Physical Description:
196 leaves : paper ; 307 x 215 (227 x 180) mm. Notes:
Ms. codex. Compilation of several astrological and medical works,
including a calendar, astronomical and astrological tables, medical
recipes and charms. Title from printed catalogue. Paper, i + 196 +
i; 1²⁴ (as suggested by paired presence and absence of
watermarks, - the first 2 leaves and the last leaf, after f. 29; +
an inserted gathering of 8 leaves, ff. 18-25) 2²⁶(-10 after f.
38) 3²² 4-8²⁴. 2 catchwords only, at the end of quire 2 (f.
54v) and quire 8 (f. 196v), both enclosed in red frames. 2 columns
of 32-37 lines, except on ff. 34v-47v (arts. 21, 22) with long
lines, and ff. 72v-79 (art. 30) in verse. Ruled in lead; round
prick marks in the 3 outer margins. Contemporary foliation shows
loss of one leaf after f. 29 and after the present f. 38, both with
loss of text; the foliation apparently skipped the numbers 44 and
88, as text and quire structure run continuously. Written in
England towards the end of the fifteenth century; computistic
cycles in the calendar are dated 1480 and 1520; some of the feasts
in the liturgical calendar were instituted in 1480 (Visitation,
Frideswide, Etheldreda); the feast of the Transfiguration was
instituted in England in 1487; on f. 72 is a mention of Henry VII,
showing that part of the text to be written in 1485 or later.
Written in a mixed, predominantly secretary script; rubrics usually
in a textura formata script; occasional words written in cipher
(e.g. ff. 50, 102v, 111, 143, 163). Illustrations in ink, with hair
tinted yellow, of a Vein Man (f. 8v) and 2 Zodiac Men (ff. 12v,
14); urine bottles, not colored in, on ff. 39-47v; diagrams,
charts, tables and astrological signs in ink of the text, in red
and in yellow wash. 4- to 1-line initials, usually in red only,
some in red with crude ink flourishing, some also with a yellow
wash (through f. 17); 1-line initials in the text slashed in red;
red paragraph marks and some red rubrics. Binding: bound in 1971 in
polished calf; previous binding, in 18th century English calf. Subjects:
Astrology -- Early works to 1800. ; Medicine -- Early works to
1800. Form/Genre:
Manuscripts England 15th century. (aat) Provenance:
Names of early owners are: late 15th century or early 16th century:
ff. 82v, 106, 109, 120, 140, 149, “Iste liber est [or
“constat”] Iohannis eccam [or “ekam”]”; f. 41, possibly
in the same hand as “Iohannis eccam,” “Caucio Iohannis
p’ener alias halpyn pro vi s.”; f. 11, “Iohn Han[?]”; early
16th c.: f. 155, “Iohn wallton”; 16th century: f. 196v,
“Hughe drapere merchaunt”; 16th century: ff. 74, 76v, 81, 160v,
“Iohn Bosgrove” (on f. 81, “Iohn Bosgrove ys a mytte man and
man of the lerneing wythall”). Bought ca. 1833 by Sir Thomas
Phillipps; his MS 6883. Acquired privately through A. S. W.
Rosenbach by Henry E. Huntington in 1923.
Rights
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