Harley MS 1952

Heraldic Treatise with Armorial Drawings and Medical Recipe for Edward IV; 1517. Middle English. Imperfect. The cataloguing of this heraldic manuscript was funded by the Wellcome Trust and only an additional medical recipe is fully itemised in the description. The main text is a heraldic treatise with drawings of arms divided into two books (ff. 3-7, 7v-29v), imperfect at the end, inc. (f. 3) 'Ther ben .vi. dyuers colours for þe felde / of cote armurs'. The book was written for William Feryby, canon at Thornton Abbey, co. Linc., as indicated by the explicit of the first book (f. 7) 'Explicit liber primus / Scriptum per Wyllelmum Fferyby cano/nicum de thorntona Anno domini .1517. / sexto decimo die mensis marcij laudes deo'. The treatise is preceded by an added medical recipe for King Edward IV (f. 1; item 1) and some pen trials (ff, 1v-2). Owned by a member of the Holme family, herald painters and antiquaries of Chester, possibly Randle Holme I (1570/71-1655), his signature on f. 1. Acquired in 1710 with other Holme MSS. by Robert Harley (1661-1724), 1st earl of Oxford and Mortimer, politician, through the mediation of Francis Gastrell (1662-1725), bishop of Chester and writer on theology. For the provenance see C. E. Wright, Fontes Harleiani (London, 1972), pp. 194, 404. Passed on to Robert 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 form one of the foundation collections of the British Library. The Holme shelfmark in brown ink 'B/1.9' and Harley shelfmarks in dark brown ink '95.A.33 / 1952' and in pencil '7/V A' on f. i. The MS. is described in A Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts in the British Museum (London, 1808-1812), ii, p. 358.

Paper; ff. i+29+i. Modern foliation in pencil and pen ff. '1-29' (followed here; ff. 1-2 originally blank; f. 2v blank). circa 180 x 132mm. Leaves individually mounted on guards. Main text ruled in brown ink for single columns of 23 lines. First line above top line. Written space circa 130 x 96mm. Written in black ink in a 16th-cent. English cursive hand. Large initials (2-5 lines; ff. 3, 7v), rubrics and paragraphs marks throughout in red; watercolour drawings of arms on ff. 8-29v. British Library binding with Harley arms and motto gilt-tooled at centre of covers.

Contents relating to medicine as follows:

1. f. 1. Medical recipe for King Edward IV; first half of the 16th cent. Middle English. Copy. Inc. 'Thayk fenell rew effros verbynd turmentyll / betony red ros dowsokyll oculus christi vyne levys', expl. 'A precius water for all manner seyknes / of euen þt good kyng edwarde / mayd et usyd'. 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. 5327.50, with other occurances of the recipe listed at nos. 5327.00, 5328.00, 5329.00 and 5330.00. Keywords: recipes, medical; herbs and herbal medicine; distillation; recipes, ophthalmology; waters.

Heraldry: Art. Illuminations and Drawings ENGLISH: Heraldic treatise with armorial drawings: 1517: Enm.

includes:

• f. 1 Recipes: Edward IV of England: Medicine and Surgery: Medical recipe for King Edward IV: circa 1517: Enm: Copy.