Harley MS 6308

Collection of Pharmacopeial and Scientific Texts; 16th cent., 1st half. French. Copy. Imperfect at the end. A miscellaneous collection of pharmacopeial and scientific texts in French, with mention (f. 116v) of the date 14 April 1525. The date and circumstances of the arrival of the MS. in the Harleian collection are unknown, and the volume is mentioned in neither C. E. Wright and R. C. Wright, The Diary of Humfrey Wanley (London, 1966), nor C. E. Wright, Fontes Harleiani (London, 1972). 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 '155.A.19 / 5308' in brown ink and '2/III A' in pencil on f. i. The MS. is described in A Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts in the British Museum (London, 1808-1812), iii, p. 355. The cataloguing of this manuscript was funded by the Wellcome Trust.

Parchment; ff. 139+i, plus one blank after f. 67. Old foliation in ink '1-212', incorrect; modern foliation in pencil '1-187' (followed here). circa 195 x 140mm. Gatherings individually mounted on guards: i-iv⁸, v^8-1 (sixth missing), vi-xi⁸, xii^6-1 (second missing), xiii-xv⁶, xvi^10-1 (ninth missing), xvii-xxiv⁸, xxv⁴. Ruled in red ink (single bounding lines only) for single columns, written in 24-35 lines. Texts above top line. Written in grey or black ink in French cursive hands. Cadels and large decorated initials (ff. 124v-153 passim) in ink, occasionally zoomorphic (ff. 141-143v). Pen drawings of beakers and flasks (ff. 125v, 128, 160). British Library binding with Harley arms and motto gilt-tooled at centre of covers.

Medicine and Surgery: Collection of pharmacopeial and scientific texts: 16th cent., 1st half: Fr.