ruska, Osiris, vii, 1939, pp. 67-81 (cf. also Speculum, xvii, 1942, pp. 504-505). Followed by 'Aqua ardens', beg. (f. 39b) 'Accipe sextarium uini nigri uetustissimi' (repeated from f. 14). ff. 37b-39b.

(21) 'De uiribus ignis super metalla', beg. 'Aurum itaque aureum generat colorem': an extract from the Liber Administrationum of Alkindi (cf. art. 26), corresponding to § 108 of the Liber Sacerdotum (cf. art. 27). ff. 39b-40.

(22) Miscellaneous recipes, commencing with 'De elexir ad solem et lunam', beg. 'Accipe albumen ouorum gallinarum in quantitate magna'. For another copy of this recipe see Sloane MS. 1754, ff- 137-138 (Singer, Cat., no. 1063, iv). The recipes for 'Dulcoratio' and 'Mollificatio' on f. 42 are a fuller version of those on f. 12b. ff. 40-44.

(23) 'Doctrina pollodi [l. poliendil planandi secandi sculpendi et perforandi pretiosos lapides', beg. 'Quoniam gemme quedam dure nature'. A French version, without author's name, and headed 'Ce est la doctrine de polir et planer et seier et burnir et percer precioses pierres', occurs in Paris, Bibl. nat. MS. lat. 7400A, ff. 47b-49 (Deptl. Microfilm 423). Followed by other recipes, including 'Quomodo autem gemme debent mollescere', beg. 'Accipe yrcum rubeum', repeated from f. 12b, and two similar recipes, beg. 'Sanguinem yrci' and 'Fac yrcum ieiunare', both repeated from f. 13. One leaf (originally f. lxxi), containing the end of the last recipe and the beginning of the next art., is missing after f. 46. ff. 44-46 b.

(24) Heraclius, De coloribus et artibus Romanorum, in hexameters. Beg. imperf. 'Erga quas gessi cum summa mente laborem'. The work has been printed by Mrs M. P. Merrifield, Original Treatises on the Arts of Painting, i, 1849, pp. I66-203, and, from a different source (Valenciennes MS.), by A. Pellizzari, I Trattati attorno le Arti figurative, 1915, pp. 503-515. For a list of MSS. see A. Giry, 'Notice sur un Traité du Moyen Age', in Bibliothèque de l'École des Hautes Études, xxxv, 1878, pp. 209-227, and Speculum, xv, 1940, ff. 255-271. Continued by an additional section of eight hexameters (ff. 50- 50b), beg. 'Quomodo fit uenetum si quis uult scire nigellum', two prose sections, viz. 'De Celidonio' (f. 50b), beg. 'Celidonius lapis debet extrahi de uentre pullorum', and 'De Lapidum uirtutibus', beg. 'Primus lapis saphirus in domo ubi habitat' (ff. 50b-51), and the five opening lines of Heraclius, beg. 'Ut potui leuius uarios tibi frater ad usus'. ff. 47-51.

(25) Miscellaneous recipes, including one for unbreakable glass, beg. 'Sumas uas uitreum solidum'. f. 51b;-'De latone et doctrina Theorica', beg. 'Materia una est quattuor elementorum'. ff. 53-54;-and 'De yccir ad solem', beg. 'Arsenicum tere et cribra'. A leaf (originally f. lxxx) is lost after f. 54. ff. 51-55b.

(26) Alkindi, Liber Administrationis. Prologue beg. 'Incipit prologus in libro administrationis; Ut ait Alqui[n]dius. hec disciplina quibusdam possessionis infert detrimentum'. Text beg. 'Incipit liber administrationum. Aurum itaque aureum generat colorem', ends 'Tamquam sibi debitam reuelare uoluerunt'. Singer, Cat., nos. 501, 639; Lynn Thorndike, Speculum, xi, 1936, p. 376, no. 10. Apart from the prologue, the whole of the text coincides with the Liber Sacerdotum (cf. art. 27), §§ 108, 77-81, 32-38, 54-76, in that order; for the first of these sections see also art. 21. An almost identical selection of sections from the Liber Sacerdotum, but without title or prologue, occurs in Sloane MS. 1754, ff. 162b-165. Followed (ff. 60-60b) by 'De mollificatione eris', beg. 'Ouorum teste es ipsum dissoluunt' (Liber Sacerdotum §§ 90-91; repeated on ff. 62, 213), and ending 'Quod ex eodem fomento quidam sepius experti sunt. Explicit liber septuaginta preceptorum'; this explicit should come at the end of art. 27 (q.v.). Below are three additional recipes, the last corresponding to Mappac Clavicula (cf. art. 29), §§ 75-76. ff. 56- 60b.

(27) 'De naturis corporum [sic. for 'colorum'] iuxta Aristotilem septuaginta preceptorum' (cf. the explicit of art. 26 and Singer, Cat., no. 499, vi, vii), beg. 'Notato quoniam ignis': sections from the Liber Sacerdotum, corresponding to §§ 82, 94, 95, 96, 97, 150, 151, 152, 92, 90 and 91 of the work as printed by Berthelot, La Chimie au Moyen Age, i, 1893, pp. 179-228. The same sections, in the same order, occur in Arundel MS. 164, ff. 185 b-186 (cf. Singer, Cat., no. 499, viii). ff. 61-62b.

(28) 'De ablutione lapidum et extractione spirituum a corporibus nec non et corporum a corporibus.' Book 61 of the Septuaginta of Geber, repeated from art. 18 (b) above. Ends imperf. 'ante sublimationem et calcinationem'. Followed by other recipes, including 'De ablutione argenti uiui', beg. (f. 63) 'Eorum qui cum solo sulphure operantur' (extracted from Book 25 of the Septuaginta; Berthelot, p. 333), and 'Rubificatio mercurii congelati', beg. (f. 63) 'Tere mercurium cum tanto atramenti' (from Book 27; Berthelot, p. 336). ff. 62b-63b.

(29) 'Incipit mappa (sic) clauicula', beg. 'Aurum facere plurimum. Sumes argenti uiui dragmas octo'. Printed by Arthur Way in Archaeologia, xxxii, 1847, pp. 187-244. See also Rozelle P. Johnson, 'Notes on some manuscripts of the Mappae Clavicula', Speculum, x, 1935, pp. 72-81, and cf. xii, 1937, pp. 84-103. The present text omits the table of capitula and transfers the prologue, beg. 'Multis et mirabilibus' to the end of the volume (f. 221b). There are considerable omissions, additions, and displacements of the text. The prefatory verses, here reduced to two, beg. 'Sensu (l. sensim) per partes', appear on f. 104b. Ends 'Explicit liber'. Two leaves are missing after f. 78 (originally ff. cv, cvi) and a further two (originally ff. cxv, cxvi) after f. 86. ff. 63 b-109.

(30) Miscellaneous recipes, beg. 'Incipit de Aquis. Aque clare pondera quatuor', a recipe corresponding to the additional paragraph noted by Singer, Cat., no. 499, v. Followed by other recipes and (ff. 110b-111) 'Experimentum Maymonis in sole', beg. 'Quod probaui. Sume de uitellis ouorum libram unam'. Several of the succeeding sections show affinities with the treatise De Aluminibus et Salibus ascribed to Razes (cf. art. 5), viz.:-'De eodem' [i.e. de albificatione eris], beg. 'Aliud melius eo. Accipe de arsenico bono' (cf. De al. et sal. p. 57). f. 112;-'Aliud' beg. 'Sume de eo post calcina - tionem' (De al. et sal. p. 66). f. 112;-'Aliud bonum', beg. 'Accipe de sulfure citrino' (De al. et sal. p. 70). f. 112 b;-'Aliud bonum', beg. 'Accipe acetum forte et solue' (De al. et. sal. p. 74; cf. also Cambridge Univ. Lib. MS. Ii. iii.

17, f. 123). ff. 113-113b. Other recipes include 'De fimo' (ff. 112b-113), beg. 'Inuenta domo temperata' (Osiris, vi, I939, p. 97, no. 407). ff. I09b- 114b.

(31) Sections on the qualities of metals, with recipes for transmuting base metals into silver or gold, drawn largely from the Septuaginta of Geber (cf. art. 18). Beg. 'De transformatione calibis in argentum. Martis materia calida est et sicca'. f. 114b;-'De natura auri et eius augmento', beg. 'Solis autem natura foris calida et humida'. f. 114b;-'De mundatione eris ut transeat in aurum', beg. 'Ueneris autem natura multum est calida' (cf. Septuaginta, ed. Berthelot, pp. 349-50, 359). ff. 114b-115b;-'Item de uiuo argento ut fiat uerum', beg. 'Mercurii natura mixta probatur' (cf. ibid. pp. 352-353). ff. 115b-116;-'Quomodo argentum uertatur in aurum', beg. 'Lune occultum calidum est et humidum', ends 'Fiat autem potius et melius aurum optimum si superaddideris de procuratione testudinis' (cf. art. 32; ibid. p. 354). ff. 114b-116b.

(32) Recipes for elixirs, beg. 'De procuratione testudinis. Dicta sunt hec omnia pro compendio'. The penultimate elixir (ff. 122-122b) is designated 'Yxir de lapide panormitano factum', beg. 'Panormitanus est lapis quasi calcineus'. Followed by miscellaneous recipes, including (ff. 122b-123) 'Modus Regiminis deheb', beg. 'liquefac ipsum in crucibulo' (De al. et sal. [cf. art. 30], p. 65) and (f. 123b), 'Hec est doctrina Magistri Guillelmi', beg. 'Assumes capram lactantem', a recipe which appears anonymously on ff. 12b and 46 b. Two leaves (originally ff. clv, clvi) are missing after f. 124. ff. 116b- 124b.

(33) ['De libro luminum quarto']. Both title and commencement of text are missing through the loss of f. clvi (original foliation), but the former is recoverable from the table of contents (f. 239). The text agrees closely with Paris, Bibl. nat. MS. lat. 7400A, ff. 40-44 (cf. Corbett, op. cit., p. 138), which beg. 'Lumen Luminum dicitur ex libris medicorum et experimentis philosophorum collectis'. Another copy of the work is in Cambridge Univ. Lib. MS. Ii. iii, 17, ff. 87b-92 (Singer, Cat., no. 637; Deptl. Microfilm 433; another MS. was formerly in Tours, cf. J. A. Corbett, MSS. des Bibliothèques publiques des Dépts. francais, 1951, no. 487). The present art. opens with sections on the varieties, qualities and virtues of different substances, which do not occur in the Paris MS., but are found in the Cambridge MS., ff. 87bgo. Text beg. imperf. 'seu sal metallinum accipi potest ad suos usus'. First complete recipe beg. 'De Baurach. Baurach est multiplex est enim armenicum'. The sections on 'tuthia', 'tincar' and 'sal sabbati' are printed (from another Paris MS.) in Corbett, op. cit., pp. 301-302, nos. 15, 16. With the recipe for 'flos eris' on f. 128 (printed in Corbett, ibid., no. 13) the text coincides with that of the Paris MS. The recipe for 'lapis aureus' on f. 134 and three recipes on ff. 137-137b are also printed in Corbett (ibid., nos. 2, 5, 6, 11). Several recipes occur in art. 19 above and in Sloane MS. 1754, ff. 179b-181, 197b-198. Two folios (originally clxiv, clxv) are lost after f. 131. Ends (as in the Paris MS., f. 44) 'Explicit liber quartus'. The Cambridge MS. has no explicit, the text merging into a series of recipes mostly found also in art. 19 above. For Book v of the Lumen Luminum see art. 35. ff. 125-138b.

(34) 'Incipit experimentum uerum per quod simul spiritus et corpus promptificatur ad elixir componendum.' Beg. 'Accipe mercurium et stagnum'. Ends (f. 141 b) 'Scias quod non debes distillare'. Followed by miscellaneous recipes, including one for the sublimation of mercury beg. 'Accipe dragantum et est genus terre et uenit de partibus ytalie' (ff. 144-144b), and 'De basilisco' (ff. 145b-146b) based on Theophilus Presbyter, Diversarum artium schedula, ed. Ilg, iii, 48. On f. 150 is a note 'Magister Iohannes uitrarius dixit ... quod non omnis limatura cupri ualet ad tingendum uitrum in rubeum sed illa quae defertur de colonia. Ista uero de Anglia denigrat et defedat', and on f. 150b is a recipe ending 'hoc modo audiui quod uctula apud lundonias facit cerusam'. Other recipes apparently collected by the compiler are introduced by such phrases as 'H. mihi dixit quod uidit quemdam facere azurium de lapide lazuli in luduno' (f. 152), 'Item magister h. dixit' (f. 153), 'Item ludoni inueni pulcriorem auricalcum quam unquam uidi in domo cuiusdam thetonici fusoris auricalci' (ibid.), 'Item quidam albus monachus et abbas qui uir bonus et uerax creditur esse dixit mihi' (ibid.), etc. ff.139-155b.

(35) 'Incipit liber de extrauagantibus et nouis experimentis. Auri nouitas occultanda.' Preface beg. 'Antiquorum studiis nimium approbandis que sunt in metallorum transformationibus hactenus in unum collecta noua subiungimus'. Text beg. 'Salis metallini uel salis gemme siue communis loti'. The same work occurs in Paris, Bibl. nat. MS. lat. 7400A, ff. 35-39b, where, however, the title is given as 'Liber quintus de extrauagantibus', etc., i.e. it is apparently regarded as Book v of the Lumen Luminum (cf. art. 33 above). On f. 157 a recipe 'De pretiosissimo lapide porphiro' contains the words 'ita fit in libro quarto regula quadragesima porphiretici lapidis', presumably a reference to the recipe for 'porphireticus color' in Book IV of the Lumen Luminum (f. 133b). On f. 158b the entry 'Sal autem metallinum hoc modo conficitur etc. Require superius in tertio quaterno penultima carta' refers the reader back to f. 26b (originally f. xxix). After f. 158b come a number of recipes (dealing with glass and crystal) not in the Paris MS., but the two MSS. coincide again with 'De opere smaragdi pretiosissimo' (ff. 159b-160), which concludes the work in the Paris MS., ending 'puritate simul et bonitate'. The present MS. continues with similar recipes, concluding with 'Quomodo cristallina integritas in smaragdum transmutatur', beg. 'Cristallum cuiusque forme' and ending (no explicit) 'ne tangatur a uento'. f. 162 is missed out of the original foliation. ff. 155b-162.

(36) 'Incipit liber seruitor de medicinis simplicibus quemadmodum preparentur ante horam necessitatis in combustione ablutione et confectione': the Liber Servitoris of Albucasis. Preface beg. 'Dixit aggregator huius operis. Postquam ego collegi'. Followed by a synopsis of the contents of the three tractates, beg. 'Capitula primi tractatus. Primus eorum est de preparatione lapidum', ends (f. 163b) 'bona et que non bona ex eis'. Text beg. 'Modus ablutionis lithargiri'. The text breaks off in the middle of the second tractate, with the recipe for opium, ending'clarum et pauce uirtutis. Explicit'. Printed, e.g., in Mesue, Opera, 1581, pp. 239 b-251. Cf. Thorndike, Incipits, col. 208, and Trinity Coll., Cambridge, MS. 0. 8. 27, ff. 1-5 b. ff. 163-183 b.

(37) Recipes from Aristotle, De Perfecto Magisterio, Parts iii and iv, corresponding approximately to the text in Zetzner, Theatrum Chemicum, iii, pp. 87- 113, but with numerous discrepancies. No title. Text beg. 'Separatio salis communis et gemme. Accipe de quocumque eorum uolueris bene trito'. On f. 191b is an interpolated 'Tractatus de stercore humano', beg. 'Accipe stercora hominum canuta'. Concludes with 'Preparatio talc' (Zetzner, op.cit., p. 96). ff. 183b-192.

(38) Recipes and tracts, largely from the unpublished Liber de Corporibus et Spiritibus (al. Liber Emanuelis) of Archelaus (cf. Singer, Cat., no. 27; Speculum, xi, 1936, p. 377), as contained in, e.g., Sloane MS. 1754, ff. 84-94b, references to which are here given. Included are: 'Mollificatio latonis ad modum plumbi per fus[ionem]', beg. 'Accipe dragmam i.e. ocleam affaracum'. f. 192b;-'Preparatio stagni', beg. 'In primis funde stagnum in captia'. Osiris, vi, 1939, p. 84, no. 278. f. 193:-'Si uis abstrahere spiritum i.e. aquam de atramento uiridi', beg. 'Distilla ipsum per alembic'. f. 193;-'Albificatio ferri', beg. 'Accipe limaturam ferri noui et abluas cum lisciuio'. f. 193 b;-

'Incipit naturalis aqua super omnes aquas ad solem quod in infinitum mutat plumbum', beg. 'Accipe uitreoium uiride et rubificatum', ends 'mutat omnia corpora in infinitum. Explicit'. Osiris, vi, 1939, p. 464. ff. 194-194b;-

'De calce plumbi soluta cum atramento', beg. 'Accipe calcem plumbi et solue cum atramento', ends 'uirtutem tingendi ad solem. Explicit'. f. 194b;-

'Acetum de malis granatis', beg. 'Accipe mala granata', ends 'clarum pulcrum odoriferum et rubeum. Explicit'. Sl. 1754, f. 90. Repeated on f. 199b. f. 194b;-'Aqua uitae cum quo fermentatur clexir album'. Beg. 'Accipe argenti uiui quantum uis cum rebus adurentibus', ends 'Elixir album soluendo et congelando. Explicit'. Sl. 1754, f. 89b. Zetzner, op. cit., iii, p. 104. Singer, Cat., no. 733. Speculum, xi, 1936, P. 371, no. 3. Repeated on f. 199b. f. 194b;-'Aqua ad lunam, beg. 'accipe calcem ouorum galline', ends uirtutem soluendi et congelandi beneficio salis. Explicit'. Sl. 1754, f. 91. f. 195;-'Quibus temporibus fieri debent distillationes', beg. 'Omnes distillationes debent fieri a mense martii'. Thorndike, Incipits, col. 460. Osiris, vi, 1939, pp. 453-455, nos. 142-143. Vatican MS. Palat. 1339 (Deptl. Microfilm 432), ff. 4-4b. ff. 195-195b;-'Modus et pondus in sublimationibus et distillationibus', beg. 'Hoc est pondus et modus'. Singer, Cat., no. 57 (ascribed to Archelaus). Vatican MS. Palat. 1339, f. 4b. ff. 195b-196;-'De fornacibus', beg. 'Fornaces sunt quattuor', ends 'et defendit fialas a calore ignis'. Thorndike, Speculum, xi, 1936, p. 376, no. 11. Attributed to Archelaus in Paris, Bibl. nat. MS. lat- 7162; Cf. Corbett, op. Cit., pp. 112-113. ff. 196- 196b;-'Modus solutionis et congelationis', beg. 'Ceretur corpus'. Printed in Albertus Magnus, Opera, ed. Borgnet, xxxvii, pp. 561-562, as an Addition to §36 of the Libellus de Alchimia. f. 196b;-'Doctrina utillima', beg. 'Set in sapore sapientium quod est radix totius artis et clauicula que claudit et aperit'. Cf. art. 9 above. ff. 196b-197;-'Aqua penetrans retinens et congelans', beg. 'Accipe alumen yameni plumosum'. Osiris, vi, 1939, p. 465. ff. 197-197b;-'Aqua soluens et congelans', beg. 'Accipe salis alkali uel salis armoniaci'. ff. 197b-198;-'De aqua aurea', beg. 'Quantum capitulum de aqua atramenti i.e. uitreoli uiridis. Imple ex eo ollam', ends 'Explicit aqua aurea'. For a similar recipe see ff. 211b-212. ff. 198-198b;-'Sublimatio arsenici', beg. 'Accipe auripigmentum et trita', ends 'Postea dimicte infrigidari. Explicit'. ff. 198b- 199 b;-Two recipes, 'Acetum rubeum de malis granatis' and 'Aqua soluens et congelans', both repeated from f. 194b. ff. 199b-200;-A series of recipes taken almost exclusively from Archelaus (Sl. 1754, ff. 85b-90b), commencing (f. 200) With 'Aqua soluens et congelans et est loco argenti ad elexir', beg. 'Accipe calcem stagni'. The recipes on f. 201b are found not only in Archelaus but also in Albertus Magnus, Libellus de Alchimia, § 53 (Opera, ed. Borgnet, xxxvii, pp. 570-571). The series concludes with 'Preparatio salis communis', beg. (f. 202b) 'Accipe sal commune albissimum et crossum', ends (f. 204) 'salem optime preparatum ad horam necessitatis tue. Explicit liber primus que est prima radix huius artis'. This last recipe is printed in Zetzner, op. cit., iii, p. 87. Thorndike, Incipits, col. 10. An expanded version occurs in Sl. 1754, ff. 213-214 as a separate tract under the title Florum Summula (Singer, Cat., no. 538). ff 192-204.

(39) 'Incipit liber secundus de ponderibus', beg. 'Pone super unciam unam plumbi', ends 'demonstrauit seruiendo pauperibus'. Singer, Cat., no. 538C, § 1; Vatican MS. Palat. 1339, ff. 109-109b. ff. 204-205. The remainder of the art. includes: further recipes from Archelaus (cf. art. 38), commencing with 'Ad dealbationem eris aqua tartari', beg. 'Accipe salem aliquantulum preparatum' (Sl. 1754, f. 88; Singer, Cat., no. 613), and concluding with 'Elexir ad solem et lunam', beg. (f. 206b) 'Accipe mercurii quantum uis et funde plumbum' (Sl. I754, f. 92b; Singer, Cat., no. 517A), ends 'sic rubificatur argentum uiuum melius alio modo. Explicit. Et eodem modo facias ad lunam ... et mutat eris uel stagni quinque milia uncias'. ff. 205-207;-

'Si uolueris uero istam preparationem facere per quindecim uices', ends 'est super omnes preparationes', followed by 'Probatio salis post suam preparationem' and 'Modus uertendi salem in aquam'. A variant version of these three connected recipes occurs on ff. 211-211b. ff. 207-207b;-'Quomodo fiat laton', beg. (f. 207b) 'Accipe unam libram eris rubei', ends (f. 208b) crucibulum uel spondas. Explicit'. ff. 204-208b.

(40) Recipes for 'sal amarum' and 'sal metallicum' commencing with 'Preparatio salis amari', beg. 'Accipe sal amarum quod dicitur', ends 'aliis modis ut dictum est. Explicit'. ff. 208b-209. Followed by: three recipes 'De eodem', the first beg. 'Accipe sal amarum et ablue' and ending 'talem gratiam preparandi salem. Explicit', the third ending 'prestat illi suam albedinem. Explicit'. ff. 209-209b;-'Modus preparandi salem communem subtilior omnibus', beg. 'Item alius modus quod semel', ends 'subtilior est omnibus aliis modis superius dictis. Explicit'. ff. 209b-210;-'Modus utendi eo', beg. 'Modus utendi eo est ut accipies de sale', ends 'preparatio est radix huius artis' (cf. f. 207b). ff. 210-211 ;-' De modo uertendi ipsum in aquam', beg. (f. 211) 'Accipe de eo post suam preparationem' (cf. ff. 207- 207 b), ends 'nisi prius soluatur in aqua. Explicit'. ff. 208 b-211b.

(41) 'Modus preparationis atramenti', beg. 'Modus preparationis atramenti talis est. Sume de eo quantum uis et pone ipsum in uase', ends 'sine omni turbulentia et odorifera. Explicit': a recipe closely resembling that for 'Aqua aurea' on ff. 198-198b. ff. 211b-212;-'Modus preparationis aluminis', beg. 'Modus preparationis aluminis yameni talis est: ut accipias de alumine yameni albo plumoso puro', ends 'Repone ipsam urinam distillatam cum tincture ab alumine. Explicit sermo de aluminibus et salibus que in hac arte sunt necessaria'. The title given in this explicit resembles that of the De Aluminibus et Salibus ascribed to Razes in the Palermo Codex (J. Ruska, Das Buch der Alaune und Salze, p. 16) and coincides with the title of a recipe catalogued in Osiris, vi, 1939, pp. 464-465, the text of which is found on f. 194 above. The two recipes above mentioned, though much more detailed, resemble generally the corresponding sections of the work edited by Ruska. ff. 211b-212b.

(42) Miscellaneous recipes, commencing with 'De affinatione veneris', beg. 'Et es si forte uolueris affinare'. Two recipes on f. 213, 'De uirtute calcis ouorum', are taken from §§ 90-91 of the Liber Sacerdotum (cf. art. 26) and occur on ff. 60, 62 above. Further on are more recipes from Archelaus (cf. art. 38), viz.:-'De forma coclearis ubi mercurius poterit congelari', beg. 'Accipe calibem et fac inde fieri crucibulum', ends 'bona ad congelandum argentum uiuum. Explicit'. Sl. 1754, ff. 92b-93, and Corbett, op. cit., p. 102. f. 214;-'De aceto sorbarum aqua rubea', beg. 'Accipe de sorbis quantum uis et pista'. Sl. 1754, f. 90. ff. 214-214b;-'De eodem', beg. 'Accipe de eis quantum uis et pista fortiter'. Sl. 1754, f. 90. f. 214b. The final recipe, '[De] preparatione [Mercurii]', beg. 'Accipe argenti uiui quantum uis et mortifica ipsum cum sale communi et aceto acerrimo', differs from those in Archelaus with somewhat similar incipits. Ends 'est abstractio humiditatis corrumpentis intromissa humiditate. Idem rectificus per quem est uita. Explicit deo gratias Amen'. The original foliation skips from ccxlvi (f. 213) to ccl(f. 214), and ceases with ccli (f. 215). ff. 212b-215b.

(43) Recipes for preparing and brightening colours, beg. 'Lignum brasilii subtilissime rasum'. The last recipe is repeated from f. 12b. ff. 216-216b. (f. 217 is blank.) (44) 'Incipit liber Alchimie et est nucleus totius artis'; a tract attributed to Hermes. List of chapters (as in Trinity Coll., Cambridge, MS. 0. 8. 25) beg. 'Primum quid est Alchimia'. Text beg. 'Alchimia est ars ministerialis (sic) ministrans essentiam'. The text proper ends (f. 221) 'ut ait philosophus spera et spera et sic consequeris'; there follow, without a break, recipes for elixirs, etc., beg. 'Gallinam humano sanguine pascas' (cf. Speculum, xxvi, 1951, p. 680), ending 'qui subtilior est'. Singer, Cat., no. 38. The text is followed, as in Trinity Coll. MS. 0. 8. 25, by the prologue, beg. (f. 221b) 'Multis et mirabilibus', from the Mappae Clavicula (cf. art. 29). ff. 218-222.

(45) Table of contents made when the volume was entire, and quoting the original foliation. The table ends with f. ccxlviii. ff. 223-248.

(46) Later (14-15th cent.) recipes written on blank or erased leaves at the end of the volume, incl. (f. 249 b) 'Secundum magistrum Ermanum [Armannus on f. 2501 medicum de Corneto: Nota quod arsenicum et rubeum et citrinum ita sublimatur'. ff. 248 b-251b. Vellum; ff. i + 252. 4 7/8in. x 3 5/8 in. Late XIII cent., with later additions (viz. art. 46). Sec. fol. 'de elexir'. Gatherings (when complete) of 10 leaves (XV, XVIII,) generally with catchwords, but 14 leaves and two whole quires are missing as noted above. Initials alternately red and blue. Titles in black underlined in red up to f. 162, thereafter wholly in red. Original foliation in red (i-ccli, omitting xxv-xxviii, ccxlvii-ccxlix). Perhaps written in Italy; part of a printed military form in Italian, 18th-19th cent., has been used in the binding. Bookplate of arms (f. i) of Robert W[illiam] Webb, of Milford House, Godalming. Lot 466 in Hodgson's sale-cat., 24 June 1927 (Capt. F. D. Webb's sale).