Harley MS 5218

Medical Miscellany including Treatises by Petrus Hispanus and Galeazzo di Santasofia; 15th cent. Latin. Copies. The MS. includes: -a) Petrus Hispanus, Liber de conservanda sanitate (ff. 1-3; item 1); - b) Petrus Hispanus, Thesaurus pauperum (ff. 3v-83; item 2); - c) Short treatises relating to the preparation and administration of medicines (ff. 83-91; items 3-5); - d) Galeazzo di Santasofia, De complexionibus simplicium medicinarum (ff. 91v-116v; item 6); - e) Petrus Hispanus, Additions to the Thesaurus pauperum relating to signs of life and death (ff. 116v-119v; item 7). Owned in 1528 by Petrus Graveinus (unidentified), his name and the date on small paper slips glued onto f. 1* verso. Owned in the 17th cent. by P. Allard (unidentified), his name in the upper margin of f. 1. For the provenance, see C. E. Wright, Fontes Harleiani (London, 1972), pp. 48, 170, 454. The date and circumstances of the arrival of the MS. in the Harleian collection are unknown and the volume is not mentioned in C. E. Wright and R. C. Wright, The Diary of Humfrey Wanley (London, 1966). Owned by Edward Harley (1689-1741), 2nd earl of Oxford and Mortimer, book collector and patron of the arts, and possibly by his father Robert Harley (1661-1724), 1st earl of Oxford and Mortimer, politician. 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 in brown ink '142.A.22' followed by '5218' and '1/III C' in pencil on f. 1*. The MS. is described in A Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts in the British Museum (London, 1808-1812), iii, p. 252. The cataloguing of the MS. was funded by the Wellcome Trust.

Parchment; ff. i (paper)+119. Modern foliation in pencil '1*, 1-119' (followed here). circa 203 x 140mm. Gatherings: i-xi¹², xii^12-1 (twelfth cancelled), with horizontal catchwords. Ruled in metalpoint (single vertical bounding lines) for single columns of 31 lines. Text above top line. Written in Italy in Gothic script by two hands (ff. 1-83, 83v-119v) with humanistic influence. Sparse contemporary marginalia. Large illuminated initials (6-7 lines; ff. 1, 4v) in blue and pink on rectangular gold grounds with acanthus leaf decoration in blue, pink and green. Large initials (3-4 lines) throughout in alternating red and blue with contrasting penwork decoration in purple and red. Paragraph marks in alternating red and blue; rubrics in red. British Library binding with Harley arms and motto gilt-tooled at centre of covers.

Contents as follows:

1. ff. 1-3. Petrus Hispanus, Liber de conservanda sanitate. Latin. Copy. Rubric (f. 1) 'Epistula magistri petri hyspani missa ad imperatorem Fridericum / super regimen sanitatis', inc. 'Suo domino pre cunctis mortalibus / metuendo Friderico Romanorum Impera/tori fontis pegasei liquore instructo / magister petrus hyspanus eius alumpnus senex / artis medicine professor seipsum et opus conservande / recipere sanitatis. Sanitas est temperamentum cu/stodiens modum naturalem secundum nature cursum', expl. (f. 3) 'mente placebit opus'. Edited from the present MS. in M. H. da Rocha Pereira, Obras médicas de Pedro Hispano (Coimbra, 1973), pp. 447-453, with mention of the MS. on pp. 430-431, 434, 496-498; M. H. da Rocha Pereira, 'Die Überlieferungsgeschichte des Libre de conservanda sanitate von Petrus Hispanus', in F. Paschke, Überlieferungsgeschichtliche Untersuchungen (Berlin, 1981; Texte und Untersuchungen, 125), pp. 491-492. Listed from this MS. in L. Thorndike and 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. 1543k; its electronic version on CD-ROM ed. (Ann Arbor, MI, 2000=eTK), no. 1543K. Keywords: regimen of health; diet.

2. ff. 3v-83. Petrus Hispanus, Thesaurus pauperum. Latin. Copy. Rubric (f. 3v) 'Incipiunt Rubrice seu capitula Tractatus eiusdem magistri petri / hyspani thesaurum pauperum nuncupati et primo', inc. 'De casu capilli, expl. (f. 4) 'De arthetica', prologue rubric (f. 4v) 'Contra dyampnem / De febribus et earum quiditate acque causa in genere / Incipit prologus in Tractatum predictum', inc. 'In nomine sancte & individue Trinitatis / a qua omnis scientia et sapientia data est sapien/tibus et scientibus opus super vires aggre/dior', text rubric (f. 5) 'De casu capillorum', inc. 'Si cappilli cadant fiat lixinium de cinere / pulveris fimi columbini', last chapter rubric (f. 77) 'De arthetica podogra', expl. (f. 83) 'ut pimpinella tormentilla gentiana et / motum auferentia ut opium / Explicit'. Edited in M. H. da Rocha Pereira, Obras médicas..., cit. above, pp. 79-299, with mention of the present copy on pp. 41, 51 and passim; M. H. da Rocha Pereira, 'Die Überlieferungsgeschichte...', cit. above, pp. 489-90. For the text see also Thorndike and Kibre, Catalogue of Incipits..., cit. above, pp. 698a, 1443k; eTK, nos. 698A, 1443K. A copy of the Italian translation in Harley 5139 (ff. 1-54). Keywords: disease, signs and symptoms; medicines.

3. ff. 83v-85v. De dosibus. Latin. Copy. Rubric (f. 83v) 'De dosibus medicinarum in generali', inc. 'Dicunt aliqui quod prima dosis medicine / que est in primo gradu', expl. (f. 85v) 'et ista suffiunt de dosibus in generali'. Listed from this MS. in Thorndike and Kibre, Catalogue of Incipits..., cit. above, p. 426i; eTK, no. 426I. Keywords: medicines, administration of.

4. ff. 85v-89. De gradibus. Latin. Copy. Title (f. 85v) 'Ars graduandi medicinam compositam / secundum averroim et secundum opiniones / alkindi', inc. 'Dico quod ars graduandi secundum / opinionem Alkindi est talis', expl. (f. 89) 'quod tunc non invenio scriptum in libris / suis. Et illud sufficiat de gradibus totum'. Listed from this MS. in Thorndike and Kibre, Catalogue of Incipits..., cit. above, p. 423j; eTK, no. 423J. Keywords: degree; astronomy.

5. ff. 89-90v, 90v-91. Two short treatises on the preparation and administration of medicines. Latin. Copy. Inc. (f. 89) 'Undecim cause compositionis medi/cinarum reperiuntur que habentur / per has versus', expl. (f. 90v) 'et hec de causis com/posicionis medicinarum sufficiant'; inc. (f. 90v) 'Circa huiusmodi ? dispensacionem septem / sunt regule', expl. (f. 91) 'virtute per omnia fracta'. Keywords: medicines; medicine, administration.

6. ff. 91v-116v. Galetius de Sancta Sophia, De complexionibus simplicium medicinarum. Latin. Copy. Rubric (f. 91v) 'De complexionibus simplicium medicinarum', inc. 'Abrotanum attavum aurotanium grece / cheyson calidum est', expl. (f. 116v) 'Expliciunt quote simplicium medicinarum ser Galliacium de sancta / Sophya phisicum'. Listed from the present MS. in Thorndike and Kibre, Catalogue of Incipits..., cit. above, p. 10i; eTK, no. 10I. For Galeazzo di Santasofia see T. Pesenti, Professori e promotori di medicina nello Studio di Padova dal 1405 al 1509. Repertorio bio-bibliografico (Padova, 1984; Contributi alla storia dell'Università di Padova, 16), pp. 182-186, with mention of the present MS. on p. 183. Keywords: medicines; herbs and herbal medicine.

7. ff. 116v-117v. Petrus Hispanus, Additions from the Thesaurus pauperum including De signis mortis et vite. Latin. Copy. Rubric (f. 116v) 'Et vero quod infrascripta sequentia sunt de thesauro pauperum magistri / petri de hyspania phisici optimi De signis mortis et vite', inc. 'macer dicit si quando visitas egrum portaveris / verbenam', expl. (f. 177v) 'dictam pocionem desperes omnino / de eius salute'. Edited in M. H. da Rocha Pereira, Obras médicas..., cit. above, pp. 361-367. Keywords: signs of life and death.

8. ff. 117v-119v. Short treatise relating to laxatives. Latin. Copy. Rubric 'Tractatus de sir.^is digerentibus humores et / alterantibus et de medicinibus illos educentibus Rubrice medicine laxativa / savis competencia', inc. 'Ad intelligentiam est notandum quod in isto libro continentur modi debiti', (f. 119v) 'Explicit liber qui thesaurum pauperum dicitur magistri petri / de hyspania phisici'.

Medicine and Surgery: Medical miscellany including works of Petrus Hispanus and Galeazzo di Santasofia: 15th cent.: Lat: Copies.

includes:

• ff. 1-3 Medicine and Surgery: John XXI; Pope: Liber de conservanda sanitate by Petrus Hispanus: 15th cent.: Lat: Copy.
• ff. 3v-83 Medicine and Surgery: John XXI; Pope: Thesaurus pauperum by Petrus Hispanus: 15th cent.: Lat: Copy.
• ff. 83v-91 Medicine and Surgery: Short treatises rel. to medicines and their administration: 15th cent.: Lat: Copy.
• ff. 91v-116v Medicine and Surgery: Galeazzo di Santasofia, d 1427 of Padua; physician: De complexionibus simplicium medicinarum by Galeazzo di Santasofia: 15th cent.: Lat: Copy.
• ff. 116v-117v Medicine and Surgery: John XXI; Pope: Additions to the Thesaurus Pauperum including De signis mortis et vitae by Petrus Hispanus: 15th cent.: Lat: Copy.
• ff. 117v-119v Medicine and Surgery: Short text rel. to laxatives: 15th cent.: Lat: Copy.