Royal MS 12 B XII

MEDICAL TRACTS and recipes, in Latin, with a treatise on psychology. An article seems to have been lost before art. I, see f. 69 b, where its title is given as 'De modo edendi' [a legal tract, or a slip for medendi ?]. Contents:

1. 'Practica Diuiditur' (so title on f. 69 b, from the first words of the tract), usually assigned to 'magister Bartholomaeus' of Salerno, and printed in Renzi's Collectio Salernitana (Naples, 1856), iv, p. 321 (cf. i, p. 183). The 15th cent. table of contents to this MS., however, styles it 'tractatus Ioh. S. Pauli' (f. 1). Imperfect, the first folio, numbered 8, beg. 'cum carne porcina simpliciter elixa'; the ch. 'De ptisi' is omitted and the last part of the tract as given in other MSS. is also absent, its place being taken by an unsystematic list of remedies, which begins after the ch. 'De emorroidis' (f. 58). For another copy of the Practica see below, 12 E. VIII, ff. 28 b, 126. The article is in a hand of the beginning of the 13th cent. f 5.

2. 'De signis mortalibus': a brief Pseudo-Hippocratic tract purporting to have been found by 'Caesar' in an 'analogium' at the grave of Hippocrates. It agrees roughly (except in the latter part) with the Banks MS (Add. 8928, 11th cent.), Sloane MS. 634, and Harley MS.

337, but is distinct from the tract called 'Capsula Eburnea' printed with the works of Rasis (Venice, 1497, 1508). The text is very corrupt. Beg. 'Meritissimum [al. Peritissimus] omnium rerum est et domestica sapientia'. f. 67 b.

3. Antidotary, without title or author's name. The first part, which is alphabetical, has articles in common with the Antidotarium Nicholai (Mesuae Opera, Venice, 1602) and with 12 E. VIII, art. 8. Beg. 'Antidotum probatissimum ad capitis dolorem'. f. 70.

4. Fragmentary beginning of a tract on uroscopy, 'Circa vrinas quinque attenduntur generalia', assigned in many MSS. to 'mag. Ricardus', i.e. probably the author of the Micrologus (see belaw, artt. 6, 15). Breaks off in the paragraph on 'Vrina in colore karopos' with the words 'omni frigida et humida'. f. 80.

5. Fragmentary beginning of Platearius De causis, &c., egritudinum, also called Practica brevis (cf. 12 B. III, art. 5). Without heading. Ends, in the paragraph 'Ethica febris'. with the words 'perfecte decoctus'. f. 80 b.

6. Tract on anatomy, without heading; commonly attributed to 'Ricardus' (in Add. MS. 28555, f. 29, to 'Ricardus uetulus') and apparently abridged from part of a larger work entitled 'Micrologus' (cf. art. 15, below). The author is usually identified with Richard of Wendover, canon of St. Paul's, (d. 1252, see Dict. Nat. Biogr.). Other MSS. (12 C. XV, art. 2, Add. 28555, l. c., Sloane 73, f. 89) appear to contain different abridgements from the same source. Beg. 'Vt testatur G. in tegni'; ends with verses 1804-5, 1795-8 of the Schola Salernitana (Renzi's numeration, Coll. Salern. v). f. 81.

7. Another tract on uroscopy. Beg. 'Vrina est colamentum sanguinis ut dicit Ysac'. Ends with the paragraph 'Vrina nigra', with the words 'propter aeris exterius frigiditatem'. Several rules are given in verse (from Aegidius). f. 83 b.

8. Commonplaces, viz.:-(a) Medical verses (Schola Salernitana, lines 1696-7, 1702-3, 1708-9, 1714-15, 1587-91, 1593-4, 1598, 1604-5, Renzi, Coll. Salern. v). f. 87;-(b) Recipes, De apostematibus, &c. f. 87 b. Artt. 4-8 form a separate quire.

9. 'Incipit Trota de hor[na]tu mulieru''; comprising the greater part of the two treatises elsewhere styled 'Trotula de passionibus mulierum' (which begins 'Cum autor uniuersitatis deus', f. 88) and 'Trotula minor' (appended here without a break and beg. 'Et ut de curis mulierum compendiosa flat tradicio', f. 93), the arrangement not differing greatly from that in Add. MS. 18210, f. 166, 12 E. VII, art. 7, and Harley MS. 3407. The arrangement of the printed editions (Strassburg, 1544, Basel, 1586) seems to be a conflation of the two tracts, but in other MSS. (Sloane MSS. 783 B, 1124, and 1615) they are separated. The corrupt text of the preface makes the question of authorship specially difficult, but the writer of the first tract seems to speak as a man, says he compiles from Hippocrates, Galen, and Cleopatra, and quotes Cophon among others. References to the practice of Trotula and the 'mulicres Salernitanae' are confined to the second tract. Imperfect at the end. f. 88.

10. Fragment (two leaves not continuous and bound in the wrong order) from the latter part (called Rogerina media) of the Practica Medicinae of Rogerius de Barone, printed (by mistake for the surgical treatise of Rogerius Parmensis) in the earlier editions of the Venice compilation (Cyrurgia Guidonis de Cauliaco, &c., 1498, &c., not in the editions after 1546). The part comprised is tract. iv, capp. 5-7 and 19-end. ff. 97, 96.

11. Fragment (a column and a half) from the beginning of a tract on uroscopy. Beg. 'In vrina contentum spermaticum'; breaks off 'aliquorum humorum. Item spermatice'. f. 96b.

Artt. 9, 10, 11 seem to be in the same hand, of the end of the 13th cent.

12. Commentary on the Isagogae of Johannicius to the Liber Tegni ( ) of Galen (see below, art. 21). Incomplete, containing about a fifth of the treatise. A complete copy is in Roy. App. 6, ff. 42-58, 69. An Oxford MS. (Corpus Christi Coll. 293, f. 207) attributes the work to 'M[agister ?] B.' Preface beg. 'Ordo doctrine per singulas artes rerum artibus subiacentium ordini comitatur'; commentary, 'Medicina dividitur: Iohannicius medicinalis artis principia'. f. 98.

13. Quaestiones on various medical topics, several solutions being attributed to 'mag. Eg[idius, of Corbeilles ?]'. On f. 104 is a curious problem on congenital lameness, 'quare in Francia magis quam in Anglia ... ? Causa est maledictum terre, quia homines illius regionis maxime iurant per pedes', &c. Begins (except for one query inserted on the preceding page) 'Queritur utrum fleo[botomi]a precedat farm[aciam]'. f. 102 b.

14. Miscellaneous medical recipes, chiefly, but not all, in one early 13th cent. hand, with an index at the end. Ff. 135-146, however, are later insertions, not included in the index. Authorities are sometimes given, e.g. 'secundum mag. Philippum', f. 107 b (cf. f. 115, 'mag. Ph. ad E[cclesiam?] Wint[oniensem ?]', and ff. 112, 124 b, 126 b, 171 b);- 'illud uidi ego', f. 109;-'secundum mag. Th. de Ebl[ana?]', f. 171b;-'secundum mag. R. de Lacoc.', f. 172. In the midst of the collection (f. 127) occurs the treatise De conferentibus et nocentibus, of uncertain authorship (cf. 12 B. XXV, art. 6), printed, with alterations, in Amaldi Villanovani Opera (Basel, 1585), col. 613, and elsewhere. At f. 115 is a note of the price of a drug in London, and at f. 124 b a case of medicinal cannibalism, 'Quidam miles Hispanus ex uulnere capitis debilitatem incurrit. Ipse uero paruulos paganorum interficiebat et eorum cerebella comedebat, et bene erat ei'. A later addition (f. 177b) is 'lemplastre le Cunte Richard', in French. The collection beg. 'In febre causonica optimum est consilium'. f. 105.

15. 'Cure m[agistri] R[icardi]' (so colophon): a tract styled in other MSS. (Paris, Bibl. Nat. 6957, 7056) Practica or (Oxford, Ball. Coll. 285) Micrologus, the latter being the name of a larger treatise which included also artt. 4, 6, above. See above, art. 6, concerning the author. Beg. 'Acutarum alia est terciana de colera'. Marginal notes in the same hand as the text. f. 180.

16. Brief tract on cosmetics; apparently the same as one at Oxford, Magdalen Coll. MS. 164, f. 46b, there attributed to 'Ricardus'. Printed in Arnaldi Villanovani Opera (Basel , 1585), col. 1673, but is probably of earlier date than Arnaldus. Beg. 'Faciei decor et uenustas non tantum capiti'; ends 'poteris auellere'. f. 199.

17. On repressive medicines; likewise attributed (Cambridge Univ. MS. EE. ii. 20, f. 24) to Ricardus. Introduced by a quatrain of verse beg. 'Laxatiua solent nimium laxandonocere'. Text beg. 'Aloe, quia a litera prima incipit, principium erit in repressiuis'; ends 'fortius operantur'. f. 200.

18. 'Incipit tractatus de aquis medicinalibus', followed by other similar brief tracts 'de oleis, sirupis, clisteribus, subpositoriis et pessariis'. Beg. 'Inter cetera usum medicinalium aquaruni'; ends 'menstruari et hec sufficiant'. f. 202 b.

19. Recipes for oils, syrups, and ointments. Beg. 'oleum rosaceum sic fit, in duabus libris olei communis'. f. 204 b. At the end (f. 206 b) is added a charm, 'contra dolorem dentium carmen benedictum', beg. 'In nomine ... Christus supra marmor sedit'.

Artt. 15-19 fill three continuous quires, chiefly in the same late 13th cent. hand. Art. 20 is in a minute 13th cent. charter-hand.

20. 'Incipit summa de anima' (an addition to the title is erased '. . . de Coleburne'?) : a tract on pyschology, chiefly of the senses. The author quotes Averroes, Isaac, and Augustine. Beg. 'Anima sencibilis est prima perfeccio corporis naturalis'; ends 'uariatur dulcedo ipsius soni'. f. 207.

21. 'Incipit liber ysagogarum Iohannicii ad tegni Galeni': introduction by Johannicius [Hunain ibn Ishak al 'Ibadi] to the or 'Liber Tegni' of Galen. Printed, Venice, 1483, 1557, &c. Beg. 'Medicina diuiditur in duas partes'. f. 210.

22. 'Incipiunt afforismi Ypocratis': the aphorisms of Hippocrates, in seven parts. This, the 'antiqua translatio' of the editions (though some have a few additional sentences), is not Constantine's version from the Arabic, but is described in an anonymous translator's preface (appended in Harley MS. 3140, f. 28b, and printed by Littré, Œuvres d'Hippocrate, iv, p. 444) as a new translation made from the Greek. Beg. 'Vita breuis ars uero longa'; ends 'fames enim corpora siccat'. f. 216 b.

23. 'Incipit liber pronosticarum Ypocratis': the 'antiqua translatio' of the editions. Printed in the Venice collection called Articella (1483, &c.) and elsewhere. Probably made from the Arabic, being very divergent from the Greek text. Beg. 'Omnis qui medicine artis studio'. Imperfect, ending 'Spasmus pueris esse . . .' in the last chapter but one. f. 223.

Artt. 21-23 are in the same hand. An inserted leaf (f. 212) contains a few recipes.

24. Metrical herbal, comprising the 77 chapters edited by Choulant as Macer de Viribus Herbarum (see above, 12 B. III, art. 1), in a different order and with large additions, making 133 chapters in all (cf. 12 B. XXIV, art. 2). Beg. as in 12 B. III; ends 'septima dat primam sextam pede dena decembris'. Preceded by an index in a later hand. f. 228.

25. A few recipes at the end contain references to Avicenna, 'mag. N. de Viene', and 'mag. Aumaricus de S. Amando'. f. 279b.

The four fly-leaves (ff. 1-4, 281, 282), taken from an old binding, are from a 13th cent. MS. of the Historia Scholastica of Petrus Comestor, with marginal gloss and scribbling. On f. 1 is also a 15th cent. table of contents and the note 'prec. xii s.'

Vellum; ff. 282 (but ff. 1-4 are now bound as two). 8 in. x 5 in XIII cent. Sec. fol. lost. A few initials in colours (ff. 216 b sqq; others in red. An inserted fragment (f. 139) has the name of Joh. Grauene. Art. 24 belonged to a monasteiy whose inscription on f. 230 is erased, 'Hic liber est ecclesie sancte Marie et sancti Thome martyris (?) de . . . quem qui furto . . .'. Afterwards belonged (f. 5) to [John, Lord] Lumley. Lumley cat. f. 391 (?); cat. of 1666, f. 20b; CMA. 8475, 8537.