Collection of alchemical, technical, medical, magic and divinatory tracts (Miscellanea Alchemica XII)

Collection of alchemical, technical, medical, magic and divinatory tracts (Miscellanea Alchemica XII)

Some initials and paragraph marks in red.

Contents

1. ff. 1v-8v Miscellaneous receipts in Dutch

2. ff. 9r-15r Albert the Great, De plantationibus

f. 9r In primo de plantationibus pomorum ... f. 15r ... que remanent in fundo vasis et hoc ne putrescat.

3. ff. 15r-19v Albert the Great, De vino

f. 15r De vino in tue dilectionis nomine tractare proponens non subdiuidam'... f. 19v ... ligni aloes 3 scrupulos fiat puluis. Explicit.

4. ff. 20r-22r Edward de Parvo Monte, Visio

f. 20r Ego edwardus fessus studendo et practizando... f. 22r ... ubi constitutus sum philosophus philosophorum. Explicit verum opus.

5. ff. 22r-23r Notes on astrology, medical aphorisms, etc.

6. f. 23v-27r Pseudo-Thomas Aquinas, De essentiis essentiarum: tractatus sextus, incomplete

f. 23v Nunc vero de corporibus inferioribus ... f. 27r ... cuius cacumen sit latum sequens formam furni ...

7. ff. 27v-41v John of Rupecissa, Compendium libri de consideratione Quintae Essentiae

f. 27v Et est primum secretum ... f. 41v... gloria per infinita seculorum secula. Amen. Explicit libellus in quo continetur tota medulla tractatus/quinte essencie Deo gracias Quem composuit Johannes de rupecissa.

ff. 41v-42v Miscellaneous texts in Dutch

8. ff. 43r-50v Anonymous, Compendium alchymiae

f. 43r Quia pocius est diuinum quam humanum omnia memorie commendare. Ideo sub breui compendio hoc vobis notavi ... f. 50v... et ex una aeris 10 ignis et quasi consumatur. Explicit.

f. 50v Recipe for ink beginning 'Vitriola quarta sit semie sit uncia gummi'

9. ff. 51r-60r Arnold of Villanova, Practica, abridged

f. 51r Omne primo corpus ad primam materiam reducere ... f. 60r .. tunc deum lauda et honora de tua substantia etc. Explicit questio valde nobilis de summo lapide philosophorum.

f. 50v Medical and alchemical receipts in Latin

10. ff. 61r-62v De quatuor elementis et de metallis

f. 61r Prologus de 4or elementis. Ignis per se est calidus ... f. 62v ... quamvis longo tempore preparentur.

11. ff. 62v-70v Alchemical, technical and magical receipts and experiments, weather-forecasts, etc. in Latin and Dutch

12. ff. 71r-72r Anonymous, De quadrantis, in Dutch

f. 71r Hier begint die aert van den quadranten Salmen mit desen boke van der mane ... f. 72r ... op tien dach ende els daghes.

13. ff. 73r-83v Alchemical, medical and magical receipts and experiments in Dutch and Latin

14. ff. 84r-89v Pseudo-Rhazes, Liber luminum, extract

f. 84r De spiritibus in libro luminum. Spiritus solis sunt corporibus ... f. 89v ... ad exitus pullorum aperiantur ova corvi. Explicit.

15. ff. 89v-99r Notes on vines, wine, bees, artificial gems, virtues of gems, alchemical and other receipts in Dutch and Latin

16. ff. 99v-100r Sphere of Pythagoras

f. 99v Pictagore speram scimus descripsit istam ... f. 100r Crinola necnes hiis scripsi seu quia sic est.

This is a very common onomancy for predicting whether a sick person will live or die, the outcome of a duel or battle, or anything else requiring a binary yes/no answer. To operate it you take the name of the person in question, take the numbers that correspond to the letters of their name, and add into a total. You add the number of the day of the moon on which they first fell sick, and the number corresponding to the planetary weekday. You divide this grand total by 30 and if the remainder is sought in the top of the 'Sphere' diagram the patient will live, if not, they will die. See e.g. Linda Ehrsam Voigts, 'The Latin and Middle English Prose Texts on the Sphere of Life and Death in Harley 3719', The Chaucer Review 21.2 (1986)

17. ff. 100r-112r Notes on gems, wines, herbs, calendars, etc. in Dutch and Latin

18. ff. 112r-114v Daniel, Tractatus somniorum

f. 112r Incipit tractatus sompniorum beati Danieli prophete ... f. 114v 'Cultellum dare in sompaniis inimicum vitare significat. Nota bene. Expliciunt sompniorum beati Danieli prophete.

This is an oneiromantic tract - i.e. divination by dreams. See Lawrence T. Martin, Somniale Danielis: An Edition of a Medieval Latin Dream Interpretation Handbook (Frankfurt: Peter D. Lang, 1981)

ff. 114v-115r Esdras, Revelatio de qualitatibus anni

f/ 114v 'Si kalende Januarii ... f. 155r ... vexabunt morte incendia magnum fenum multum.

19. ff. 115r-122r Pseudo-Aristoteles, De physiognomia

f. 115r Et inter ceteras res ...f. 122r ... in omnibus comperit cognitionem. laus deo et in eo.

20. ff. 122v-129r On herbs, magical and other 'experiments', in Latin

21. ff. 129v-134r Trota, De passionibus mulierum

Described by Monica Green as a 'proto-ensemble' (extracts). See Monica H. Green, 'A Handlist of the Latin and Vernacular Manuscripts of the So-Called Trotula Texts. Part 1: The Latin Manuscripts', Scriptorium 50 (1996) p. 153. Her description, including incipits and explicits, is reproduced below:

Hic incipit Trotula maior de secretis mulierum. Cum auctor vniversitatis deus in prima mundi constitutione …f. 133v: … vt cepe, pastinace domestic et similia. (Begins with 147): Sunt quedam que post partum …f. 134r (196):…in aqua vbi cocta sit malua per unum tempus et liberabitur. Et cetera. Consists of extracts from LSM (1-14, 16-19, 25, 29, 43-44, 74-79, 82-87, 89-92, 115-118, 122, 121, 129-131) and DCM (147-148, 168, 170, 169, 190, 192-193, 196). An earlier manuscript of this same abbreviated version served as the source text for Eng4, which is a verbatim translation.

22. ff. 134v-135r Compendium Theologie

23. ff. 135r-155v Nicolaus de Comitibus , Speculum alchymiae

f. 135r Assit ad inceptum sancta maria meum. Ut ad scientiam perfectam peruenire possumus ... f. 155v ... et quarta pars vasis sit vacua, laus deo sit qui dat sapientiam sapientibus. Amen.

24. ff. 155v-159r Hortulanus, Clavis sapientiae

f. 155v Ego autem dictus ortholanus ab orto martinus nuncupatus Iacobina pelle indutus ... f. 159r Unde plures sunt vie ad unum finem tendentem completa sunt dicta hermetis principis philosophorum.

25. ff. 159r-160r Hermes Trismegistus, Tabula smaragdina: commentarii

f. 159r Hec est summa interpretacionis Verborum hermetis. Quoniam ea que michi atque ceteris ... f. 160r ... faciunt pleniter operantem. finit. Amen.

This brief tract attributed to Hermes, purported to contain the secret to the preparation of the 'Philosopher's Stone', used in alchemy to turn base metals into gold. This preparation was believed to have been set down on an emerald tablet (tabula smaragdina). See Stanton J. Linden, The Alchemy Reader: From Hermes Trismegistus to Isaac Newton (Cambridge: CUP, 2003), pp. 27-28.

25. ff. 160v-164v Anonymous, Correctorium fatuorum

f. 160v Cum ominium rerum emendacio ...f. 164v ... subtiliata in naturarum conversione. Explicit correctorium fatuorum et modus nature optimus. Requiescat anima decantarum sempiternaliter in pace quia sine dubio protulit veritaterm et qui aliter querit quam in materia sole et luna stulte querit et nunquam aliquid boni inveniet. Amen.

26. ff. 165r-169r Pseudo(?)-Roger Bacon, Speculum alchymiae

f. 165r Multipharie multisque modis loquebantur omnes philosophi ... f. 169r ... laudandus est deus et creator noster summus in eternum Amen. Explicit tractatus et compendium super speculum alchimie in quo philosophorum omnium intencio totiusque artis secretum lucide absque fixione aliqua patet. Deo gracias. Amen.

This short alchemical manual is more than likely a work of an anonymous author working between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries, rather than a treatise by Bacon (c. 1214-1294) himself. The earliest known MS copy dates to the fifteenth century.

27. ff. 169r-202v Geber, Summa perfecti magisteri, abridged

f. 169r De naturalibus principiis videlicet sulphure arsenico et argento viuo. Inuimus igitur tibi secundum antiquorum opinionem ... f. 202v Ad artis igitur excelse perquisitionem hec dicta sufficiant. Amen. Explicit summa geberi magni philosophi.

28. ff. 202v-251v Miscellaneous alchemical, chemical, magical and technical receipts and notes, in Dutch and Latin

Late 15th Century

1 volume 251 ff. 4to. 21 1/2 x 14 1/2 cm. 18th century vellum binding over wooden boards: two brass and pigskin clasps. The inner margins of the first and last leaves repaired: some outer margins frayed.

Purchased at Sotheby's 24/4/1911, Lot 7.

ff. 41v-42v contain notes of events in the Netherlands, mostly concerning disasters, floods, earthquakes, etc., dated from 1320 to 1464, by two late 15th century hands. On fol. 68v is an entry by another hand dated 1481. This is followed for the rest of the page and continued on fol. 69, by notes of events from 1566 to 1584-the latest entry being that of the death of the prince of Orange -William the Silent- who was shot in 1584 at Delft. The writer of these later entries has also written in the margin of f. 108v, at the side of a magical receipt for opening locks: 'Hae conjurationes que sequuntur non sunt fide dignae': he has made a similar remark on f. 122v in reference to the magical properties of herbs. On the recto of the first leaf: 'Sum Joannes alphesis et amicorum'; below, by another late 15th century hand: 'Jan meesten ende sinen'.

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).

This material has been digitised and can be freely accessed online through Wellcome Collection catalogue.

Phillipps MS. 2946, with his library stamp on the first fly-leaf.