Physical Description:
148 leaves: paper ; 222 x 165 mm Notes:
Ms. codex; title from printed catalogue. Collection of alchemical,
medical and technical works, consisting of parts of several
manuscripts of separate origin but by now impossible to distinguish
precisely one from the other, brought together in the late
fifteenth century. Paper, ii (modern paper) + 148 leaves + ii
(modern paper); collation cannot be determined, as all leaves are
mounted on stubs. Contemporary foliation by the second copyist.
20-38 long lines; 2 columns on ff. 40, 48v, 50. Possibly frame
ruled in lead, but difficult to see; ff. 63-67 and 128-140, fully
ruled in lead; apparent slash prick marks visible in the upper and
lower margins of these leaves. Written in England during the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries by 13 people, usually in current
anglicana scripts with some secretary forms (unless otherwise
stated); the second copyist was also responsible for the
contemporary foliation and for the numbering of some of the
recipes. The divisions are: i, ff. 1-8v, s. XVmed; ii, ff. 9-19,
21r-v, 36-38v, parts of 39-56 (with copyist vii), 62v, 66v-71v,
72v-82v, 125v-127, 129v-140v, in a large and clumsy mixed hand, s.
XVmed/ex; iii, ff. 19v-20v, s. XVmed; iv, ff. 22-29v, anglicana, s.
XVin; v, ff. 30-31v, 34-35v, s. XVex; vi, ff. 32-33v (marginalia by
copyist ii), s. XVmed; vii, parts of ff. 39-56 (with copyist ii),
62v; viii, ff. 57, 140v bottom, (an italic note on f. 148?),
secretary script, s. XVIex; ix, ff. 63-66v, secretary script, s.
XVmed; x, f. 72; xi, ff. 83-90, 90v bottom - 125, 141-148; xii, f.
90 top (possibly the same as xi); xiii, ff. 128-129, secretary
script with textura for the rubrics, s. XVmed. Subjects:
Alchemy -- Early works to 1800. ; Medicine -- Early works to
1800. Form/Genre:
Manuscripts England 15th century. (aat) ; Manuscripts England 16th
century. (aat) Provenance:
Among the pen trials on f. 125v what may be a copyist’s or an
owner’s name, “[w]ell beloved rotgers.” On f. 1, ca. 1600,
“Jo. Bisshop,” the same person who signed another alchemical
and medical compilation formed of several manuscripts and formerly
in the Hastings collection. Belonged to the Hastings family, earls
of Huntingdon. Purchased with the Hastings papers in January 1927
from Maggs, who had acquired the material from Edith Maud
Abney-Hastings, Countess of Loudoun.
Rights
For information on using Huntington Library materials, please see Reproductions of Huntington Library Holdings: https://www.huntington.org/library-rights-permissions
