Constantinus Africanus, Viaticum

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A copy of Constantinus Africanus, Viaticum, with glossa by Geraldus Bituricensis, on parchment, written in Gothic hand in France in the late 13th century, with decorated puzzle initials.
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1. f. 1: Medical recipe, early 15th-century hand, faint.
2. ff. 2r-93r, Constantinus Africanus, Viaticum, in Latin, with Glosule by Geraldus Bituricensis.
The medical summa traditionally called Viaticum or Breviarium, as in the present manuscript, is a Latin adaptation by Constantine the African (c. 1020-1098/9) of a standard medical manual in Arabic, entitled Kitab Zad al-musafir wa-qut al-hadir (i.e. Provision for the Traveller and the Nourishment of the Settled) composed by the Abu Ja'far Ahmad ibn Ibrahim ibn abi Khalid al-Jazzar (Ibn al-Jazzar) (d. 979 or 1004-5), the famous physician of Qeirwan (al-Qayrawan, Kairouan) in Tunisia, who had been a pupil of Ishaq ibn Sulayman al-Isra'ili (fl. c. 855-955), known in Europe as Isaac Judaeus. Most of Ibn al-Jazzar's work was lost, but the Kitab Zad al-musafir survived having been translated into Greek during his lifetime. Constantine's adaptation followed the 'a capite ad calcem' order of the original work and was written in the 1070s or 1080s at Montecassino, from where it was widely disseminated throughout Europe mainly by means of manuscripts copied in Benedictine scriptoria.
Constantine's version was conceived as a concise textbook intended for Latin readers, and primarily for the medical school of Salerno. Therefore it remained close to the Arabic original in terms of structure and contents, but differed in length and identification of sources, favouring ancient Greek and Hellenistic references rather than Arabic sources. The Viaticum was taught at medical faculties during the 12th and 13th centuries and was particularly popular in France, as documented by a number of commentaries written within French medical circles up to the 14th century: see Mary Frances Wack, Lovesickness in the Middle Ages. The 'Viaticum' and Its Commentaries (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990), pp. 31-35; Mirja Martha Brachtel, Ibn al-Jazzar's Zad al-Musafir and Constantinus Africanus' Latin Version Viaticum Peregrinantis: A Comparative Study (Master's thesis, International Islamic University, Malaysia, 2005) [available online at https://www.academia.edu/7595021/IBN_AL-JAZZ%C4%80RS_Z%C4%80D_AL-MUS%C4%80FIR_AND_CONSTANTINUS_AFRICANUS_LATIN_VERSION_VIATICUM_PEREGRINANTIS].
The present manuscript is a copy of the vulgate tradition of the Viaticum (the cataloguer is grateful to Dr Brian Long for the information).
The Glosule represent the first surviving full commentary on the Viaticum by Gerardus (Geraldus, Girard) Bituricensis (of Berry), a French physician operating in Paris between the late 12th and early 13th century; he compiled his glossa probably drawing from direct teaching experience and at the request of his Parisian colleagues: see Ernst Wickersheimer, Dictionnaire biographique des médecins en France au moyen âge (Geneva: Droz, 1936), vol. 1, p. 203; Danielle Jacquart, Supplément (Geneva: Droz, 1979), pp. 92-3; Wack, Lovesickness in the Middle Ages, pp. 51-56.
The texts are listed in eTK, A digital resource based on Lynn Thorndike and Pearl Kibre, A Catalogue of Incipits of Medieval Scientific Writings in Latin (Cambridge, MA: Mediaeval Academy, 1963; with supplements in 1965 and 1968; online at https://medievalacademy.site-ym.com/?page=Books#etk), nos 817D (main text), 1298H (prologue), and 325J (Gerardus's commentary).
For other manuscript copies of Constantine's Latin text in the Wellcome Library, see MSS 208 (imperfect), 209, 547 (ff. 55r-103v; imperfect), 730 (f. 23r; extracts); for copies of Gerardus's commentary see MSS 305, 535 (ff. 61r-120v).
Both Constantine's text and Gerardus's commentary were printed for the first time in 1505 in Venice, together with other works by Gerardus: In hoc volumine continentur, Introductorium iuuenum Gerardi de Solo. De regimine corporis humani in morbis. Consimili officiali & communi. Libellus de febribus eiusdem. Commentum eiusdem super nono Almansoris cum textu. Commentum eiusdem super viatico cum textu (Venice: [Bonetus Locatellus for heirs of Octavianus Scotus], 1505), ff. 89r-192r (leaves M1r-AA8r): see EDIT 16 (online), CNCE 32851; Servizio Bibliotecario Nazionale (SBN online), IT\ICCU\TO0E\018180; Wellcome copy at EPB/1428/D.
f. 2r: Incipit: [rubric in red] Incipit breuiarius constantini affricani qui dicitur uiaticus [end of rubric] / [Q]voniam quidem ut in rethoricis tullius omne inquit expetendum ...
f. 2r: Glossae, Incipit: Cum omnia ex quatuor elementis sint generata ...
f. 93r: Explicit: ... Concule marine incense cum olio rosato multum ualent. / Explicit breuiarius domini Constantini qui dicitur uiaticus.
f. 93r: Glossae, Explicit: ... talia enim puluerizata cum olio rosato consolidare habent et mundificare. / Expliciunt glossule magistri Geraldi Supra Viaticum.
3. ff. 93v-94r: Additional notes in different 14th- and 15th-century hands, including medical recipes and a charm, notes on the immortality of the human soul, and a coloured diagram relating to contraries.
f. 93v, lines 1-6: Medical recipe for headache, entitled 'Pillole mirabiles probate ad dolorem capitis'.
ff. 93v, lines 9-17, and 94r, lines 3-13: Note on the human soul, copied by two different hands, incipit: In carne et anima constat homo. In utroque bonum suum habet …; explicit: … non est mirum si racio incorporalis quae aspectus est anime tot ymagines et tantas contineat cum corporalis oculus tanta comprehendat.
f. 93v, lines 18-31: Coloured diagram of Contraria (i.e. contraries), in red, blue and black ink.
f. 93v, lines 32-38: Macrobius, De somno Scipionis, Book II.xiii, 6-7, a quotation relating to the immortality of the soul, incipit: Macrobius de sompno Scipionis, liber secundus // Jn Pheudrone [sic] Platonis quem trantulit [sic] cicero validissimis argumentis anime immortalitas …; explicit: … autem quia procuratione alterius a morte defenditur.
f. 94r, lines 1-2: medical charm [?] in Latin, incipit: Febris acuta thisis scabies …; explicit: lepra frenesis contagia prestant.

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