Heymandus de Veteri Busco, Ars computistica, with astrological and divinatory material

Heymandus de Veteri Busco, Ars computistica, with astrological and divinatory material

Written in a small rounded gothic hand, with contractions, 40 lines to a page. Ornamental initial A on f. 1r in blue and red, with marginal decorations; other capitals and paragraph marks in red.

Illustrated with 28 large and small diagrams and figures, some coloured, others in red and black, including 'Circulus lunaris' f. 3v, 'Nomina mensium' f. 7r, Dominical Table f. 9v, Golden Numbers, etc. f. 14v, Eclipses ff. 18r-v, Nine Spheres f. 19r, Astrological Man f. 22r, Zodiacal Table f. 22v, Ptolomaic World Map f. 24v, 'Rota' f. 28r.

Contents

1. ff. 1r-23v Heymandus de Veteri Busco, Ars computistica, in verse with a prose commentary

f. 1r [Prologue] Ad omnipotentis dei laudem ad nouellorum clericulorum aliquem profecturum in presenti tractaculo coadiutorem deo altissimo traditura ars computistica metrica et per figuras cum declaratione prosayca modo perfacile ... f. 1v [text begins] Circulus solaris annos tenet octo viginti circulus lunaris decem tenet atque nouenos. Hic est pars executiuua huius opusculi ... f. 23v ... habita enim declaratione de ortu et occasione solis simul occidit seu ad occasum tendit presens opusculum ad honorem veri solis iusticie per dominum nostrum qui sit benedictus in secula seculorum Amen. explicit. Finitus anno domini M°CCCC°lxxxviii° mense decembris viii per me heymandum de veteri busco explicit feliciter.

2. ff. 23v-24v Cisio Ianus

f. 23v Cisio ianus ephi sibi vendicat ... f. 24v Grecus ab indictione thomas nath stef Jo puthone sil.

3. f. 24v Descripcio mundi

A T-O map with astrological data, surrounded by the names of the signs of the Zodiac of and the winds.

4. ff. 25r-26r Onomantic section, including the Sphere of Pythagoras

Seven round onomantic diagrams with accompanying texts

f. 25r: the first diagram is to determine whether a pregnant woman will bear a male or female child; the second the sign in which the moon resides on a particular day; the third an individual's natal planet; the fourth the birth sign of an individual. There are two accompanying texts:

Text 1 incipit: 'Si vis scire quod mulier paritura ...'

Text 2 incipit: 'Si vis scire signum lune ...'

f. 25v Two Sphere of Pythagoras diagrams with accompanying texts

Text 1 incipit: 'Ecce Spera Platonice vita et morte ...'

Text 2 incipit: 'Non mors et vita ...'

This is a very common onomancy (i.e. divination by the numbers that correlate to the letters of an individual's name) 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 one takes the name of the person in question, then the numbers that correspond to the letters of their name, and adds these numbers into a total. One adds the number of the day of the moon on which they first fell sick, and the number corresponding to the planetary weekday. This grand total is divided by 30. If the remainder is found 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), 291-305.

f. 25v An astrological-onomantic diagram, and a diagram of planetary weekdays

f. 26r Astrological-onomantic diagram with accompanying text

Incipit: Nota an languida convalescet ...'

ff. 26v-28v Various astrological tables, texts and diagrams

1488

1 volume 28 ll. 4to. 21 x 14 cm. 18th century quarter calf binding. A leaf or leaves are probably wanting between ff. 4/5 and 26/27. Paper. Some leaves slightly defective and margins frayed: the figures on ff. 6r, 10r, 18r, 21r, 24v, 26r are rubbed and defaced.

Purchased at Sotheby's 17/6/1907, Lot 35.

No record of the author of this manuscript has been traced, but he was perhaps a priest from Oudenbosch in Holland. A former owner, on a slip pasted on to a fly-leaf at the beginning, has read the author's name as 'Herman de Verbusto', but this seems to be a mis-reading. The fly-leaf in question has been pasted down upon another fly-leaf containing the Phillipps MS. number.

Please consult the digitised version as this item needs to be accessed in our conservation studio. Email library@wellcomecollection.org to request an appointment.

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. No. 10233. Sold at Sotheby's 5/6/1899, Lot 74.