Harley MS 3140

Ars Medicinae, the compilation of medical texts of Greek, Byzantine, and Arabic origin that is known as the Articella. Since the early 12th century most texts were translated into Latin by scholars in the circle of the medical school of Salerno, and became the basis of the medical curriculum in European universities and remained in use until the 16th century.

For an historical introduction to the individual texts and the formation of the collection see O'Boyle (1998); for a survey of the early editions see Jon Arrizabalaga, The ‘Articella’ in the Early Press, c. 1476-1534. Articella Studies: Texts and Interpretations in Medieval and Renaissance Medical Teaching, 2 (Cambridge: Cambridge Wellcome Unit for the History of Medicine, 1998).

The collection includes:

1. Johannitius, Isagoge (ff. 2r-7r);

2. Galen, Tegni or Ars medica (ff. 7v-21r);

3. Hippocrates, Aphorismi with Pseudo-Oribasius, Prologue to the Commentary (ff. 21r-29r);

4. Hippocrates, Prognosticon (ff. 29r-32v);

5. Theophilus Protospatharius, De urinis (ff. 32v-37v);

6. Philaretus, De pulsibus (ff. 37v-39r);

7. Hippocrates, De regimine acutorum (ff. 39r-43v);

8. Isaac Judeus, Liber Urinarum (ff. 44r-67v);

9. Isaac Judeus, Dietae universales (ff. 68r-110v);

10. Isaac Judeus, Dietae particulares (ff. 110v-137r);

11. Isaac Judeus, De febribus (ff. 137r-195v);

12. Constantinus Africanus, Viaticum (ff. 196r-254v);

13. Nicholaus Salernitanus, Antidotarium (ff. 255r-272v);

14. Giles of Corbeil (or Aegidius de Corbeil), De urinis (ff. 273r-274v);

15. Giles of Corbeil (or Aegidius de Corbeil), Pulses (ff. 274v-276v).

The manuscript also includes an extensive apparatus of marginal and interlinear glosses added by a contemporary reader, including variants, additions, and diagrams, which extend to the original flyleaves (ff. 1v, 277r-278r); another set of marginal annotations have been added in plummet by a later reader (15th century).

Decoration:

11 historiated initials in colours and gold (red metallic pigment oxidised in several miniatures); subjects of the miniatures are as follows:

f. 2r: Initial 'M'(edicina) of a doctor pointing at three medallions representing the sun and the moon, plants (earth?), and water with fish.

f. 7v: Initial 'T'(res) of a university doctor in a tall chair teaching from a book on a lectern and two seated students.

f. 21r: Initial 'V'(ita) of two doctors conversing.

f. 29r: Initial 'O'(mnis) of a doctor feeling the pulse of a patient lying in bed.

f. 32v: Initial 'B'(e) of a doctor holding a flask and teaching urine examination to two students.

f. 39r: Initial 'Q'(ui) of a doctor administering medicine to a patient attended by a young man (student of medicine?).

f. 68r: Initial 'Q'(uod) of a doctor pointing at four medallions representing fish, birds, animals, and plants.

f. 110v: Initial 'C'(omplevimus) of a doctor illustrating to a student the different kinds of food laid out on the bench between them.

f. 137r: Initial 'Q'(uoniam) of a university doctor in a tall chair teaching.

f. 196r: Initial 'Q'(uoniam) of a doctor feeling the pulse of a patient lying in bed, with two assistants behind him.

f. 255r: Initial 'E'(go) of a doctor in a tall chair teaching pharmaceutical preparation to two seated students.

Puzzle initials in red and blue with contrasting pen-flourished decoration and marginal extensions, at the beginning of books 2-5 of Isaac's treatise on fevers, books 1-7 of Constantine's Viaticum, and incipits of Nicholas's Antidotary and Giles of Corbeil's verse on urine (3 to 15 lines; ff. 141v, 146v, 153v, 176v, 196v, 206v, 213v, 223r, 233r, 236v, 243r, 255v). Small initials (2-5 lines) alternately in red and blue with pen-flourished decoration in contrasting colour extending along the bounding lines. Paraphs and initials (ff. 21r-28v, 273-276v; 1 line) alternately in blue and red in Hippocrates's aphorisms, and Giles of Corbeil's poems. Minor initials touched in red; titles and rubrics in red. Occasional marginal maniculae, small human heads, and other marking signs (see ff. 55v-55r, 131r) added by the contemporary annotator.