Harley MS 3507

Origin:

Rome, Italy.

Provenance:

Bartholomeus á Pectorano, friar minor of Naples: translated from Arabic and copied by him at the Convent of Saint Isidore, Rome in 1644: colophons after each book and his name inscribed on almost every folio: 'Hoc opus vetustissimum Libri Fundamentorum fidei ex Arabico idiomate characteribus ut vocant Salomonis conscriptum, quod pluribus centenis annis sub sacri Montis Granatensi terra delituit, in latinum idioma iuxta genuinum illius linguae sensum, Ego frater Bartholomeus á Pectorano Ordinis Minorum strictioris observantiae Provinciae Sancti Bernardini regni Neapolis, ad maiorem Dei gloriam ac Deiparae Virginis immaculatae honorem á superioribus maioribus ad hoc manus peragendum deputatus fideliter transtuli. Romae in conventu Sancti Isidori eiusdem instituti, Anno 1644' (f. 11v). 'Istius Codicis de Essentia divina, ex Arabico, litteris, ut aiunt, Solomonis, plumbeis laminis conscripti, Anno Salutis 1595 sub cavernis sacri montis Granatensis reperti, in latinum conversi, fidelis interpres sum ego indignus Frater Bartholomeus á Pectorano Ordinis Minoris strictoris observantiae Provinciae Sancti Bernardini regni Neapolis, qui...ex superiorium iussu secundum litteram proprii originalis de verbo ad verbum illum exposui, Romae in Conventu Sancti Isidori eiusdem instituti anno 1644 (f. 17r). 'Opusculum istud antiquissimum Historiae Annuli Salomonis plumbeis laminis arabiem characteribus eiusdem sapeintis exaratum, in sacro monte Granatensi subterrranee repertum, ego Frater Bartolomeus a Pectorano... ex Superiorum maiorum facultate ad hoc iussus in Latinum verbatim fideliter transtuli. Romae in Convnetu Sancti isidori eiusdem instituti anno salutis 1644' (f. 26v). 'Librum istum de donis largiendis servis Dei credentibus in veritatem Evangelii, ex Arabico, characteribus, ut aiunt, Salomonis plumbeis laminis conscriptum, sub sacri montis Granatensis cavernis repertum, ego Frater Bartolomeus á Pectorano, ordinis minorum strictioris observatiae, Provinciae Sancti Bernardini regni Neapolis, ad majorem Dei gloriam, a superioribus ad hoc munus peragendum deputatus, in Latinum de verbo ad verbum fideliter traduxi Romae in Conventu Sancti Isidori eiusdam instituti Anno 1640' (f. 61r); 'Ego frater Bartolomeus á Pectorano scripsi manu propria totam scripturam huius libri' (ff. 11r, 16v, 26r, 61r).

The Harley Collection, formed by Robert Harley (b. 1661, d. 1724), 1st earl of Oxford and Mortimer, politician, and Edward Harley (b. 1689, d. 1741), 2nd earl of Oxford and Mortimer, book collector and patron of the arts. Edward Harley bequeathed the library to his widow, Henrietta Cavendish, née Holles (b. 1694, d. 1755) during her lifetime and thereafter to their daughter, Margaret Cavendish Bentinck (b. 1715, d. 1785), duchess of Portland; the manuscripts were sold 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 Harley manuscripts form one of the foundation collections of the British Library.