Harley MS 2375

Compilation of Medical and Astrological Texts and Recipes; 15th cent. Latin and Middle English. Copies. The MS. is a compilation of medical and astrological texts and recipes; its cataloguing was funded by the Wellcome Trust. Owned by John Batteley (1647-1708), clergyman and antiquary. Bought with other MSS. from his collection by Edward Harley (1689-1741), 2nd earl of Oxford and Mortimer, book collector and patron of the arts, from Batteley's nephew, John, on 5 Nov. 1723, the date of the purchase marked on f. 1 by Harley's librarian, Humfrey Wanley (1672-1726): see C. E. Wright and R. C. Wright, The Diary of Humfrey Wanley (London, 1966), ii, p. 263 n. 1; C. E. Wright, Fontes Harleiani (London, 1972), pp. 66, 407. 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 shelfmark (f. i) in light brown ink '110.C.5 / 2375' in dark brown ink and '1/III D' in pencil. The MS. is described in A Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts (London, 1808-1812), ii, p. 673.

Paper: original leaves individually mounted within modern paper frames; ff. i+111+i. Modern foliation in pencil '1-111' (followed here; ff. 17v, 34v-35v, 88v originally blank). Original dimensions circa 215 x 150mm. Horizontal catchwords in the lower margins and traces of leaf signatures suggest an original composition in gatherings of eight leaves from f. 36 onwards. Written, mostly by one hand, on single columns for 43 lines (traces of pen ruling) in English cursive scripts (littera cursiva media) with Anglicana features. An astrological diagram in pen (f. 94) and figures of division (f. 90v). British Library binding with Harley arms and motto gilt-tooled at centre of covers.

Contents as follows:

1. ff. 1-18v. Gilbert the Englishman, Compendium Medicinae sive Lilium Medicinae; mid 15th cent. Middle English transl. Imperfect. A fragment of the 15th-cent. Middle English translation of a Latin treatise on aetiology (i.e. the study of the causes and origin of diseases) written between circa 1230 and 1250, possibly in Italy, by Gilbert the Englishman, the first notable English medical writer, also known as Gilbertus Anglicus or Gilbert of England. The present text is a copy of the portions relating to the lungs, the liver, the spleen, the kidneys, and the bladder (chapters 10, 14,1-17,1). Title (f. 1: chapter 10,1) 'Of þe lygth', inc. 'In a mannes lygth þer ben many grivanse as postemys and / gadyryng togedyr of corrupt humours', inc. (f. 4) 'In a mannys lyuer þer ben þre secknessys. Oon ys dystemper/ing of þe lyver in hete or in cold'], and ends (f. 19: end of chapter 17,1, 9) 'and stranlyth'. See modern edition of the text in Healing and Society in Medieval England. A Middle English Translation of the Pharmaceutical Writings of Gilbertus Anglicus, ed. F. M. Getz (Madison, Wisconsin, 1991; Wisconsin Publications in the History of Science and Medicine, 8), pp. 215-257, with mention of the present MS. at pp. lxv-lxvi n. 90 no. 1. The translation of the text portion relating to gynaecology, i.e. 'The Sekenesse of Wymmen' on ff. 19-29v, corresponds to the so-called Version 1: see M. H. Green, 'Obstetrical and Gynecological Texts in Middle English', in Women's Healthcare in the Medieval West. Texts and Contexts (Aldershot - Burlington, Vermont, 2000; Variorum Collected Studies Series), pp. xix, 74 n. 51. The MS. is also mentioned 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. 0357.00. Complete copies of Middle English translations of Gilbertus in Add. 25589 (ff. 1-73, chapters 1-15 only) and 30338 (ff. 11v-149); Sloane 5(ff. 63v-172v), 1388 (ff. 1-55v, imperfect), 2394, 3486 (ff. 91-148), and 3553 (ff. 21-95v, chapters 2,2-13,3 only); small portions or fragments of the text in Harley 3407 (ff. 68-79v, chapters 15-16,4), Royal 18.A.VI (ff. 35-54; 'The Sekenesse of Wymmen' Version 1), Sloane 442 (ff. 38-40v) and 3449 (ff. 1v-5, introduction only). For Gilbert see R. Sharpe, A Handlist of the Latin Writers of Great Britain and Ireland before 1540 (Turnhout, 1997; Publications of the Journal of Medieval Latin, 1), pp. 143-144, with further bibliography and list of MSS., with the exclusion of the present one; 'Gilbert the Englishman' by F. M. Getz in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford, 2004-2005). For the original text in Latin see O. Riha, 'Gilbertus Anglicus und sein Compendium medicinae: Arbeitstechnik und Wissenorganisation', Sudhoffs Archiv, 78 (1994), pp. 59-73. The original text can be found in Royal 12 G.IV (ff. 5-127); revised and edited by Michael de Capella, it was printed for the first time in Lyon in 1510 by J. Saccon for V. de Portonariis [BL. copy 544.f.1]. Keywords: medicine and surgery; disease, signs and symptoms; aetiology; medicines; apostemes.

2. ff. 17v, 34v-35v, 87v-88v. Recipes, predominantly medical (circa 11 recipes), and a word puzzle (f. 17v) added by later hands; late 15th-early 16th cent. Middle English and Latin. The two recipes on f. 17v are copied by different hands. They begin as follows: title (f. 17v) 'For the quynsy', inc. 'Take rose lewys and set hem yn good rede wyn and clenyes it'; title (f. 34v) 'for the thirles or a lerke passen', inc. 'Take the rots of redishe thyn cott and baythe them'; rubric (f. 87v) 'Also for þe ryngworm', inc. 'Tak a grene aschyn stykke and ley yt in þe fyre / and kepe þe water þt comyth owt at þe end'. Listed in eVK2, nos. 5893.00, 4712.00. Keywords: recipes, medical.

3. ff. 19-29v. Sickness of Women; mid 15th cent. Middle English. Copy. Imperfect. The first version of a Middle English translation of gynecological and obstetrical chapters in Gilbert the Englishman, Compendium Medicinae, book 7. Title (f. 19) 'De matte', inc. 'Also we shal undyrstond þat wymen have lesse hete / in here body þan havy men', expl. 'ley yt \þ/er on and bynd / yt fast þat yt falle not away'. Complete copies of the text in Add. 12195 (ff. 157-185); Royal 18 A.VI (ff. 35-54); Sloane 5 (ff. 158-172v), 249 (ff. 180v-205v, imperfect at the end), 2463 (ff. 1-232); fragmentary portions in Sloane 3486 (ff. 140-147). For the text, see Medieval Woman's Guide to Health, ed. B. Rowland (Kent, Ohio, 1981), pp. 58-148; M. H. Green, 'Obstetrical and Gynecological Texts in Middle English', Studies in the Age of Chaucer, 14 (1992), pp. 53-88: reprinted in M. H. Green, Women's Healthcare in the Medieval West. Texts and Contexts (Burlington, Vermont, 2000; Variorum Collected Studies Series), iv, with mention of the present MS. on p. 74 n. 51; M. H. Green and L. R. Mooney, 'The Sickness of Women', in Sex, Aging and Death in a Medieval Medical Compendium. Trinity College Cambridge MS R.14.52, Its Texts, Language and Scribe, ed. M. T. Tavormina (Tempe, Arizona, 2006; Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, 292), ii, 455-568, with mention of the present MS. on p. 458 n. 9.

4. ff. 30-32v. Compendium of short uroscopic texts; 15th cent. Middle English. Copy. Title 'Vyryn', inc. 'In euery vryn been diuerse þyngis to consydre þt ys to wete', expl. 'in þe rygge betwene þe kydneris'. Followed by two lines relating to the colour of urine in Latin. Listed in eVK2, no. 2782.00. Keywords: medicine and surgery; urine and uroscopy; humours; ages of man; seasons.

5. ff. 33-34. A text on waters including recipes (two in Latin and circa 24 in Middle English); 15th cent. Latin and Middle English. Copy. Imperfect at the beginning. Beginning at '[….] ad nobiles et pauperes', inc. 'Recipe unce mustatam et garofil et cinamomum et alixandri'. The Middle English recipes beginning with title (f. 33) 'Aquae vitae .2.', inc. 'Recipe et fill a pot ful of cler wyn and do þrin powdyr of / canel'. Listed in eVK2, no. 4135.00. Keywords: medicine and surgery; recipes, medical; waters; aqua vitae; distillation.

6. f. 36. A compendium relating to the relationship between natural elements, seasons and parts of the human body; 15th cent. Latin. Inc. 'Hic incipit quod dicitur componend de concordia elementorum … Pueritia est frigida et humida et durat / ad 14 annos', expl. 'Explicit compendium humorum elementorum temperum et aer[…] / et peran[…]'. Listed in L. Thorndike - P. Kibre, 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. 1150b; its electronic version (Ann Arbor, MI, 2000 = eTK), no. 1150B. Keywords: humours; elements; anatomy; seasons; paediatric medicine.

7. ff. 36v-48v. Compendium relating to laxatives; 15th cent. Latin. Copy. Inc. (f. 36v) 'Hic incipit tractatus de medicinis laxativis simplicibus. Et primo / de medicinis laxativis levificando. Medicine laxative lenitive / purgant intestina feces', expl. (f. 44v) 'Explicit tractatus laxativarum simplicum'; title (f. 44v) 'Hic incipit tractatus de medicinis laxativis compositis', inc. 'Expleto tracta/tu de laxativis simplicibus dicendi est de compositis', expl. (f. 48v) 'dat vanitatem'. Listed in L. Thorndike - P. Kibre, Catalogue…, cit. above, pp. 861g, 544j; eTK, nos. 861G, 544J. Keywords: medicine; medicines; herbs and herbal medicine; laxatives.

8. ff. 48v-54, 54-55. Herbal; 15th cent. Latin and English. The text is based on Macer Floridus (Odo de Meung), De viribus herbarum. Title (f. 48v) 'Virtutes quarundam herbarum secundum Macrum', inc. 'Arthemesia. eius decoctio menstrua deducit in balneo', expl. (f. 54) 'facies quacumque valebis / Expliciunt virtutes quarundam herbarum secundum Macrum'. The text is followed by a set of six questions on the nature of women (ff. 54-54v and 55), inc. 'Questio quare mulieres magis appetunt coitum quam viri', the second entitled (f. 55) 'Be^a de Stuphis calidis et humidis', inc. 'Stupha humida hoc modo fit'. Listed in L. Thorndike - P. Kibre, Catalogue …, cit. above, p. 147b; eTK, no. 147B. For the original text, see L. Choulant, Macer Floridus de viribus herbarum una cum Walafridi Strabonis, Othonis Cremonensis et Ioannis Folcz carminibus similis argumenti secundum codices manuscriptos et veteres editiones … recensuit (Lipsiae, 1832). Keywords: herbs and herbal medicine; verse; baths; physiognomy.

9. f. 55v. Text on clysters; 15th cent. Latin. Title 'De clisteribus modo agendi est quia cura efficacissima est', inc. 'Utimur quandocumque clisteribus laxativis'.

10. f. 55v. Medical recipe; late 15th-early 16th cent. Middle English. Title 'For the swellyng / yn the nekke and yn the hede', inc. 'Take a quantyte of notmykgis and þe lykwis / of macis and lytyll clowys'.

11. ff. 56-69. Medical recipes; 15th cent. Latin. The recipes relate to laxatives, fevers, retention of urine, colica, regarding the kidneys, scabies. Rubric 'Per maceratione aparat[um]', inc. 'Recipe suca apii'.

12. ff. 69-70v. Tabula Salernis or List of remedies; 15th cent. Latin. Rubric 'Incipit tabula salernis De purgamenta Primo que purgant fleuma', expl. 'Explicit tabula salernis bona et approbata. Deo gratias'.

13. ff. 71-75, Text relating to the conservation of medicines and simples, attributed to Giles de Corbeil; 15th cent. Latin. Rubric 'Versus Egidij laudabiles', inc. 'Incipiunt versus Egidij de conservacione medicinarum et specierum / Adrianum [in the margin] Hic probet stabilem spacium', expl. 'sunt subsidiara vernis (?) / Expliciunt versus Egidij de speciebus. Deo gratias'.

14. ff. 75-75v. Medical recipes (circa 11 recipes); 15th cent. Middle English. Rubric 'Ffor to make grene gynger', inc. 'Recipe racenys of tryd gynger and stepe hem in / vinegr a seuynnyth'. Listed in eVK2, no. 4260.00. Followed (ff. 75v-76) by three recipes in Latin. Keywords: medicine and surgery; recipes, medical; recipes, culinary.

15. ff. 76-83. Johannes de Sancto Paulo, De simplicium medicinarum virtutibus; 15th cent. Latin. This work on the virtues or power of simples in medicine is attributed here to Johannes de Sancto Proicito. Rubric 'Liber magister Johannes de sancto proicito. Prologus / Hic incipit libellus Johannis de sancto proicito de virtute simplicis medicine', inc. 'Cogitanti mihi de medicinarum simplicium virtutibus', expl. 'attendenda incunbunt industri. Deo gratias / Explicit libellus Johannis de Sancto proicito de virtute simplicis medicine'. Another copy in Harley 5228 (ff. 49v-54). Listed in L. Thorndike - P. Kibre, Catalogue …, cit. above, p. 229e; eTK, no. 229E. Printed under the name of Constantinus Africanus at Lione in 1515. For the author see 'Jean de Saint-Paul', in E. Wickersheimer, Dictionnaire biographique des médecins en France au moyen âge. Réimpression de l'édition de 1936, ii (Genève, 1979; Hautes Études Médiévales et Modernes, 34.2), pp. 480-481; D. Jacquart, Supplément au E. Wickersheimer, Dictionnaire biographique…Nouvelle édition sous la direction de Guy Beaujouan (Genève, 1979; Hautes Études Médiévales et Modernes, 35), p. 180; M. H. Green, 'Johannes de Sancto Paulo', in Medieval Science, Technology and Medicine: An Encyclopaedia, ed. T. F. Glick, S. J. Livesey, and F. Wallis (New York-London, 2005), pp. 286-287. Keywords: medicine; medicines; herbs and herbal medicine.

16. ff. 83v-87v. Medical recipes, including oils; 15th cent. Recipes against headache, quinsy (tonsillitis), epilepsy, problems with eyes and ears, loss of milk, worms, etc. Latin. Rubric 'Dolor capitis', inc. 'Contra (?) passiones capitis. Olibanum est calidum et siccum masticatum'. First recipe listed in L. Thorndike - P. Kibre, Catalogue …, cit. above, p. 980a; eTK, no. 980A. Keywords: recipes, medical.

17. f. 88. Medical recipe; 15th cent. Latin. Rubric 'Contra stranguriam ellectivum', inc. 'Recipe ellectum (?) ducis filantropos justini licontropon ana {dram} ii gariofili / diagalanga ana {dram} i'.

18. f. 88v. Medical recipes (five recipes); late 15th-early 16th cent. Middle English. Rubric 'For the stone', inc. 'Take philipendeley saxefrage elisandur / and croppys of rede nettyll'. Listed in eVK2, no. 5342.00. Keywords: medicine and surgery; recipes, medical.

19. ff. 89-90, 91-93v. Pseudo-Hippocrates, Astrologia medicorum; 15th cent. Latin transl. Imperfect. The text, also known as Astrologia Ypocratis, is an astrological treatise relating to medicine and prognostication possibly translated from Arabic. Rubric (f. 89) 'Hic incipit tractatus astronomie sub compendio de pronosticacione / sanorum et egrotorum per signa celestia', inc. 'Qui fuerit medicus et op/timus magister perfectus', expl. (f. 93v) 'non moretur et cetera. Explicit tractatus astronomie ab com/pendia de pronosticatione egrotorum et sanorum per cursum duodecim / signorum celestium et cetera'. The treatise is followed (f. 94) by an astrological diagram with explanatory notes. For a Middle English version of the text see Add. 12195 (ff. 185-190), Harley 1736 (ff. 232-234) and 2378 (ff. 7-11), and Sloane 73 (ff. 132v-136). Listed in L. Thorndike - P. Kibre, Catalogue …, cit. above, p. 1207h; eTK, no. 1207H; P. Kibre, Hippocrates latinus. Repertorium of Hippocratic Writings in the Latin Middle Ages, rev. ed. (New York, 1985), p. 99. For the text, its other Latin versions and MS. copies see P. Kibre, Hippocrates latinus. Repertorium of Hippocratic Writings in the Latin Middle Ages, rev. ed. (New York, 1985), pp. 94-107 (with no mention of the present MS.). Keywords: medicine; astrology; prognostication; zodiac and signs of.

20. ff. 94v-105v. Treatise on Physiological symptoms relating to the excess of the four humours; 15th cent. Text is divided in 65 chapters. Latin. Rubric 'Hic incipit tractatus de signis replectionis quatuor humorum / et primum sanguinis tamen primum', inc. 'Considerandum est utrum corpus / sit purgandum', expl. 'suis superfluitatibus'. Followed (ff. 105v-108) by another treatise, inc. 'Pretermissis quibusdam inutilibus', expl. 'altissimo. Listed in L. Thorndike - P. Kibre, Catalogue …, cit. above, p. 253a; eTK, no. 253A. Keywords: medicine; laxatives; emetics.

21. ff. 108-108v. Recipe for ointment; 15th cent. Latin. Rubric 'Unguentum pro opilatione pectoris pulmones et pro tussim et cla/rificacione vocis', inc. 'Sangue de galli'.

22. ff. 108v-111v. De diversitate medicinarum; 15th cent. Latin. Rubric 'Item sequitur tractatus de diversitate medicinarum', inc. 'Exhibendorum / diferentium', expl. 'femina parientis masculum ?. Deo gracias. Sufficit'.

Recipes: Medicine and Surgery: Compilation of Medical and Astrological Texts and Recipes: 15th cent.: Lat. and Enm.

includes:

• ff. 1-17, 18-18v Medicine and Surgery: Gilbertus Anglicus: Compendium Medicinae sive Lilium Medicinae by Gilbertus Anglicus: 15th cent.: Enm transl.: Imperf.
• ff. 48v-54, 54-55 Medicine and Surgery: Herbal: 15th cent.: Lat.
• ff. 76-83 Medicine and Surgery: Johannes, de Sancto Paulo: De simplicium medicinarum virtutibus by Johannes de Sancto Paulo: 15th cent.: Lat: Copy.