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Harley MS 3703

Record Id:

040-002049535

Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:

040-002049535

MDARK:

ark:/81055/vdc_100000000807.0x0000d4

LARK:

SLARK:

Format:

ISAD(G)

Reference (shelfmark):

Harley MS 3703

Title:

Collection of alchemical works, including De compositione alchemiae; John Sawtry, De occulta philosophia; and Richardus de Salopia, De proportione elementorum

Scope & Content:

A composite manuscript containing works on alchemy, comprising three parts that were produced separately but joined together shortly afterwards, as indicated by a 15th-century table of contents for the whole manuscript on f. 1v.

Part 1: ff. 1-24; Part 2: ff. 25-40; Part 3: ff. 41-97.

Contents:

Part 1:

f. 1v: Table of contents.

ff. 2r-16v: De Compositione alchemiae; a Latin translation of De la Risālat Maryānus by Robert of Chester, containing a dialogue between the Byzantine monk Morienus and Khālid ibn Yazīd, Ummayyad prince [see Singer, Catalogue, I (1928), p. 63 (no. 66.v)].

ff. 16v-18r: 'Expositio Specierum que huic magisterio pertinet'; continuation of the previous item [see Singer, Catalogue, I (1928), p. 63 (no. 66.v)].

ff. 18r-22v: Ortolanus [Hortulanus] (here attributed), Clavis maioris sapientiae [see Singer, Catalogue, I (1928), p. 37 (no. 32.1)].

ff. 23r-24r: Tract on Mercury, 'Tractatus qui incipit Scitum est ex hoc quod secundum Philosophos' [see Singer, Catalogue, II (1930), p. 354 (no. 452)].

Part 2:

ff. 25r-30r: Pseudo-Arnaldus de Villanova, Theorica et practica magistri Arnaldi de Villa Nova ad sanctissimum patrem, here entitled: 'Tractatus qui dicitur venerande pater' [see Singer, Catalogue, I (1928), p. 200 (no. 226.i)].

ff. 33r-38v: Josephus Philosophus, 'Expositio Statue Josephi Philosophi' [see Singer, Catalogue, I (1928), p. 124 (no. 138.i)].

f. 39r: Tract on distillation, beginning: 'Item quando vis distillare acetum habeas pottum terreum bene devitriatum' [see Singer, Catalogue, II (1930), p. 673 (no. 1018)].

ff. 39r-40r: Tract on distillation, entitled: 'Modus distillandi aquam fortem et forma Alembici cum Cucurbita' [see Singer, Catalogue, II (1930), p. 674 (no. 1019)].

Part 3:

ff. 41r-42r: Opening of Pseudo-Aristotle's Secreta secretorum ('Aristotelis as Alexandrum') [see Singer, Catalogue, I (1928), p. 30 (no. 29.lviii)].

ff. 42r-55r: John Sawtry, De occulta philosophia ('Tractatus Sawtry de occulta philosophia') [see Singer, Catalogue, I (1928), p. 194 (no. 217.vii)].

ff. 55r-60v: Democritus (here attributed), Liber de occulto lapide philosophorum [see Singer, Catalogue, I (1928), p. 122 (no. 135.i)].

ff. 60v-66r: 'Liber de occulto lapide philosophorum qui prae aliis lumine lucet' [see Singer, Catalogue, II (1930), p. 394 (no. 529.i)].

ff. 66r-71r: 'Liber Graciae' [see Singer, Catalogue, I (1928), p. 45 (no. 40.i)].

ff. 71r-74v: Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Zakariyyā al-Rāzī [Rhazes] (here attributed), 'Practica Rasis' [see Singer, Catalogue, I (1928), p. 110 (no. 121.i)].

ff. 73v-74v: Avicenna (here attributed), Declaratio lapidis or Archanum [see Singer, Catalogue, I (1928), p. 117 (no. 128.i)].

ff. 74v-95r: Richardus de Salopia (here attributed), De proportione elementorum; ending: 'Dignus est enim Operarius mercede sua guod T. G.' [see Singer, Catalogue, I (1928), p. 197 (no. 222.i)] and Catalogue, III (1930), p. 563 (no. 823.iii)].

The manuscript contains a few additions:

f. 1r: Pen trials in Latin and English, including: 'The condicion of this Obliacion is such that if'; added in the 15th and 16th century.

f. 1v: Memorandum in English (see Provenance); added in the late 15th or early 16th century.

f. 30v: Alchemical notes; added in the 15th century [see Singer, Catalogue, II (1930), p. 741 [no. 111.xii]).

ff. 31r-32v: Short text relating to the influence of the moon and other planets on humours, attributed to Ptolomy and 'Massacola', beginning: 'Si vis aliquam pergere viam vel incipere Primo rescipe in quo signo luna videatur cursum suum facere'; and a tract on Phlebotomy, beginning: 'Hoc est speculum fleobotomie'; added in the 15th century.

ff. 95v-97r: Short text relating to phlebotomy (f. 95v), pain, beginning: 'Vena instisa in medio frontis valet dolori capitis' (ff. 95v-96v), and astrology and medicine (f. 96v); added in the 15th century.

f. 97v: Chants, beginning: 'vobiscum domine' with neumes; added in the 16th century.

Decoration:

Large (2- to 4-line) red initials, some with penwork decoration in blue and one featuring a human face (f. 25r), or black initials outlined in red and with penwork decoration in red. Small (1-line) plain initials in red. Capitals highlighted in red. Explicits in banderols drawn in brown and red ink. Underlining in red. Line fillers in red. Paraphs in red. Manicules in brown ink with cuffs in brown and red ink (ff. 28v, 29v, 35r). Drawings of alchemical vessels in red ink in the lower margin of f. 70v and in brown ink in the lower margins of 78v-79r.

Collection Area:

Western Manuscripts

Project / Collection:

Harley Collection

Hierarchy Tree:

[{ "id" : "040-002049535", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Harley MS 3703: Collection of alchemical works, including De compositione alchemiae; John Sawtry, De occulta philosophia; and Richardus de Salopia, De…" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]

Hierarchy Record Ids:

032-002045828
040-002049535

Is part of:

Harley MS 1-7661 : Harley Manuscripts

Harley MS 3703 : Collection of alchemical works, including De compositione alchemiae; John Sawtry, De occulta philosophia; and Richardus de Salopia,…

Hierarchy:

032-002045828[3705]/040-002049535

Container:

View / search within Archive / Collection: Harley MS 1-7661

Record Type (Level):

File

Extent:

1 item

Digitised Content:

Languages:

English
Latin

Scripts:

Latin

Start Date:

1450

End Date:

1499

Date Range:

2nd half of the 15th century

Era:

Access:

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User Conditions:

Physical Characteristics:

Materials: Paper.

Dimensions: 215 x 140 mm (text space: 160 x 90 mm)

Foliation: ff. 97 (+ 3 unfoliated paper flyleaves at the beginning + 3 at the end); 3 unfoliated blank paper leaves between f. 30 and f. 31; Modern foliation in pencil '1-97' (followed here).

Gatherings: i-ii¹², iii^10-1 (seventh excised), iv¹⁰, v¹², vi¹⁰, vii-viii¹², ix^12-1 (twelfth excised), with horizontal catchwords in cartouches and leaf signatures on ff. 41-97.

Script: Written in brown and dark brown ink in cursive English gothic scripts (mainly litera cursiva formata hybrida - secretary) by three main scribes and other additional hands.

Binding: British Museum in-house; gold-tooled brown half leather binding.

Custodial History:

Origin:

England.

Provenance:

An unknown late 15th or early 16th century owner in Wales or Hertfordshire: their memorandum below the table of contents records the names of '[? Roberd] Averreth in urchynfeld [hundred of Archenfield] in þe parich Landgaryn [Llangarron] iij myll from Monmoth and iij mill from Ros [Ross-on-Wye]' and 'Thomas ob dave viij myll from herforth'.

George Matthew, 16th century: his name inscribed on f. 97v: 'George Matthewe' (not in Wright, Fontes Harleiani (1977)).

Nathaniel Noel (d. c. 1753), bookseller, employed by Edward Harley for buying books and manuscripts chiefly on the Continent, where his agent was George Suttie: sent by him to Edward Harley (1689-1741), 2nd earl of Oxford and Mortimer, book collector and patron of the arts, on 12 September 1722, and purchased by Harley on 27 December of the same year (see Diary, ed. by Wright and Wright (1966), I, p. 180 n. 13; Wright, Fontes Harleiani (1972), p. 254).

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, inscribed as usual by their librarian, Humfrey Wanley ‘12 Septembri, 1722’ (f. 1r). Harley shelfmarks '119.A.3 / 3703' in ink and '1/IV C' in pencil on f. [iii]recto.

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.

Publications:

A Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts in the British Museum, 4 vols (London: Eyre and Strahan, 1808-12), III (1808), p. 53.

The Diary of Humfrey Wanley 1715-1726, ed. by Cyril Ernest Wright and Ruth C. Wright, 2 vols (London: Bibliographical Society, 1966), I: 1715-1723, p. 180 n. 13.

Dorothea Waley Singer, assisted by Annie Anderson and Robina Addis, Catalogue of Latin and Vernacular Alchemical Manuscripts in Great Britain and Ireland: Dating from before the XVI century, 3 vols (Brussels: Lamertin, 1928-1931), nos 29.lviii; 40.i; 32.i; 40.i; 66.v; 121.i; 128.1; 135.i; 138.1; 217.vii; 222; 226.1; 452; 529.i; 823.iii; 1018; 1019; 1111.xii.

Cyril Ernest Wright, Fontes Harleiani: A Study of the Sources of the Harleian Collection of Manuscripts in the British Museum (London: British Museum, 1972), p. 254.

Marion Dapsens, 'De la Risālat Maryānus au De Compositione alchemiaeQuelques réflexions sur la tradition d’un traité d’alchimi', Studia graeco-arabica, 6 (2016), 121-140 (p. 137).

The cataloguing of this manuscript was funded by the Wellcome Trust.

Material Type:

Archives and Manuscripts

Legal Status:

Not Public Record(s)

Names:

Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Zakarīyā al-Rāzī [Rhazes], Persian physician, philosopher and alchemist, c 0865-c 0925,
   see also http://isni.org/isni/0000000121031816,
   see also http://viaf.org/viaf/95154093
Avicenna, Persian polymath, 980-1037,
   see also http://isni.org/isni/0000000121430876,
   see also http://viaf.org/viaf/89770781
Noel, Nathaniel, bookseller, fl 1681, d c 1753

Places:

England