Galenic miscellany

Galenic miscellany. Written in an Italian gothic hand, in double column of 57 lines to a column, with many contractions.

Contents

1. ff. 1r-40r Galen, Methodus medendi, books VII-XIV. Translated by Burgundio of Pisa, completed by Peter of Abano

f. 1r Incipit septimus Terapeutice. Capitulum primum ... f. 40r ... hic igitur iam et his firmatio sermonis. Explicit quod deficiebat de ttranslatione burgundionis huius 4i decimiterapeutic facultatis complete translatum per magistrum petrum paduanum de abano. Deo gratias amen.

2. ff. 41r-50r Galen, De differentiis febrium. Translated by Burgundio of Pisa

f. 41r Incipit liber Galieni de differentiis febrium iun quo agit de generali febrium diuisione in suas species ... f. 50r ... vel digerantur uel utrumque paciantur. Explicit liber de differenciis febrium a burgundione cive Pisano de greco in latinum translatus. Deo gratias. Amen.

3. ff. 50r-52r Galen, De mala complexione

f. 50r Malida complexionis diverse quandoque in toto animali corpore existtit ... f. 52r ... et donec intelligat librum meum de medicinis. deinde post illum librum de ingenio sanitatis. Explicit.

4. ff. 52r-71r Galen, De accidenti et morbo

f. 52r Incipit liber primus de accidenti et morbo in quo agit de quiditate morbi in suas species. Capitulum primum prohemiale in quo manifestatt quod intendit ... f. 71r ... que accidentia semper alia sequuntur que vero non. Explicit liber de accidente et morbo Galieni.

5. ff. 72r-94v Galen, De crisibus. Translated by William of Moerbeke.

f. 72r Incipit liber Galieni de crisi. de signis eius in generall. et in primo capitulo aperit intentionem suam de distinctione temporum morbi. Ego non intendo in hoc meo libro ... f. 94v ... sufficiunt isti tres tractatus et non est eis necessarius tractatus 4us. Expletus est tractatus libri. Galieni. de crisiu cum quo finitus liber. Deo gratias.

ff. 95r-v blank

6. ff. 96r-99v Galen, De diebus criticis, book III

f. 96r Incipit liber. 3us de creticis diebus. Et primo probat naturam eorum variationis. et radices. Ego sum narrans cum eis que dixi de essentia dierum crisis ... f. 99v ... terminationem libri auxilio dei et eius adiutorio. Completus est tractatus tertius libri diebus creticis. Deo gratias Amen.

There are 8 illuminated initials containing miniatures: each has a marginal decoration in gold and colours.
f. 1 Letter T Badly affected by damp. Half-length figures of a Physician with a pupil: he wears a black cap, white hood and red gown. The other figure is in green.
f. 14 Letter D Half-length profile figure of a young man with a red cap and purple garment: perhaps giving a lecture.
f. 28v Letter D Quarter-length full-faced figure of a man in a red gown and black cap. His face and neck are swollen and he presumably illustrates the chapter on 'phlegmones'.
f. 34 Letter D A similar figure with a red robe over a green undergarment. The face and neck are covered with boils, illustrating 'tumores praeter naturam'.
f. 41 Letter D Quarter-length full-faced figure of a Physician with a red bonnet, white hood and red gown. In the margin is a scene of two female figures, one in a blue gown who stands holding up a urine glass, the other behind her in a grey gown: they are beside a bed in which a sick man reclines. He is bare-headed in a purple gown, and rests against a red cushion. Proportion and perspective are poor.
f. 50 Letter M Quarter-length profile figure of a bare-headed man in a red robe with a long and emaciated neck.
f. 72 Letter E A nude sick man leans out of his bed while a copious flow of blood falls from his nose. The bed is wooden, and has a red and green coverlet. The drawing shows very feeble design and bad perspective.
f. 96 Letter E A quarter-length figure of a Physician lecturing. He wears a black cap, white hood and a red gown over a green undergarment.

On the verso of the last leaf is a circular pen-drawn astrological diagram in red and black. In the margin of fol. 16 is a small grotesque pen drawing half-length, of a woman with four breasts. On fol. 52 is a large illuminated lettter 1 in gold and colours, with decorations extending from the top to the bottom of the page. Other ornamental initials in colours on ff. 5v, 9v, 18v, 23v, 45, 56v, 59, 62v, 66v, 81,, 87v. Smaller ornamental initials throughout in altternate red and blue, with coloured line decorations, paragraph marks in alternate red and blue, headings in red.

Early 14th Century

1 volume 99 ff. folio. 35 1/2 x 22 1/2 cm. On vellum. 19th cent. tooled calf binding over wooden boards. The outer half of fol. 71 has been cut away, as also the lower margins of ff. 1, 2, 9, 25, 29, 31, 32, 39, 78, 79, 80, 82, and smaller pieces from the lower margins of ff. 94, 95, but in all cases without loss of text. Parts of the first 17 ff., and on a few other leaves, the text is illegible owing to damage from damp.

Purchased in 1910.

From the Library of the Abbé Celotti, sold at Sotheby's 14/3/1825, Lot 70. Phillipps MS. No.6915. Sold at Sotheby's 12/6/1896, Lot 566.

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).