Harley MS 2316

Collections of Theological, Hagiographical and Legendary Prose and Verse; 14th cent., 2nd half. Latin. Copies. The manuscript is a composite miscellany of theological, hagiographical and legendary prose and verse, including verses on plague (f. 16; item 1) and a medical recipes (f. 26v; item 2). The cataloguing of this volume was funded by the Wellcome Trust. Texts relating to medicine are itemised in the description, but non-medical texts are mentioned only summarily. The latter include: - a) Three collections of religious tales (ff. 1-15, 54-58v, 61-64v); - b) Legenda aurea, excerpts (ff. 16v-24v, 28v-32, 37-52v); - c) Vincent de Beauvais, Romulus, first ten fables (ff. 53-54); - d) De miraculis beate Virginis (ff. 59-61). Owned in the late 17th-early 18th cent. by John Covel (1638-1722), chaplain to the Levant Company at Constantinople and later master of Christ's College, Cambridge (see Oxford Dictionary of National Biography): his autograph notes on ff. i, ii. Mentioned by him as his Latin MS. 32 in Covel, Some Account of the present Greek Church (Cambridge, 1722), p. xxxv, but no number found in the MS. Acquired for the Harleian collection in 1716 by Edward Harley (1689-1741), 2nd earl of Oxford and Mortimer, book collector and patron of the arts, but not mentioned in C. E. Wright and R. C. Wright, The Diary of Humfrey Wanley, 2 vols. (London, 1966). For the provenance, see C. E. Wright, Fontes Harleiani (London, 1972), pp. 114, 406. Bequeathed with Edward Harley'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 '100.A.8 / 2316' in ink and '2/V A' in pencil on f. 1. The MS. is described in detail in A Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts in the British Museum (London, 1808-1812), ii, pp. 651-652; J. A. Herbert, Catalogue of Romances in the Department on Manuscripts in the British Museum (London, 1893, 1910), ii, pp. 307-309, and iii, pp. 573-581.

Parchment; ff. i-ii (parchment slips glued onto a paper leaf)+64+i (paper). Modern foliation in pencil '1-184' (followed here). circa 164 x 108mm. Gatherings: i-iii¹², iv¹⁶, v¹², horizontal catchword on f. 12v. Variously ruled (bounding lines only) in pen or metal point for single columns, number of lines varying between 27-52. Written in English cursive scripts (littera cursiva media - Anglicana; secretary) by a number of scribes. Occasional large initials (2 lines) in red, minor capitals touched in red; rubrics and underlining in red. British Library binding with Harley arms and motto gilt-tooled at centre of covers.

Medical contents include:

1. f. 16. Verse relating to the plague (21 verse); 14th cent., 2nd half. Latin. Copy. Inc. 'Si cui quamvis fuge veniendi sint tibi mige', expl. 'Sexque decem sola postquam deus astra petivit'. Keywords: plague, verse.

2. f. 26v. Medical recipe against fever; late 14th cent. Latin. Title 'Medicina optima contra omnem febrem', inc. 'Accipe watercresses and et conde in vase ali'/quo', expl. '3⁰. / die usque ad genua et si sic febris cessabit'. The recipe is a later addition. Keywords: recipes, medical; herbs and herbal medicine.

Theology LATIN: Tales: Saints: Collection of theological, hagiographical and legendary prose and verse: 14th cent., 2nd half: Lat: Copies.

includes:

• f. 16 Plague, The, and Pestilences: Poetry LATIN: Verses on plague: 14th cent., 2nd half: Lat: Copy.
• f. 26v Recipes: Medicine and Surgery: Recipe against fever: late 14th cent.: Lat: Copy.