Royal MS 7 D XXV

CHRONOLOGICAL, philosophical, astronomical, medical, and other collections, in Latin: evidently the book, or more probably copies from the book, of a man of unusual learning. It seems worth suggesting that this scholar may be Adelard of Bath (see Dict. Nat. Biogr.), the translator of Euclid, who studied at Laon, was something of a Platonist, travelled in the East, and in other respects coincides with the indications of the volume. Contents:-

1. 'Expositio genealogie Christi secundum Mathaeum': from the Enarrationes in Matthaeum, generally attributed to Anselm of Laon (Migne, Patr. Lat. clxii. 1227- 1249). Beg. 'Liber generalionis. In ipso exordio satis ostendit'; ends 'sic erat ut diximus'. In the margin are chronological notes in the same, or a contemporary, hand. f. 1.

2. 'Incipiunt historie breues excepte de libris Pauli Orosii contra paganos de ormesta mundi': an abridgement of the Historiae of Orosius (ib. xxxi. 669-1174). Beg. 'Ante annos urbis condite id est Rome m.ccc. Ninus rex Assiriorum'. Marginal notes as in the preceding article. f. 7.

3. 'Descriptio orbis terrarum secundum Orosium presbyterum': the full text of lib. i, cap. 2 of the same work (ib. 672-697). Beg. 'Maiores nostri orbem totius terre'. f. 41 b.

4. 'Tractatus Bede presbyteri de ponderibus et mensuris': really an extract from S. Isidore, Etymologiae,

lib. xvi, capp. 25, 26 (Migne, lxxxii. 590). Beg. 'Ponderum ac mensurarum iuuat cognoscere modum'. f. 44.

5. Theological distinctions,without heading, in the style of the St.Victor school. The first, beg. 'Quinque status habet uita humana', is attributed to Hugo de S. Victore in Harley MS. 5431, f. 269b, and printed among his miscellanea, lib. i, cap. 77, ib. clxxvii. 511. The other subjects are 'de tribus animi; dignitatibus, quadrifaria mortis specie, xv ramis superbiop, gradibus quibus labitur in foueam desperationis, tribus que uagam mentem stabilem reddunt, x speciebus intentionis bone, x mandatis et lege paschali'. f. 45 b.

6. Brief chronological notes of emperors, &c., from the end of Orosius' history to the emperor Henry III (1039). f. 46b.

7. Plato's, Timaeus, in the Latin version of Chalcidius (cf. 12 B. xxii). Incomplete, breaking off 'Hec igitur eterni dei propicientia . . .' and followed (f. 53) by additional notes in another hand. Preface beg. '[S]ocrates in exortacionibus suis'; translation, '[V]nus, duo, tres, quartum e numero'. f. 47.

8. Commentary on part of Aristotle's Categories, in the Latin version of Boethius. Preface beg. 'Intentio Aristotilis est in hoc opere de primis uocibus'; commentary, 'Equiuoca uero dicuntur. Hic predicendum est quod omnis res'. Imperfect by loss of leaves after f. 62, breaking off in the comment on ch. 5 (p. 2 b 32 of the Berlin edition) 'ponere in litteram quod genus et species'. By a scribe's error a long passage ('simplices sunt ... non est inconueniens', ff. 60 b-62) has been duplicated. f. 55.

9. Notes or tracts on the calendar, meteorology, &c. Blank spaces are left, at the beginning and elsewhere, presumably for tables. The chief parts are: (a) On the year and month. Beg. 'Annus est circulus qui mensibus incurrentibus uoluitur'. f. 63;-(b) On eclipses, the Pleiades, &c., with table. Beg. 'In anno vi. non erit eclipsis'. f. 65;-(c) Miscellancous notes under the headings: 'Quod per umbram suam quisque poterit scire umbram solis'-'Quot horas luna luceat-'De horis et punctis et minutis atque momentis'-'De medietate mundi', a remarkable note 'mons amor reorum est locus medius mundi', which the writer claims to have personally determined by experiment, viz. by finding a place where the shadows at midday at midsummer fall vertically, adding 'a tempore quo mensuraui hic est annus xxxviiii. et uinum non bibi, oculi mei somno satiati non fuerunt, ne exuperauerer (sic) in eo quod inquirebam'-'Unde fiunt nubes'-'De lampade'-'Unde fiat arcus'. Ends 'in septemtrione. Finit'. ff. 65 b, 66;-(d) Further notes on the calendar, lunar cycle, &c., with blank spaces for tables. One incomplete table of accensiones lunae is inserted (f. 70 b), and from the fact that two of the new moons (2 Sept. in the fifth and 2 Aug. in the seventeenth year of the cycle) are marked with circles it seems probable that these represent the solar eclipses of 1141 and 1152, so that the table is for the cycle 1136-1154. The years

are marked with Greek numerals. Beg. 'Si uis scire in qua hora uel in quo puncto luna cotidie accenditur'. f. 69.

10. Medical recipes and notes, apparently in another hand and 'partly interspersed on blank leaves in the preceding article. At f. 75 b are rules for taking sortes from the Psalter, also the so-called sphere of Pythagoras, &c., and at f. 79 part of the tract 'de vrinis auoce et de ophila' (sic, for 'a uoce Theophili', cf. 8 C. IV, art. 26). Beg. 'Althea id est euiscus'. f. 66.

11. Verses (48 leonine hexameters) on the signs of the Last judgement. Beg. 'Ieronimus falsa ni proferat omnia salsa'. f. 92. Vellum; ff. 92. 71/4 in. x 43/4 in. Late XII cent. Gatherings, i-iii⁸, iv⁴, v¹⁰, vi-x⁸, xi^1O, xii⁶. Mostly in a very small hand. Sec. fol. 'sponte adheret' Royal press-mark of a seal (a ship) ; not in cat. of 1666; CMA. 69.