Harley MS 3388

Composite Medical Miscellany; 15th cent., 1st half. Latin and Middle English. Copy. Imperfect. The MS. includes: - a) Practica de omnibus morbis (ff. 1-4v); - b) Rogerius de Parma, Chirurgia (ff. 5-19): see Thorndike-Kibre, A Catalogue of Incipits of Medieval Scientific Writings in Latin, rev. ed. (London, 1963), p. 1311f, and its electronic version, eTK, no. 1311F, keywords: surgery; - c) Antidotarium, fragment (ff. 19-23), for which see Thorndike-Kibre, A Catalogue ..., cit. above, p. 876k, and its electronic version, eTK, no. 876K, keywords: antidotary; - d) Extracts from the Compendium Salerni relating to syrups and emetics (ff. 23v-24), follow by other medical notes, the extracts similar to those found in Royal 12 B XXV (ff. 66v-67v, 231-233v), for which see Renzi, Coll. Sal. v, p. 206, keywords: medicines; - e) Practica, fragment (ff. 25-48v), imperfect: this is the missing portion of a text found in Harley 3372 (ff. 1-34v), for which see Thorndike-Kibre, A Catalogue ..., cit. above, p. 542n, and its electronic version, eTK, no. 542N, keywords: medicines; - f) Short pharmacopoeial compendium (ff. 49-53), keywords: herbs and herbal medicine, medicines; - g) A note relating to colic (f. 55v); - h) Liber de ornatu mulierum secretissimus (ff. 56-63), for which see Thorndike-Kibre, A Catalogue ..., cit. above, p. 297a, and its electronic version, eTK, no. 297A, followed by (ff. 63-63v) other medical recipes added by different hands, keywords: recipes, cosmetics, gynecology and obstetrics; - i) Tractatus super secretis mulieribus (ff. 64-68v), a text also known as Cleopatra (attr.), Gynaecia, for which see Thorndike-Kibre, A Catalogue ..., cit. above, p. 403h, and its electronic version, eTK, no. 403H (but without mention of the present MS.) and Bibliographie des textes médicaux latins. Antiquité et haut moyen âge, Sous la direction de G. Sabbah, P.-P. Corsetti and K.-D. Fischer (Saint-Étienne, 1987; Centre Jean-Palerne, Mémoires, VI), p. 58, followed by (f. 68v) a note relating to haemorrhoids, keywords: gynecology and obstetrics; - j) Text relating to gynecology and obstetrics (ff. 68v-74); - k) Synonyma herbarium, Latin and Middle English glossary (ff. 75-86v), for which see Thorndike-Kibre, A Catalogue..., cit. above, p. 147a, eTK, no. 147A, keywords: herbs and herbal medicine, synonymy. With sparse marginal annotations by later hands (16th- to 17th-cent.). A note (f. 54v) listing French names. An obituary note (f. 56) dated 1461. Owned and annotated (passim) in the 17th cent. by Samuel Knott (d. 1687), rector of Combe Raleigh and priest of Broad Hembury, co. Devon: two notes relating to his purchase of portions of the MS. from 'Magister Hooper Apothecari Exoniensis' (f. 49) and 'Magister Carp[enter?] Apothecari Exoniensis' (f. 56). Later owned by Robert Burscough (1650/51-1709), prebendary of Exeter in 1701, archdeacon of Barnstaple in 1703, rector of Cheriton Bishop in 1705; his MS. no. 63: see Bernard, Catalogi librorum manuscriptorum Angliæ et Hiberniæ in unum collecti … (Oxford, 1697), t. ii, pt. i, p. 234, no. 7682. For Burscough see Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Acquired with other MSS. by Robert Harley (1661-1724), 1st earl of Oxford and Mortimer, politician, from Burscough's widow on 17 May 1715, as noted by Harley's librarian, Humfrey Wanley (1672-1726), on ff. 1, 25, 75: for the negotiation preceding the purchase, see C. E. Wright R. C. Wright, The Diary of Humfrey Wanley (London, 1966), i, p. 11 n. 6. For the provenance see also C. E. Wright, Fontes Harleiani (London, 1972), pp. 88, 427. 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 the Harleian library to Edward's widow, countess 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 (f. i) '114.B.30 / 3388' in black ink and '2/III B' in pencil; the note 'Oxford / B.H.' on f. 1. The MS. is described in the A Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts (London, 1808-1812), iii, p. 22. The cataloguing of the MS. was funded by the Wellcome Trust.

Paper; ff. ii+86+ii, plus three blanks after f. 53. Modern foliation in pencil '1-86' (followed here; ff. 53v, 54, 55, 74v blank). circa 218 x 145mm. Composite MS. made of five codicological units of different origin (ff. 1-24, 25-48, 49-55 including blanks, 56-74, 75-86). Three sets of old pagination by different hands '113-160' (ff. 1-24), '57-104' (ff. 25-48), '217-240' (ff. 75-86), and old foliation '317-344' on ff. 49-74. Gatherings: i-ii¹², iii-iv¹² (second unit: these are the two missing gatherings after f. 28 in Harley 3372), v-vi¹⁰, vii^10-1 (eighth excised), viii¹², with horizontal catchwords and quire signatures. Written in brown or black ink in cursive gothic book hands. Harley binding of mottled brown leather over pasteboards with gilt- and blind-tooled decoration attributable to Christopher Chapman: the blind- and gilt-tooled rolls are identical to Chapman's rolls nos. 2 and 4 reproduced in Nixon, 'Harleian Bindings', in Studies in the Book Trade in Honour of Graham Pollard (Oxford, 1975), pl. 14.

Medicine and Surgery: Composite medical miscellany: 15th cent., 1st half: Lat. and Enm: Copies.

Christopher Chapman, bookbinder: Bindings ENGLISH: Mottled brown leather over pasteboards with gilt- and blind-tooled decoration, attributable to Christopher Chapman: 18th cent., 1st half.

includes:

• ff. 5-19 Medicine and Surgery: Roger, of Parma: Chirurgia by Roger of Parma: 15th cent., 1st half: Lat: Copy.
• ff. 25-48v Medicine and Surgery: Practica [medicinae]: mid 15th cent.: Lat: Copy divided betw. two MSS.
• ff. 56-63, 64-68v, 68v-74 Medicine and Surgery: Liber de ornatu mulierum secretissimus and other two texts rel. to gynecology and obstetrics: 15th cent., 1st half: Lat: Copies.
• ff. 75-86v Dictionaries: Medicine and Surgery: Synonyma herbarum: early 15th cent.: Lat. and Enm: Copy.