Collection of alchemical and magical works, mainly by Ramon Lull

Collection of alchemical and magical works, mainly by Ramon Lull

Contents

1. ff. 1r-5r Ramon Lull, Accurtatio

f. 1r Incipit epistola Magistri Raymondi lulii de insula mayoricarum de acurtacione lapidis benedicti missa regi roberto. In virtute sacnte trinitatis ipsiusique infinite bonitatis. Cum ego Raymundus de insula maioricarum iam preteritis temporibusm plures libros ... f. 5r ... in elementis simplicibus et compositis si ea sciveris reducere in ipsa.

2. ff. 5r-7r Ramon Lull, Ars magica, chapter 3

f. 5r In nomine sancte et individue trinitatis et eterne unitatis. Incipit compendium anime transmutacionis artis metallorum et lapidarie huius preciosissime artis. Composicio aque vite. Accipe Nigrum nigriusm nigro ... f. 7r ... poteris in 30 diebus lapidem componere etc. Quod potes id tempta nam operis sub pondere pressus. Subcumbat labor et frustra temptata relinquas. Nota et noli desistere quia Spiritus ubi vult spirat. Hec ars est cara levis brevisque rara.

3. ff. 7v-8r Alchemical receipts

4. ff. 8r-10v Pseudo-Thomas Aquinas, De lapide philosophico

f. 8r Ars sancti thome de aquino brevis super philosophie et omnem in se continet virtutem. Esse suposito metalorum educitur a materia sua ... f. 10v ... nisi maxima necessitate coactus iterum attemptare. De mineralibus hec dicta sufficiant. Explicit liber sancti thome de aquino.

5. f. 10v An alchemical receipt

6. ff. 10v-11v Liber trium verborum, extract

f. 10v Ex libro trium verborum. Hoc capitulum est de maiore opere alkimie ... f. 11v ... secundum quod scis usque ad complementum.

7. ff. 11v-12r Opus ad album, incomplete

f. 11v Opus ad album. Factum fuit hoc opus tempore magistri francisci claudi. Opus optimum ad album. Recipe mercurium bene sublimatum libram I ... f. 12r ... fiet elixir optimum de quo una ...

8. f. 12v Nomina lapidis philosophorum

9. ff. 13r-24r Ramon Lull, Anima artis

f. 13r Incipit anima artis magistri raymundi lulii. In nomine sancte trinitatis et eterne veritatis. Principium huius compendii quod nominamus animam transmutatorie artis metallorum ...f. 24r ... Scriptum ac datum per Raymundum lulium ordinis fratrum minorum apud montem pesulanum. Rege roberto regnante sub anno domini. 1321. finis. deo gratias.

10. f.24r An anonymous note relating to the nature of stones and referring to Testamentum and Apertorium de veri lapidis compositione, two works belonging to the Pseudo-Lullian alchemical corpus of works: see M. Perreira, The Alchemical Corpus attributed to Ramon Lull, London, Warburg Institute, 1989. The diagrams above the note possibly relate to the same texts

f. 24r Et non quia secunda generalis de omnibus lapidibus ut scias eius prima nota ... Vide testamentum suum et apertorium quid ibi enarrare debet

11. ff. 24r-25v Ramon Lull, Lapidarius, abridged

f. 24r A significat deum sine quo nihil et aqua bona cocta ... f. 25v ... Et videbis per vitrum earum transformationem. et sic est finis ad laudem et honorem domini nostri yhesu christi.

12. ff. 26r-27r Extracts on making artificial gems

13. ff. 27r-29r Arnold of Villanova, Epistola ad Papam Bonifacium VIII

f. 27r Santissimo in christo patri, etc. Rainaldus de Vilanova beatissima pedum oscula, beatorum mutactione dei excelsi etc. Dico enim pater alme quod oportet prius corpora in primam materiam reducere ... f. 29r ... dono tue benedictionis illustra. Amen.

14. ff. 29r-32r Extracts from Lapidarius, Questionatrium, etc.

15. ff. 33r-40r Ramon Lull, Practica de furnis

f. 33r Incipit practica theorice testamenti magistri Raymundi. Filii ad componendum dictam medicinam ... f. 40r ... Quare apparet quod hoc est per rationem imperfectam quia venit a sua egritudine. Nunc satis de isto.

16. ff. 41r-58v Ramon Lull, Codicillus

f. 41r Incipit liber artis compendiose. Codicillus aliter Vade Mecum de numero philosophorum sive Clausula testamenti vel condicillus ut supra. Deus in virtute tue sancte trinitatis in qua unitas tue divinitatis non est in aliquo vulnerata nec confusa ... f. 58v ... sine alio medio pertinet ad operatione. Finis.

f. 59r blank

17. ff. 59v-76r Ramon Lull, Mercuria

f. 59v Liber ad faciendum Mercurium et elixirus de ilis. Fili oportet quod intelligas operationes per quas creantur nostra argentaviva ... f. 76r ... ad instar nature seu circulandi modum. etc. Deo gratias.

18. ff. 76r-78r Alchemical extracts and receipts

19. ff. 78v-84v Ramon Lull, Dicta philosophorum, incomplete

f. 78v In christi nomine amen. Incipit quedam nobilis et veridica extractio ex dictis sapientum alkimie ex quibus intelligens in arte sciat veram viam eligere et falaces evitare. Proemium in quo ponitur intencio operis et ordo procedendi ... Capitulum primum in quo ponuntur laudes huius artis specialiter de medicina 3i ordinis ... f. 84v ... Et quidam philosophi dixerunt quod lapis neque fit ex una ...

19. ff. 85r-95v Alchemical and other receipts by the original scribe, including fortune-telling by numbers and letters (f. 89r), and incantations against evil spirits (ff. 91v-92r). Interspersed with these are medical receipts in Spanish by several 16th cent. hands.

Ff. 16r and 24r contain pen-drawn figures: on ff. 46r, 47v, 50, 50v, 52v, 54v, 56, 56v, 58r, 63v, 64v, 65v, 70v, 72, 72v, 73v, and 74v are pen-drawings of human figures, mostly heads and faces, those on ff. 64v, 65v and 74v are partly wanting owing to the cropped margins.

Late 15th Century

1 volume 84 ff. 4to. 21 x 14 1/2 cm. Modern vellum binding. Ten leaves are missing after the leaf now foliated 85. A fragment only remains of fol. 90. Margins cropped in rebinding. Written by the same hand as MS. No. 443L the first two items are in double column of 33 lines to a column, with headings in red.

Purchased 1936.

At Wellcome Collection: This MS. was originally part of a larger volume which contained MS. No. 443 [LULLIUS] and MS. No. 710 [RUPESCISSA]. The original main hand is the same, and the 16th cent. additions in Spanish are also by the same hands.

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).