Medieval Medical Recipes : Geoffrey of Monmouth, Historia regum Britanniae

Medieval Medical Recipes

<p style='text-align: justify;'>Cambridge, Trinity College MS O.2.21 (hereafter Trinity MS O.2.21) is a composite manuscript of three parts. The second, and by far the largest part contains a copy of Geoffrey of Monmouth's <i>Historia regum Britanniae</i> (ff. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(17);return false;'>5r-117v</a>). The other texts in the manuscript are miscellaneous in nature and include medical treatises, extracts from the <i>Secreta secretorum</i> of pseudo-Aristotle, and a didactic poem to teach Anglo-Norman vocabulary. All of the parts seem to have been together by the later middle ages, but the date of their compilation is unknown. </p><p style='text-align: justify;'>Trinity MS O.2.21 is remarkable not only for the breadth of its texts, but also for the illustrious careers and connections of several of its former owners. The first identifiable owner of MS O.2.21 is Sir John More (c. 1453-c. 1530), lawyer and father of Sir Thomas More, Lord Chancellor to King Henry VIII. Sir John More added records about his marriage and the births of his six children (including Thomas) to ff. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(286);return false;'>139v-140r</a> (these notes have been transcribed and translated in the Additions section below). The next identifiable owner is John Dee (1527-1603), English mathematician and court astronomer of Queen Elizabeth I. Dee's characteristic three 'Jupiter marks' ♃ ♃ ♃ are present on f. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(9);return false;'>1r</a> and a further two ♃ ♃ are written in the upper margin of f. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(11);return false;'>2r</a>. After Dee, the next identifiable owner is George Carew (1555-1629), Baron Clopton and 1st earl of Totnes. Carew signed his name as 'G: Carew' in a blank space in the right-hand column of f. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(10);return false;'>1v</a>. Carew is principally known for the collection of manuscripts and printed books on Irish history that he amassed as an administrator in Ireland between 1574 and 1592, most of which are now part of collections at Lambeth Palace and the Bodleian Libraries through the efforts of Sir Thomas Stafford (c. 1574-1655), antiquary (and probably Carew's illegitimate son), and then William Laud (1573-1645), Archbishop of Canterbury 1633-1645, who dispersed the collection. It is not clear if MS O.2.21 was among the books that passed from George Carew to Thomas Stafford and then William Laud.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>After Carew, the next identifiable owner is the physician Levin Fludd (?1611-?1709), who signed the manuscript on f. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(9);return false;'>1r</a> as 'LE Fludd'. Levin Fludd matriculated as a pensioner at Trinity College in 1629, was a scholar there in 1631, and was awarded a B.A. there c. 1631-2, and then may have undertaken further study in Leiden in 1634. The route for Trinity MS O.2.21 between George Carew and Levin Fludd is uncertain, but it may have been passed from Carew to Sir Thomas Fludd (c. 1530-1607), M.P. for Maidstone, collector of books and manuscripts and acquaintance of several prominent antiquarians - or to his son, Robert Fludd (1574-1637), a physician and author with scientific and spiritualist interests. Robert Fludd was the uncle of Levin Fludd and some accounts claim that Levin Fludd inherited part of Robert Fludd's library, although the source for these claims is uncertain. </p><p style='text-align: justify;'>As with numerous other books at Trinity College, the manuscript came into the hands of Thomas Gale (1635/36-1702), dean of York, antiquary, and fellow of Trinity College Cambridge. The manuscript is listed among Gale's manuscripts in Bernard, <i>Catalogi librorum manuscriptorum Angliæ et Hiberniæ</i> (1697). Thomas Gale's manuscript collection passed to his son Roger Gale (1672-1744), who donated his father's collection to Trinity College in 1738. </p><p style='text-align: justify;'>Trinity MS O.2.21 has provenance connections to other manuscripts at Trinity College that may help to elucidate some of its journeys between its former owners. There are two other manuscripts that were also signed by Levin Fludd with the same 'LE Fludd' that were also included in the Gale donation: <a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://mss-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk/Manuscript/O.2.56'>Cambridge, Trinity College, MS O.2.56</a> (front flyleaf 4r), and <a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://mss-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk/Manuscript/O.5.6'>Cambridge, Trinity College, MS O.5.6</a> (f. 1r). Another manuscript, <a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://mss-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk/Manuscript/O.2.46'>Cambridge, Trinity College, MS O.2.46</a>, is a semi-autograph copy of Robert Fludd, <i>A philosophicall key</i>, a manuscript partly in Robert Fludd's hand, and which came to Trinity College via the Gale donation (though it was not signed by Levin Fludd). </p><p style='text-align: justify;'>Trinity MS O.2.21 is also one of several manuscripts at Trinity College that once belonged to John Dee. Other Dee manuscripts at Trinity College include (with references in square brackets to J. Roberts and A.G. Watson's studies of Dee's library; see References for full citation): <ul><li><a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://mss-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk/Manuscript/B.15.20'>Cambridge, Trinity College, MS B.15.20</a>, 'Jupiter marks' in upper margin of f. 1r [M63]</li><li><a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://mss-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk/Manuscript/O.2.14'>Cambridge, Trinity College, MS O.2.14</a> [DM3]</li><li><a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://mss-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk/Manuscript/O.2.21'>Cambridge, Trinity College, MS O.2.21</a> [DM3a]</li><li><a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://mss-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk/Manuscript/O.2.33/'>Cambridge, Trinity College, MS O.2.33</a> [DM4]</li><li><a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://mss-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk/Manuscript/O.2.47'>Cambridge, Trinity College, MS O.2.47</a>, Dee's signature in the upper margin of f. 1r [M79]</li><li><a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://mss-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk/Manuscript/O.2.50'>Cambridge, Trinity College, MS O.2.50</a> [M3]</li><li><a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://mss-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk/Manuscript/O.3.27'>Cambridge, Trinity College, MS O.3.27</a> [M16]</li><li><a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://mss-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk/Manuscript/O.4.20'>Cambridge, Trinity College, MS O.4.20</a> [DM4a]</li><li><a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://mss-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk/Manuscript/O.7.20'>Cambridge, Trinity College, MS O.7.20</a> [DM5]</li><li><a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://mss-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk/Manuscript/O.7.23'>Cambridge, Trinity College, MS O.7.23</a> [M34]</li><li><a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://mss-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk/Manuscript/O.7.35/'>Cambridge, Trinity College MS O.7.35</a>, selective table of contents in Dee's hand on f. xiv verso [M188]</li><li><a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://mss-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk/Manuscript/O.8.5/'>Cambridge, Trinity College MS O.8.5</a> [DM6]</li><li><a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://mss-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk/Manuscript/O.8.6/'>Cambridge, Trinity College, MS O.8.6</a>, 'Jupiter marks' on f. 1r</li><li><a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://mss-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk/Manuscript/O.8.9/'>Cambridge, Trinity College MS O.8.9</a> [DM7]</li><li><a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://mss-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk/Manuscript/O.8.28/'>Cambridge, Trinity College, MS O.8.28</a>, Dee's signature on a flyleaf [DM8]</li><li><a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://mss-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk/Manuscript/O.8.30/'>Cambridge, Trinity College, MS O.8.30</a> [M148]</li><li><a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://mss-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk/Manuscript/O.9.39/'>Cambridge, Trinity College, MS O.9.39</a> [M54]</li><li><a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://mss-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk/Manuscript/O.9.40/'>Cambridge, Trinity College, MS O.9.40</a> [DM9]</li><li><a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://mss-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk/Manuscript/R.14.30/'>Cambridge, Trinity College, MS R.14.30</a> [M199]</li><li><a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://mss-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk/Manuscript/R.14.38/'>Cambridge, Trinity College, MS R.14.38</a> [DM10]</li></ul></p><p style='text-align: justify;'>Three of the manuscripts listed above (Trinity MSS O.1.57, O.2.21, and O.7.23) were also owned by George Carew; it is possible that Carew received the books directly from Dee, since Carew was godfather to one of Dee's children, and presumably thus well-acquainted with him (see C. F. Smith (1909), p. 220). </p><p style='text-align: justify;'>Dr Sarah Gilbert<br /> Project Cataloguer for the Curious Cures in Cambridge Libraries Project<br /> Cambridge, University Library</p><p style='text-align: justify;'><b>References</b><div style='list-style-type: disc;'><div style='display: list-item; margin-left: 20px;'>C.F. Smith, <i>John Dee: 1527-1608</i> (London, 1909)</div><div style='display: list-item; margin-left: 20px;'>J. Roberts and A.G. Watson, <i>John Dee's Library Catalogue</i> (1990)</div><div style='display: list-item; margin-left: 20px;'>J. Roberts, and A.G. Watson, 'John Dee’s Library Catalogue: Additions and Corrections', <i>The Bibliographical Society (Special Publication)</i> (2009)</div></div><br /></p>