Harley MS 3736

This herbal was probably produced in southern Germany in the last quarter of the 15th century or the first quarter of the 16th century. It contains Giovanni Cadamosto’s herbal, which includes materials from the Tacuinum sanitatis, a Latin translation from an Arabic work on the medical purposes of plants written by Ibn Butlan (d. 1066), a Christian physician and theologian. Illustrated Latin copies and vernacular translations of the Tacuinum sanitatis circulated in northern Italy in the 14th and 15th centuries (Hoeniger, ‘The Illuminated Tacuinum sanitatis Manuscripts from Northern Italy’ (2006)).

Giovanni Cadamosto’s Italian reworking is known to survive in three other manuscripts:

(1) Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, MS 5264: Venice or Verona, third quarter of the 15th century (Hermann, Die Handschriften und Inkunabeln der italienischen Renaissance, 2 (1931), pp. 42-55 (no. 30); Toresella, 'Il Codice di Giovanni Cadamosto' (1985));

(2) Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS Ital. 1108: northern Italy, before 1471 (Avril, ‘Giovanni Cadamosto da Lodi: Libro de componere herbe et fructi’ (1991), no. 54);

(3) New York, Public Library, Spencer MS 65: Ferrara, after c. 1470-72 (Alexander, ‘Health Book’ (2005), no. 75)).

A German commissioner may have been involved with the manuscript’s production. This is suggested by the paper’s watermark ('tête de boeuf') that can be identified with paper produced in southern Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and the illustrations of plants that are drawn in a Germanic style. The manuscript contains German plant names and annotations added in a contemporary hand. The additions may be by the manuscript’s first known owner, Konrad Peutinger (b. 1465, d. 1547), a German jurist, politician, diplomat, economist and humanist who studied law at the universities of Padua and Bologna. He may have acquired Harley MS 3736 during his studies or, later in his life, through his connections with Italian humanists.

Contents:

ff. 1r-80r: An illustrated alphabetical list of plants (including Latin names).

ff. 81r-126r: A description of the properties of illustrated plants (an abbreviated version of the Tacuinum sanitatis).

ff. 126v-142r: A treatise on poisons and herbal remedies.

ff. 143r-157r: A treatise on stones, Circa le nature de veneni.

ff. 157v-158v: A treatise on gems, De la virtu de le pietre.

[f. 80v and f. 142v are blank].

Decoration:

316 coloured illustrations of plants on ff. 1r-80r (2 per page).