Royal MS 12 C XVIII

ASTROLOGICAL and magical treatises, in Latin, viz.: 1. 'Liber natiuitatum Albohali' (so colophon): translation by Johannes Toletanus (possibly the same person as Johannes Hispalensis) of an Arabic work, whose author, according to Wüstenfeld, in Göttinger Abhandl. xii, p. 41, is Abu 'Ali al Hayyat, a pupil of Messahalla. Printed, Nuremberg, 1546. A different translation, by Plato of Tivoli, is in Cotton MS. App. 6. Incomplete, ending in cap. 33 of the printed text. Beg. 'Dixit Albohaly, iste est liber in quo exposui omnes significatores super natiuitates'. A nearly contemporary hand notes the deficiency at the end and adds the colophon 'Perfectus est liber natiuitatum Albohali mense Iulii anno ab incarn. dom. 1152, cum laude dei et eius auxilio translatus a magistro Iohanne Toletano'. f. 2.

2. 'Tractatus de [symbol] Thebith Bencorath translatus a Iohanne Hyspalensi atque Limiensi (sic, for Lunensi) in Limia [Luna] ex Arabico in Latinum' (so colophon): the tract on magical images printed at Frankfort, 1559, as Thebit? Ben Corat De tribus imagnibus magicis. For the author, Thabit ibn Kurrah ibn Marwan, Abu al Hasan, al Harrani, see above, 12 C. IX, art. 14. Beg. 'Dixit Thebyth Bencorat et dixit Aristoteles qui philosophiam et geometriam exercet'. f. 10 b.

3. Another tract on the same subject, apparently by Jirgis ibn al-'Amid. Beg. 'Dixit Balemiz qui Apollo dicitur Ymago prima fit in prima hora'; ends 'nomen diei Saturni hadah. Explicit'. f. 12.

Appended (f. 15) is a charm 'ad aperiendum seras et cathenas' containing mention of a herb of which the French name, 'prestechose', is given.

4. 'Exaphenon [al. Exafrenon] pronosticacionum temporis' (so colophon): an astrological tract, chiefly on foretelling the seasons, commonly attributed to Richard de Wallingford, Abbot of St. Albans (1327-1336). Other copies are at Oxford (Digby MSS. 67, 180, 194, the first an English translation) and Cambridge (Univ. Libr. Ii. i. 1). If Richard be really the author, his birth must probably be earlier than stated in Dict. Nat. Biogr., as the radix of the tables is 1296. Beg. 'Ad perfectam noticiam iudiciorum artis astrologice'. f. 15b.

5. Tract, in six chapters, on celestial motions, astrological instruments and tables. Imperf. by loss of leaves after f. 25. Beg., after a table of contents, 'In speris celestibus esse duos modos Motuum'. f. 22.

6. 'Introductorius Alchabiz, id est serui dei gloriosi qui dicitur Alchabitius, ad magisterium iudiciorum astrorum cum laude dei et eius adiutorio a Iohanne Hyspalensi' (so colophon): translation by John of Seville of the treatise of the tenth century astrologer 'Abd al- 'Aziz ibn 'Uthman, al Kabisi. Printed, Venice, 1482, &c. (Hain, 615-619). Imperf. at beginning. f. 26.

At the end is a short note, 'Quando fiat quod futurum est scimus per hec septem', &c.

7. 'Elecciones Abraham': astrological tract by Abraham Ben Meir Aben Ezra, a Spanish Rabbi (d. 1174). Not the same translation as that [by Pietro of Abano] printed, Venice, 1507. Beg. 'Sapientis legis ex an uera uerut (sic) quod homo de libera (sic) arbitrio'. f. 26.

8. 'Incipit liber Hermetis de 15 stellis tractans [et 15] herbis et 15 lapidibus et 15 figuris' : a Hermetic tract, probably of Arabic origin, which is not included in the editions of Wolf (Basel, 1559) or Patrizi (Venice, 1593). Other copies are in 12 E. XXV, slightly longer than the present text, and Harley MS. 80, f. 81, and at Oxford, Corpus Christi Coll. cxxxv. Beg. 'Inter multa alia bona que antiqui patres sapientissimi narrauerunt philosophi'; ends 'qui iratus videtur et hec figura'. f. 30 b.

9. 'Tractatus Ypocratis de egritudinibus cognoscendis per astronomiam' (so colophon, in a contemporary hand): the pseudo-Hippocratic tract De medicorum astrologia. This translation, found also in Sloane MSS. 3171, 3282, Cotton MS. App. 6, differs from the version by Pietro of Abano printed by Ratdolt with Opuscutum Repertorium, &c., Venice, 1485 and contained in Sloane MS. 780. A third version is in Sloane MS. 636. Beg. 'Dixit Ypocras, qui fuit medicus et magister optimus, et medicus non est qui astronomiam ignorat, nuilus homo'. f. 33 b.

10. Brief tract on lucky and unlucky planets and signs. Beg. 'Pitagoras dixit, Sunt 360 gradus et quilibet habet fortunam suam'. f. 36.

11. Another tract on the zodiacal signs and also (but headed 'secundum alium') on the moon's influence when in each sign. The title-heading is corrupt, 'Hic sunt liber pliniz et facit extractus de arabico in latini et rabitager translatauit'. Possibly the translator meant is Rabiçag, one of Alphonso X's staff of astronomers (see Manuel Rico y Sinobas, Libros del Saber, i, p. xix). Imperf, ending in Leo (July). Beg. 'Quicumque cursum lune recte scire uoluerit'. f. 36 b.

The fly-leaves (ff. 1, 38) are from a 14th cent. collection of homilies. That on f. i is by Gregory the Great (Migne, Patr. Lat. lxxvi. 1259).

Vellum (except f. 1, 17th cent. table of contents); ff. i + 38.

9¹/₂ in. x 6 ¹/₂ in. XIV cent: Gatherings of 12 leaves, with catchwords. Double columns. Sec. fol. 'uel adentes'. Initials flourished in red and blue. Belonged (f. 2) to [John, Lord] Lumley. Lumley cat. f. 265; cat. of 1666, f. 20; CMA. 8442, 84-60, 8480, and 8531.

includes:

• f. 26 Abraham Ben Meir Aben Ezra, Spanish rabbi and astrologer: Electiones: 14th cent.: Lat.