Harley MS 1612

Miscellany including Medical Treatises and Astrological Texts and Tables; early 15th cent. with 13th-cent. pastedowns. Middle English and Latin. Imperfect. The cataloguing of this miscellaneous and composite manuscript was funded by the Wellcome Trust. Only the medical texts are fully itemised in the description. The volume includes: - a) Treatise relating to urine and uroscopy (ff. 1-2; item 1), in Middle English; - b) Anonymous treatise relating to urine and uroscopy (ff. 2-4; item 2), in Latin; - c) Bernardus de Gordonio, De urinis, abridged (ff. 4v-9v; item 3), in Latin; - d) Robert Grosseteste, De impressionibus aeris sive De prognosticatione (ff. 10-11), in Latin, with tables of zodiacal signs (ff. 10, 10v), listed in eTK (see below item 3), no. 35N, and S. Jenks, 'Astrometeorology in the Middle Ages', Isis, 74 (1983), p. 203 no. 3; - e) Short astronomical texts (ff. 11-12v), in Latin, one including the date 1299 (f. 11v) and one listed in eTK, no. 951H; - f) Richard of Wallingford, Canon supra kalendarum (ff. 13-13v), in Latin, for which see J. North, Richard of Wallingford. An edition of his writings with introductions, English translation and commentary (Oxford, 1976), i, p. 557-560, and ii, pp. 372-374; - g) Antiphons (f. 14), in Latin; - h) Short astrological texts (ff. 14v, 18-18v), in Latin; - i) Enoch, Treatise relating to astrology, herbs and lapidary (ff. 15-17v; item 4, imperfect), in Latin; - j) Mathematical treatise (ff. 19-20v; imperfect), in Latin. Pastedowns from original binding (ff. 1*-1* verso, 21-21v) contain a grammatical commentary from a late 13th cent. MS. Owned by Henry Worsley (1675-1741), scholar and manuscript collector, envoy at the court of Portugal (1714-21) and governor of Barbados (1721-31), but not listed with his MSS. in E. Bernard, Catalogi librorum manuscriptorum Angliæ et Hiberniæ in unum collecti… (Oxford, 1697), ii, pp. 211-214. Donated by him to Robert Harley (1661-1724), 1st earl of Oxford and Mortimer, politician, before Dec. 1712 together with other MSS. from his collection (now Harley 1585-1747, 1811, 1812): see C. E. Wright and R. C. Wright, The Diary of Humfrey Wanley (London, 1966), i, pp. xix-xx. For the provenance, see also C. E. Wright, Fontes Harleiani (London, 1972), pp. 361, 399. Passed on to Harley's son, Edward (1689-1741), 2nd earl of Oxford and Mortimer, book collector and patron of the arts. Bequeathed with Edward's library to his widow, Henrietta, née Cavendish Holles (1694-1755), during her lifetime and thereafter to their daughter, Margaret Cavendish Bentinck (1715-1785), duchess of Portland. Sold with the other Harley manuscripts by the countess and the duchess in 1753 to the nation for £10,000 (a fraction of their contemporary value) under the Act of Parliament that also established the British Museum. The Harleian manuscripts became part of the collections of the British Library on its establishment in 1973. Harley shelfmarks '91.A.28' and '1612' in brown and black ink and '2/III A' in pencil (f. 1). The MS. is described in detail in A Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts (London, 1808-1812), ii, p. 150.

Parchment; ff. 22, plus blank paper leaf with inset fragment (f. 13*) and added blank paper leaf after f. 17. Composite manuscript formed by 4 codicological units (including the original pastedowns). Modern foliation in pencil '1-21' (followed here, excluding the original upper pastedown, now f. 1*, but including the lower one as f. 21). Overall dimensions circa 183 x 125mm. Gathering: one leaf (f. 1*), i¹², one leaf, blank with inset fragment (f. 13*), ii^6-1 (fifth missing and substituted by modern blank), iii², one leaf (f. 21). Written on single columns (of 22-42 lines according to different layouts) by various hands in a cursive English script (littera cursiva media - Anglicana); original pastedowns (ff. 1*, 21) written in formal Gothic hand (littera textualis formata). Initials touched in red and paragraph marks and rubrics in red, passim. British Library bindings with Harley arms and motto gilt-tooled at centre of covers.

Medical contents as follows:

1. ff. 1-2. Treatise relating to urine and uroscopy; 15th cent. Middle English. Inc. 'Foure complexcouns regnes in 4 partyes of manys bo/dy coler regnes in alle', expl. 'fro þe reynes dounward'. Listed in L. E. Voigts and P. D. Kurtz, Scientific and Medical Writings in Old and Middle English: An Electronic Reference, CD-ROM, 2nd ed. (Ann Arbor, MI, 2006 = eVK2), no. 1971.00. Keywords: urine and uroscopy.

2. ff. 2-4. Treatise relating to urine and uroscopy; 15th cent. Latin. Copy. Inc. 'In dei nomine amen. Urina secundum Isaac in principio sui / libri de urinis est colamentum sanguinis', expl. 'colore intenso signat morbum'. Keywords: urine and uroscopy.

3. ff. 4v-9v. Bernardus de Gordonio, De urinis, abridged; 15th cent. Latin. Copy. Rubric 'De regionibus urine', inc. 'Regiones urine sunt iiij prima regio est circulus', expl. 'et est cla/rorum urinis exemplum / Explicit de urinis'. Identified as probably chapter 4 with mention of the present MS. in L. Demaitre, Doctor Bernard de Gordon: Professor and Practitioner (Toronto, 1980; Studies and Texts, 51), no. 80, p. 196. Also listed in L. Thorndike and P. Kibre, A Catalogue of Incipits of Medieval Scientific Writings in Latin, rev. ed. (London, 1963; The Mediaeval Academy of America Publication, 29; with supplements in 1965 and 1968), p. 1346a; its electronic edition on CD-ROM (Ann Arbor, MI, 2000 = eTK), no. 1346A. Keywords: urine and uroscopy.

4. ff. 15-17v. Enoch, De xv stellis de xv herbis de xv lapidibus; 15th cent. Latin. Copy. Imperfect. The treatise is imperfect and lacks the sections relating to herbs and stones. Prologue inc. 'Enoch tamquam unus ex philosophis super res quartum librum edidit', inc. 'Prima nam stella Alberan', breaking up imperfect at 'Calcedonius … convenit alieni lapidi in ascendente vel'. See L. Thorndike, 'Traditional Medieval Tracts concerning engraved astrological Images, in Mélanges Auguste Pelzer (Louvain, 1947), p. 222; L. Thorndike and P. Kibre, A Catalogue …, see above, p. 499g; eTK, no. 499G. The text is followed (ff. 18-18v) by an anonymous text, imperfect at the beginning, relating to astrology, inc. 'Undecimum est Aquarius ganimede', expl. 'in quo habitat Rex /Angelorum / Explicit de orderibus'. Keywords: astrology; herbs and herbal medicine; lapidary.

Astronomy: Astrology: Medicine and Surgery: Grammar: Composite miscellany including medical treatises relating to uroscopy, astrological and astronomical texts, and the fragment of a grammatical commentary: 13th and early 15th cent.: Enm. and Lat.

includes:

• ff. 1-2 Medicine and Surgery: Treatise relating to urine and uroscopy: early 15th cent.: Enm.
• ff. 2-4, 4v-9v Medicine and Surgery: Treatises relating to urine and uroscopy: early 15th cent.: Lat.
• ff. 15-17v Astronomy: Treatise relating to stars, herbs and stones attributed to Enoch: early 15th cent.: Lat: Imperf.