An alchemical compilation seemingly drawn from pseudo-Arnaldus de Villanova, Flos florum and Practica ad quondam papam

An alchemical compilation seemingly drawn from pseudo-Arnaldus de Villanova, Flos florum and Practica ad quondam papam, on paper, copied in Italy in the late 16th century.

Contents

1. ff. 1r-24v, line 13: Alchemical compilation drawn from Pseudo-Arnaldus de Villanova, Flos florum and Practica ad quondam papam, in Latin.

From the 15th century onwards the text known as Flos florum was traditionally attributed to Arnaldus de Villanova and believed to have been written by him for King James II of Aragon. It was therefore printed in the 1504 edition of Arnaldus's work Hec sunt opera Arnaldi de Villanova, ed. Thomas Murchius (Lyons: François Fradin, 1504), ff. 395v-397v.

Modern scholars, however, have rejected the Flos florum as spurious, occasionally proposing the possible identification of the author with John of Toledo (d. 1275), known as the White Cardinal, or Alamannus de Bononia, an Italian individual working in the household of Pope Boniface VIII (r. 1294-1303): see
J.-A. Paniagua, 'Notas en torno a los escritos de alquimia atribuidos a Arnau de Vilanova', Archivio Iberoamericano de Historia de la Medicina y Antropología Médica, 11 (1959), 406-19;
A. Calvet and S. Matton, 'Quelques versions de la Flos florum du pseudo-Arnaud de Villeneuve', Chrysopoeia, 6 (1997-1999), 208-71, with a list of manuscripts in which the present manuscript is not included;
A. Calvet, 'Qu'est-ce que le corpus alchimique attribué à Arnaud de Villeneuve?', in Actes de la 'II Trobada Internacional d'Estudis sobre Arnau de Vilanova', ed. J. Perarnau (Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans i Facultat de Teologia de Catalunya, 2005), pp. 435-56 (in particular pp. 436, 439, 441-2, 445, 448, 449, 455);
A. Calvet, 'Le médecin Arnau de Vilanova et l'alchimie: dernière mises au point', in Actes de la 'III Trobada Internacional d'Estudis sobre Arnau de Vilanova', ed. J. Perarnau (Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans i Facultat de Teologia de Catalunya, 2014), pp. 171-90.

f. 1r: Incipit: FILI SAPIENTIAE iste liber appellatur / FLOS FLORVM VNDE / Perlege gratis et artis Alchimiae Donum Dei altissimum studendo, intelligendo, speculando e manipulando persistendo Deo permittente ad optatum, peruenies. / JNcipit liber quidam flos florum Alchimie nuncupatus secundum dispositionem ...

f. 24v, line 13: Explicit: … Et hec dicta de lapide philosophico ad presens sufficiant. Deo gratias Qui concedere dignetur yesus Christus Dei filius. / Explicit liber uirtutum et flos florum.

2. f. 24v, lines 14-20: Additional notes: Nota si error contingit quam aqua uitis imbibe medicabitur … et ponderosum inpone in vase eum aqua benedicta.

3. f. 25r-26v, line 6: Heading: NOTA / Vidi hominem etc. Autor hic figuratiue loquens / dicit se uidisse hominem senem ... uel digestio que fit in loco calido et humido.

4. f. 26v, lines 7-20: Del salnitro: Delsal nitro. / Il salnitro e laudabile nelle calcinationi et nelle solutioni poco meno che li altri … con forte fuoco si fonde e ritorna ne la via sua.

5. f. 27r-v: Capitolo del sale Archali: Capitolo del sale Archali / Sale archali e sale il quale se fa dima [sic, possibly for 'di una'] herba che si chiama fosa … Imperoche se tu il tenessi in luogo humido si risoluerebbe in aqua. Finis.

6. f. 28r: Additional text: Additio nostra […] [text cut away] / Credo tamen qui non sit necessarium essperiri vas de vitro undique de cineribus … Quod tamen non est parue considerationis. A note by a different hand follows: Mendax, Ignauus, Asinus, Porcusque Malignus: Tu solus Auctor Scriptor et Pseudomagister.

Late 16th Century

1 Volume

On paper. Watermark: sun with ray (height 35 mm, width 45 mm, distance between chain lines 50 mm), similar in design, but not in measure, to Piccard no. 41174 (height 47 mm, width 51 mm, distance between chain lines 56 mm; Ferrara, 1556). With losses due to ink acidity; leaves repaired and fully lined with Japanese paper throughout, 20th century.

32 leaves; old foliation '1-26' in brown ink; ff. 28v-32v blank. 200 x 145 mm; written area 168/176 x 113 mm, 20 written lines in single column per page; no ruling, with the exception of occasional vertical bounding lines on the left of the script (see f. 2v, 8v, 9v).

Collation: 1-4⁸; no quire signatures; catchword on lower right corner of each leaf (ff. 1-15v).

Secundo folio: terra requirit.

Written in a sloping Italian cursive hand in light brown ink, late 16th century.

The text is illustrated with eleven pen-drawings of vessels and furnaces (ff. 2r-v, 3r, 4r, 5r-v, 6v, 11r (two furnaces with red highlighting and an earlier pencil draft at the centre of the space for the furnace on the left), 21r.

Marginal notes (ff. 14v, 18v) and maniculae (ff. 14v, 17v) by two readers, late 17th century.

Binding: Limp parchment, with alum-tawed leather ties, 20th century.

Purchased in May 1936.

This work seems to be a complication from the 'Flos florum' and the 'Practica' of Arnoldus de Villanova.

Database description transcribed from S.A.J. Moorat, Catalogue of Western Manuscripts on Medicine and Science in the Wellcome Historical Medical Library (London: Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine, 1962-1973).

The manuscript was formerly bound in a larger miscellany of alchemical works broken up by a bookseller and including at least six more works: see Wellcome MSS 109, 451, 582, 583, 629 and 728, purchased together with the present manuscript in May 1936 and provided with accession numbers 69477-69479, 69480-69483. See Note to MS. No. 109. [BACON].