Medical and alchemical miscellany

Date:
c.1475
Reference:
MS.712
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Medical and alchemical miscellany. Public Domain Mark. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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Description

Medical and alchemical miscellany

Contents

1. Alchemical receipts

2. ff. 1r-97r John of Rupecissa, De consideratione quinatae essentiae

f. 1r Primus liber de consideratione quinte essentie omnium rerum transmutabilium. Incipit liber de famu latu ... f. 97r ... sit laus per infinita secula seculorum. Amen. Explicit liber de consideratione quinte essentie omnium rerum pauperibus evangelicis viris erogatus.

3. ff. 97r-107r List of medicines

f. 97r Res Medicinales huius libri secundum ordinem alphabeti et qualitates ipsarum et primo de incipientibus a littera . A. f. 97v Absinthium. calidum in primo gradu. siccum in secundo gradu ... f. 107r Zinziber. Calidus. in 3o. Explicit Tabulla. Jacobi de Rippacissa ordinis minorum.

4. ff. 107v-109r Alchemical receipts, in Latin

5. ff. 109r-114v Anonymous, Trattato delle urine

f. 109r Qui si comenza de nobilissimi e certissimi amaestramenti a cognoscere le utilitade dele nature degli humeni e dele femene et questo si cognose per le urine ... f. 114v ... significha dolore di capo e non po dormire ne mangiare.

Ff. 115r-v contain drawings of urine glasses.

6. ff. 116r-123v Gilles de Corbeil, Giudicio delle urine, abbreviated

f. 116r Io Maestro Egidio te insegnio como tu debbi iudicare lo colore ... f. 123v ... e ne le femene significha febre cotidiana.

7. ff. 123v-126v Bartholomew of Salerno, De urinis, abbreviated

f. 123v Nota che se le sempre spuma sopra lurina ... f. 126v ... in tucta la persona e vene per calideza.

8. ff. 126v-129v Isaac Judaeus, De urinis, abbreviated

f. 126v Nota lurina rosa e fetida con la nuvola nera ... f. 129v ... con dolore di capo alenatione de mente significa.

9. ff. 130r-134r Two medical receipts by the principal hand, followed by alchemical receipts, partly by the later current hand, and partly in another similar script, in Italian and Latin.

Publication/Creation

c.1475

Physical description

1 volume

4 ll. + 130 ff. + 4 ll. 4to 16 x 12 cm. On vellum. Original stamped leather binding over wooden boards, rubbed: with two brass and leather clasps, one defective. The first and last leaves have been pasted down on the covers. Written in a good italic hand, 17 lines to a page. Illuminated initial D on f. 1 in gold and colours in an interlaced design, rubbed. Other initials in alternate red and blue, with marginal decorations in red, purple and brown. Headings and some paragraph marks in red. In the lower margin of f. 13 is a pen-drawing in red of a 'Vas circulationis; and on the verso of f. 132 rough pen-drawing of an alchemical furnace, and of a 'capello' by another hand. The two works on urines are illustrated by numerous outline drawings of urine glasses, uncoloured.

4 Preliminary leaves, contain a title 'Quinta Essentia Magistri/J de ripacissa ordinis Minorum', and an owner's inscription erased 'Codex C [?] [...bani ?]' on the verso of the first leaf: the other 3 11. contain alchemical receipts in Italian, by a somewhat later current hand.

Fol. 1 (red) Primus liber de consideratione quinte essentie/omnium rerum transmutabilium: Incipit liber de famu/latu: philosophie: euangelio: domini nostri. yhesu. christi. et pauperibus uiris./DIxit salamon sapientie septimo ca/pitulo ... 67, line 3 [End of first book] ... reuellabo ut potero. in hoc/ergo finem accipiat. primus liber de considera/tione quinte essentie appellatus .../.../necnon beatissimi francisci ad consolationem euangelicorum uirorum. et ho/norem ecclesie dei. (red) Explicit liber primus. Inci/pit Secondus, qui de generalibus remediis. appellatur./LIcet primus liber qui est... 97, line 9 ...sit laus per infini/ta secula seculorum. Amen./(red)Explicit liber. de consideratione quinte/essentie omnium rerum pauperibus euange/licis uiris. erogatus.

Acquisition note

Purchased 1912.

Biographical note

No. 2 Entered in Thorndike's Catalogue of Incipits, Col. 5, and stated to be '(Isaac Judaeus?) Liber de gradibus Liber de gradibus simplicium, translated by Constantinus Africanus'. 3 This tract is apparently an Italian version, much abbreviated, of the anonymous 'De urinis' printed in the 1478 Pavia edition of the 'Antidotarium' of Nicolaus Praepositus. 5 Perhaps an Italian version, also abbreviated, of the 'De urinis' ascribed to 'Bartholomaeus [?]' in Thorndike's Catalogue of Incipits, col. 108.

Finding aids

Catalogue description modified in 2014. For original description, see 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).

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Accession number

  • 31007