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Cotton MS Galba E IV, ff 187–244

Record Id:

041-001102814

Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:

032-001101582

MDARK:

ark:/81055/vdc_100000001630.0x000261

LARK:

SLARK:

ark:/81055/vdc_100064193380.0x000001

Format:

ISAD(G)

Reference (shelfmark):

Cotton MS Galba E IV, ff 187–244

Title:

A collection of scientific texts

Scope & Content:

This part of the manuscript contains a number of scientific and medical texts. Among them, there is the earliest surviving copy of the De Aere, Aqua et Regionibus (The Book on Water, Air and the Regions) by Hippocrates (b. c. 460 BC, d. c. 380 BC) and the only extant copy of the chapter entitled De Elementis (On the Elements) of De Natura Hominis (On the Nature of Man) by Nemesius (fl. 390).

Contents:

ff. 187r-189v: An anonymous text on natural philosophy, beginning:‘Sciendum est quid sit philosophia’.

ff. 190r-200r: Marius (fl. 1160), De Elementis (On the Elements), beginning: '[Natura] aque que est'.

ff. 200v-201v: Nemesius of Emesa (fl. 390), De Natura Hominis (the chapter De Elementis).

ff. 201v-204v: Hippocrates, De Aere, Aqua et Regionibus.

ff. 205r-214r: Nemesius of Emesa, De Natura Hominis, translated by Alfanus of Salerno (d. 1085).

ff. 214r-228r: Adelard of Bath (fl. 12th century), Questiones Naturales (Questions on Nature).

ff. 228r-233v: Pseudo-Aristotle (fl. 4th century BC), De Phisionomia (About Physiognomy).

ff. 233v-238v: Pseudo-Galen, De Spermate (On Sperm).

ff. 238v-244v: Soranus of Ephesus (fl. early 2nd century), Questiones Medicinales (Medical Questions).

Decoration:

10 scientific tables decorated with arches in red, yellow and green (ff. 195r, 195v, 196r, 199r); 6 large gilded initials with foliate elements in brown, blue, green and red. (ff. 187r, 205r, 228r, 223v, 238v). Numerous large initials in green and red, blue or green, some with penwork and foliate decoration. Numerous small initials in red and green. Rubrics in red.

Collection Area:

Western Manuscripts

Project / Collection:

Cotton Collection
England and France 700-1200 Project

Hierarchy Record Ids:

032-001101582
040-001102812
041-001102814

Is part of:

Cotton MS : Cotton Manuscripts
Cotton MS Galba E IV : Memoriale Multorum Henrici Prioris; a collection of scientific texts

Cotton MS Galba E IV, ff 187–244 : A collection of scientific texts

Hierarchy:

032-001101582[0714]/040-001102812[0002]/041-001102814

Container:

View / search within Archive / Collection: Cotton MS

Record Type (Level):

Item

Extent:

Part of Cotton MS Galba E IV

Digitised Content:

Languages:

Latin

Scripts:

Latin

Start Date:

1175

End Date:

1199

Date Range:

4th quarter of the 12th century

Era:

Access:

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User Conditions:

Letter of introduction required to view this manuscript

Physical Characteristics:

Dimensions: 370 x 290 mm (text space: 320 x 210 mm, in 2 columns).

Script: Protogothic.

Custodial History:

Origin: Southeastern England.

Provenance:

The Benedictine abbey of St Edmund, King and Martyr, Bury St Edmunds: inscribed by Henry of Kirkstead, armarius of the abbey c. 1360-1380, with the abbey's mark of ownership: 'Liber monachorum sancti aedmundi in quo continentur libri xxiiii de medicina de herbis pigme[ius]' and with its pressmark: 'M. 21' (f. 187r).

John Dee (b. 1527, d. 1609), mathematician, astrologer, and antiquary: see Tite, Early Records (2003), p. 146.

Material Type:

Archives and Manuscripts

Legal Status:

Not Public Record(s)

Names:

Subjects:

Science

Places:

Southeastern England