Add MS 5025

This is one of the twenty-one so-called Ripley Scrolls, a scroll that contains alchemical illustrations and a series of poems of the ‘Verses upon the Elixer’ that was produced for English owners from the fifteenth until the seventeenth centuries. The Ripley Scroll takes its name name from George Ripley (d. c. 1490), a canon at Bridlington Priory in Yorkshire. Ripley had reportedly studied alchemy in Italy and at the University of Louvain, and he subsequently wrote a book on how to make the Philosopher’s Stone, known as The Compound of Alchymy. The Ripley Scrolls are thought to be associated with this work and summarize in allegorical and emblematic form the process for preparing the philosopher's stone. This is the smallest of the extant Ripley Scrolls, and it consists of four separate rolls that originally were probably joined together at the head and rolled together. It features imagery and text that is rare or cannot be found on any of the other scrolls (Timmerman, The Ripley Scrolls (2014), pp. 114-15, 121, 139). At the bottom of (2), the following inscription is found: 'This long Rolle was Drawne for me in Cullers:- At Lubeck in Germany Anno 1588'. Two other scrolls (McCullum nos 9 and 10, see below) contain a similar inscription; since they may all be copies, this date must be regarded with caution.

The scrolls have been numbered and grouped according to their designs by R. Ian McCallum, 'Alchemical Scrolls' (2007), pp. 169-81 (see handlist below).

The four parts of Add MS 5025 are listed separately by McCallum: (1) (no. 19), (2) (no. 13), (3) (no. 19), (4) (no. 14).

Handlist of surviving 'Ripley scrolls':

Type A, 'Hermes Trismegistus design':

- Oxford, Bodleian Library, Bodley Roll 1 (mid-15th century) (McCallum no. 1).

- Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum, MS 276 (16th century) (McCallum no. 2).

- Oxford, Bodleian Library, Ashmole Roll 54 (mid-16th century) (McCallum no. 3).

- San Marino (CA), Huntington Library, MS HM 30313 (2nd half of the 16th century) (McCallum no. 4).

- New Haven (CT), Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscripts Library, Mellon MS 41 (?c. 1570; late 16th century) (McCallum no. 5).

- Princeton (NJ), Princeton University Library, MS 93 (late 16th century) (McCallum no. 6).

- Oxford, Bodleian Library, Ashmole MS 52 (late 16th century) (McCallum no. 7).

- London, British Library, Add MS 32621 (16th century) (McCallum no. 8).

- London, Wellcome Institute, MS 692 (late 17th century) (McCallum no. 9).

- London, Wellcome Institute, MS 693 (c. 1600) (McCallum no. 10).

- Oxford, Bodleian Library, Ashmole Roll 40 (17th century) (McCallum no. 11).

- Edinburgh, Royal College of Physicians [s.n.] (c. 1600) (McCallum no. 12).

- London, British Library, Add MS 5025 (2) (late 16th-early 17th century) (McCallum no. 13).

- London, British Library, Add MS 5025 (4) (late 16th-early 17th century) (McCallum no. 14).

- London, British Library, Sloane MS 2523B (16th century) (McCallum no. 15).

- Los Angeles (CA), Getty Centre, MS 95003 (undated) (McCallum no. 16).

- The Sotheby Scroll (olim Dyson Perrins), sold December 2000 to a private buyer, untraced (undated) (McCallum no. 17).

Type B, 'Reclining Monks Design':

- Oxford, Bodleian Library, Ashmole Roll 53 (c. 1600) (McCallum no. 18).

- London, British Library, Add MS 5025 (1) (late 16th-early 17th century) McCallum no. 19)

- London, British Library, Sloane MS 2524A (olim MS 2632) (16th century) (McCallum no. 20).

Type C, 'Rose or Rosicrucian Design':

- London, British Library, Add MS 5025 (3) (late 16th-early 17th century) (McCallum no. 21).

The present scroll comprises a series of emblems drawn in pen and watercolours, interspersed with labels, verses and inscriptions in Latin and English.

(1), recto:

- a medallion, partly damaged but containing some drawing in the lower half, atop a blank panel.

- a monk-like figure reclining on a grassy platform, clothed in a white hooded robe, with his left eye closed; an angel standing at his feet, bearing a platter of unidentified objects.

- a monk-like figure reclining on a grassy platform, clothed in a white hooded robe, awake; an angel standing at his feet, bearing a platter containing a heart with a knife stuck in it. A speech scroll accompanies the angel; the text is partially legible: 'Collirio inunge oculus tuos vi videns'.

- a scroll, bearing a largely illegible inscription (from Ashmole Roll 53: 'Est lapis occultus secreto fonte sepultus fermentu variat lapide qui conta colora'); beneath, a frog.

(There is a join at this location between two sheets of paper. Comparison with Ashmole Roll 53 shows a small section is missing.)

- within a ribboned section, seven roundels connected by laureal wreaths/ropes to a central red shape, illustrating stages in the alchemical process. Each roundel contains a monk-like figure similar to those depicted above, attending in various ways to a furnace, atop which sits a large flask containing a homunculus.

- the ribbons come together at a capital on top of a pillar. A naked, dragon-tailed woman straddles the pillar upside-down, caressing the head of a naked, bearded man climbing up beneath her.

- the base of the pillar stands within a hexagonal battlemented enclosure filled with water. Six further monk-like figures stand in the turrets at the corners. The front wall of the enclosure bears a large red dragon and a small green frog.

- two lions salient, the left one red and the right one green, rearing up before a furnace (this design is absent from Ashmole Roll 53).

- a green lion, affronté, with a sun with rays on the left and a moon on the right, both with human faces.

- beneath the lion, a blank scroll (this is absent from Ashmole Roll 53).

- an orange sun with a human face and, beneath, a crowned female Bird of Hermes, biting on her left wing, and standing on an orange orb with spade-shaped rays; beneath, a blank scroll.

- a sun with black and white rays and, at the centre, three orbs (green, white and red), linked by ropes; a crescent moon with black, white and green bands beneath; a large red dragon, with tail nowed, biting on this moon; the dragon is standing on a red-winged globe (as depicted in mappae mundi), and three strands are descending from its belly to three orbs (red, white and green) positioned in the lower hemisphere. The orbs represent the 'white' stone (used in transforming base metals into silver), the 'red' stone (used in the artifical production of gold) and the 'elixir vitae' (the universal panacea and perpetuator of life).

- an orange sun with a human face; beneath, three animals: to the left, a red lion, affronté, a white eagle perching on its head and holding a horseshoe in its beak; in the centre, a red lion, affronté, a cockatrice perching on its head; to the right, a green lion, affronté, a crow perching on its head and holding a horseshoe in its beak.

- from the belly of the red lion, a red strand is descending into a large flask; around it, eleven suns (to the left) and eleven moons (to the right), each with a human face, all enclosed by another black-, white- and green-banded crescent moon.

- a crowned figure with a red mantle, holding in his right hand a sun caduceus or wand (a serpent is entwined around his arm), and holding in his left hand a moon caduceus; he has seven feet and is standing atop a blank pedestal, to the left of which is standing a pilgrim with a crutch and forked staff (a horseshoe dangling from the fork), and to right a crowned and mitred figure holding a sceptre in his right hand and an orb in his left (the lower part of this figure is missing, due to damage).

(1), verso:

- since the scroll is now mounted on paper, the verso is mostly blank, however in some places the verso of the scroll is visible through apertures in the mount. At the top, some largely illegible writing may be seen through the first aperture; the others all appear blank or with very faint writing.

(2), recto:

- a large figure, most likely representing Hermes Trismegistus; at his head, a largely illegible scroll; he is embracing a large, stoppered flask (the arms of which bear writing and symbols), which contains a black frog, feathers and tadpoles or droplets of liquid at the top, and eight roundels connected to a central roundel by chains, representing stages in the alchemical process. Seven of the roundels depict figures conducting alchemical experiments involving a large flask containing homunculi atop a furnace; the eighth roundel contains a sun and moon, corresponding silver and gold figures, and two figures dressed in red robes wielding tools. The central roundel depicts two men holding a large book, to which the connecting chains are attached. All of the roundels contain inscriptions around their borders.

- a large scroll, bearing an inscription: 'Terra stat unda lavat pyr purgat spiritus vivificat'; beneath, a further inscription: 'The mouth of the Collorick beware and thereof be wise'; two walls, enclosing a burst of flame.

- a tree, its upper branches bearing inscriptions 'spiritus' and 'anima'; a naked, dragon-tailed woman is straddling its trunk and holding a male figure to the tree; the base of the tree stands in a heptagonal battlemented enclosure filled with water, its trunk supporting a grapevine held at the bottom by a naked man and woman; alchemists stand in the seven turrets, each holding a flask with the word 'imbibing' inscribed beneath them. To the sides of the tree trunk, a sun and moon and feathers, with inscriptions.

- a pillar descends from the base of this enclosure, again resting in a square battlemented enclosure filled with water; a large man is grasping the pillar, and is accompanied by a man and woman; parts of their bodies are labelled; the pillars at the corners of the enclosure support flasks that are labelled with the qualities of the four humours. The front wall of the enclosure bears an inscription ('The Red Sea, the red Lune, the red sol, the dragon'), a large red dragon and green frog (with the label 'the tayninge venome'), and a further inscription ('Heere is the Somme the ev^ch is called the mouth of the Collorick').

- a burst of flame and on either side a lion salient before a wall, and two scrolls ('The mouth of the Collorick beware' and 'Heare is the last of the red stone and the beginning to put away the dead the elixir vita').

- a sun above a crowned male Bird of Hermes, standing on a dark, sea-filled orb and surrounded by droplets of fire; the border of the orb is inscribed with the words 'aquila anima spiritus' in various combinations, and is stuck with eight feathers.

- a large scroll bearing verses in two stanzas.

- A scroll bearing an inscription ('The Red Sea, The Red Sol, The Red Elixir Vitae'), above a yellow sun containing three interlinked orbs (red, white and black).

- a crescent moon, being bitten by a large brown dragon, beneath, standing on a winged mappa mundi-style orb upon which droplets of blood are falling from the dragon's belly.

- verses, in four stanzas.

- a waving male figure in peasant dress, holding a staff with a blade at one end a shod hoof at the other.

- an inscription: 'This long Rolle was Draurne for me in Cullers At Lubeck in Germany Anno 1588'.

(2), verso:

- a label and large diagram visible through the paper mount. The label reads, 'a secret stone is buried in a secret well (?)'. The diagram: in the centre, large concentric circles; above, lines emerging as tangents from the circumference of the circle and ending in a triangular point; over this part of the diagram, eight inscriptions have been written.

- through a second aperture, an orb from which descend scrolls bearing fleur-de-lis; faint writing on either side.

- a large diagram, comprising overlapping circles, the centre two containing a sun and a moon; the lower circle contains a comet.

(3), recto:

- the bottom half of a yellow orb, containing a white dove (the Holy Spirit?); beneath, an inscription ('Tres sunt qui testimonium dant in celo pater, filius et spiritus et his tres unum sunt').

- a Hermes figure in a golden robe and white mantle, standing behind a large flask containing a golden bird ('spiritus volans') and a toad ('venenum rana latens'); beneath, a golden sun ('pater'), a white crescent moon ('mater'), with a golden feather to the left and white feather to the right (both 'spiritus'), with droplets of golden fire around; a golden dragon ('basiliscus').

- a scroll bearing an inscription ('Take the fayer Roses, white and red And joyne them all in won bed, So betwin these Roses mylde, Thou shalt bring forth a G(lowing?) chylde').

- a large red and white rose, with four other smaller roses in profile.

- the upper branches of an apple tree, from which is suspended a Christ-like figure (labels either side, 'Lingnam sapientiae' (sic) and 'Lignum vite'); from the trunk of the tree, a female dragon is handing an apple to Eve on the left; Adam is standing to the right, about to bite on the apple. The base of the tree, supported by the naked figures of a man and a woman, stands in a fountain within a hexagonal battlemented enclosure ('phylosophie paradisus'); in the rear two and front two turrets, male figures are standing.

- a gothic-style distillation furnace, with three levels, each labelled.

- a lion ('leo viridis') and a dragon ('basiliseus horribilis') salient, the left one white and the right one red, rearing up before a hermetic flask (labelled above 'matrimonium viri et mulieris', and below 'hec duo mercurious mundi') that contains golden droplets, a golden bird ('spiritus'), a white woman ('anima') and golden man ('corpus').

- a furnace heating a bath containing a flask, entitled 'Ignis viseralis calida sed humido operatur in frigides et siccis virtutem'); a verse in English beneath.

- two distillation flasks with conjoined spouts, containing golden droplets.

- a tower furnace enclosing two conjoined flasks that separate 'spiritus' (above) from 'anima' and 'corpus' (below); Latin verses on either side.

- verse in English, in one stanza; beneath, a banded circle containing the signs of the zodiac, enclosing a sun and crescent moons and two dragons, each devoring the other's tail; inscriptions to the left and right and beneath.

- a moon and a sun, both with human faces; between them, a cloud raining golden droplets upon a golden reclining male figure, from whose side a woman is emerging; on the left, a flowered bush, and on the right, a rose bush.

(3), verso: blank.

(4), recto:

- a large figure, most likely representing Hermes Trismegistus; at his head, a scroll bearing an inscription ('Est lapis occultus secreto fonte sepultus; he is embracing a large, stoppered flask (the arms of which bear writing), which contains a black frog, feathers and tadpoles or droplets of liquid at the top, and eight roundels, seven of which are connected to a central roundel by gold bands, which represent stages in the alchemical process. Seven of the roundels depict figures conducting alchemical experiments involving a large flask containing homunculi atop a furnace; the eighth (detached) roundel contains a sun and moon, corresponding silver and gold figures (Adam and Eve beside the Tree of Knowledge, around which a serpent is entwined), and two figures dressed in red robes wielding tools. The central roundel depicts two men holding a large book, to which the connecting bands are attached. All of the roundels contain inscriptions around their borders.

- a title 'An Alkemye Scrowle, Drawne from an ancient Coppie, First invented by Bacon that great Clarke', followed by verses 'To the reader'.

- further inscriptions, and verses on either side of the roll; between them, a flaming pillar ('Collorick') suspended among the upper branches of a tree ('spiritus', 'anima', and containing crescent moons); to either side of the branches, a sun and moon, each with feathers.

- a naked, dragon-tailed woman hanging from the branches and caressing a naked man sat on the trunk of the tree; they are surrounded on either side by five gold feathers (to the left) or five silver feathers (to the right), each labelled ('spiritus', 'anima'); the base of the tree stands within a heptagonal enclosure filled with water; a man and a woman are standing beside the trunk; alchemists holding flasks stand in the turrets at the corners of the enclosure.

- a pillar descends from the base of this enclosure, again resting in a square battlemented enclosure filled with water; a large man is grasping the pillar, and is accompanied by a man and woman; parts of their bodies are labelled; the pillars at the corners of the enclosure support flasks that contain various objects or scenes. The front wall of the enclosure bears an inscription ('The Red Sea, the red Lune, the red sol'), a large dragon and green frog, and a further inscription; beneath, verses.

- a flaming pillar and on either side a lion salient (red on the left, green on the right), and two scrolls ('The mouth of the Collorick beware' and 'Here is the last of the red stone').

- a yellow sun, between two panels bearing verses; beneath, a crowned male Bird of Hermes biting on its left wing, with drops of blood falling on either side, and standing on a sea-filled orb stuck with feathers; beneath, verses and a blank scroll.

- a golden sun, at the centre of which are three interlinked orbs (white, gold and black), and beneath a gold-, white- and black-banded crescent moon; beneath, a white dragon biting on the moon, and standing on a winged mappa mundi-style orb; from its belly, three red strands are descending, one each to a black, white and gold orb below.

- verses; to the left, a man in peasant dress holding a staff that ends in a horseshoe; to the right, a crowned and mitred figure holding a sceptre in his right hand and an orb in his left hand.

(4), verso:

- two apertures, the first containing an inscription; the second containing eight numbered lines of text.