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Harley MS 7652

Record Id:

040-002053510

Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:

040-002053510

MDARK:

ark:/81055/vdc_100000000984.0x000291

LARK:

SLARK:

Format:

ISAD(G)

Reference (shelfmark):

Harley MS 7652

Title:

Liber messahallah (Latin translation from Arabic attributed to John of Seville); Liber Hermetis de 15 stellis, de 15 lapidibus, de 15 herbis, et de 15 figuris; Albumazar de floribus

Scope & Content:

This manuscript contains astrological works with excerpts attributed to the Arabian astrologer Albumazar [Abu-Maaschar], 'Dorothius' (perhaps referring to the Greek astrological poet Dorotheus of Sidon), the legendary Hermes Trismegistus, the Persian Jewish astrologer and astronomer Mashallah ibn Athari, and the Syriac Christian astrologer and astronomer Sahl ibn Bishr al-Isra'ili [Zahel](‘zehelebenbiszer’).

Contents:

ff. 2r-36v: 'Liber messahallah'; Latin translation from Arabic attributed to John of Seville (fl. 1133-1153) on f. 36v: 'Liber messahallah translatus est a Johanne hyspalensi ex arabico in latinum sub laude dei et eius auxilio'.

ff. 36v-42r: 'Liber Hermetis de 15 stellis, de 15 lapidibus, de 15 herbis, et de 15 figuris'.

ff. 42v-47r: 'Albumazar de floribus'; containing excerpts from Albumazar's work on 'de revolucionibus annorum'.

The manuscript contains a few later additions:

f. 1v: A table of contents; added in the 14th or 15th century.

f. [iii]recto: A note by Frederic Madden (b. 1801, d. 1873): ‘Formerly numbered MS Add. 5003 but now made MS Harl. 7652 – FM’.

f. 42r (lower margin): A note: 'Albumazar erat anno alexandri 1160 anno domini Jhesu Christi 849 et erat equatio octave spere [etc.]'; added in the 15th century.

ff. 47r-49v: The second part of the 'Flore Albumazar' or 'Albumasar in Floribus' [titles from other versions at the Bodleian Library: a 14th-century copy in MS Ashmole 369, ff. 153r-161v; and a 15th-century copy in MS Ashmole 393, f. 95v]; entitled: 'Inicium partis secundem ex floribus liber secundus'; beginning: 'Tractatus in terre motu et diluviis'; seemingly imperfect at the end; added in the 14th century.

Decoration:

f. 41v: 15 astrological diagrams in brown ink, accompanying the 'Liber Hermetis de 15 stellis, de 15 lapidibus, de 15 herbis, et de 15 figuris'.

Collection Area:

Western Manuscripts

Project / Collection:

Harley Collection

Hierarchy Tree:

[{ "id" : "040-002053510", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Harley MS 7652: Liber messahallah (Latin translation from Arabic attributed to John of Seville); Liber Hermetis de 15 stellis, de 15 lapidibus, de 15…" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]

Hierarchy Record Ids:

032-002045828
040-002053510

Is part of:

Harley MS 1-7661 : Harley Manuscripts

Harley MS 7652 : Liber messahallah (Latin translation from Arabic attributed to John of Seville); Liber Hermetis de 15 stellis, de 15 lapidibus, de…

Hierarchy:

032-002045828[7666]/040-002053510

Container:

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

Record Type (Level):

File

Extent:

1 volume

Digitised Content:

Languages:

Latin

Scripts:

Latin

Start Date:

1300

End Date:

1399

Date Range:

14th century

Era:

Access:

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User Conditions:

Physical Characteristics:

Materials: Parchment.

Dimensions: 210 x 145 mm.

Foliation: ff. 49 (+ 2 unfoliated paper flyleaves and 1 unfoliated parchment flyleaf at the beginning + 2 unfoliated paper flyleaves at the end).

Script: Gothic.

Binding: British Museum in-house.

Custodial History:

Origin:

England.

Provenance:

? 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.

According to the British Museum's register of Additional manuscripts, this manuscript was acquired in 1753, but originally recorded under the shelf-mark 'Additional MS 5003'. According to the register, and a note by Sir Frederic Madden on f. [iii]recto, it was subsequently reclassified as 'Harley MS 7652'. Although not described in the Catalogue of Harleian Manuscripts that was completed and published by the British Museum in 1808, it was added by a 19th-century hand to a copy of the catalogue's third volume that is kept at the British Library. It is likely that this manuscript was originally part of the Harley Collection, and acquired by the British Museum from Henrietta Cavendish and Margaret Cavendish Bentinck, but initially went unrecorded or was miscategorized as an Additional manuscript.

Former Internal References:

Add MS 5003

Material Type:

Archives and Manuscripts

Legal Status:

Not Public Record(s)

Places:

England