Harley MS 2558
13th century-15th century, The manuscript is a composite miscellany of botanical, surgical, medical, magical, astrological and prognostication texts written in the 13th-14th centuries and assembled with his own autograph additions by the 15th-century English physician, Thomas Fayreford. The texts include:1. Two dictionaries of botanical synonyms (ff. 1r-5v); 2. Medical annotations including four medical recipes for coughs, a charm and notes on various herbs (ff. 6r-6v); 3. Novele cirurgerie, excerpt (365 lines) (ff. 7r-8v); 4. Thomas Fayreford, List of medical cases (ff. 9r-9v);5. Table of contents of the herbal included in ff. 13r-64v (ff. 10r-11v); 6., 7. Tables of contents of Thomas Fayreford's medical commonplace book and surgical commonplace book (ff. 12r-12v);8. De saporibus et gradibus (culinary recipe) (f. 12v); 9. Herbal (ff. 13r-64v); 10. Pontius de Sancto Egidio, Cure or Modus medendi (ff. 65r-72r); 11. Thomas Fayreford, Medical commonplace book (ff. 72v-124v); 12. Thomas Fayreford, Surgical commonplace book (ff. 125r-151r); 13. An alchemical treatise (f. 151v); 14. Treatise relating to urine and uroscopy (ff. 152r-160v); 15. Treatise relating to urine and uroscopy (ff. 161r-166r); 16. Note on how to facilitate human conception and embryonic development (f. 166r); 17. Two diagrams of the female hand for pronostication and one charm against toothache (f. 166v); 18. Miscellaneous notes relating to Thomas Fayreford's medical compendium (ff. 72v-124v) (ff. 167r-172v); 19. Medical recipes (circa 40 recipes) (ff. 173r-174v); 20. Pseudo-Hippocrates, Letter to Caesar (Regimen sanitatis) (ff. 175r-184v); 21. Epistula (ff. 185r-185v); 22. Treatise relating to anatomy (ff. 186r-187r); 23. Medical recipes (circa 30 recipes) (ff. 188r-188v); 24. Rogerius de Barone ( Roger de Baron), Rogerina minor, excerpts (ff. 189r-190v); 25. Lunary (ff. 191r-193r) with a weather prediction from Christmas day (f. 191r); 26. Somniale Danielis, excerpt (ff. 193r-193v); 27. Pseudo-Aristoteles, Epistula ad Alexandrum Magnum de corpore humano sanando (excerpt from the Secretum Secretorum) (ff. 194r-195r); 28. Charms against fevers and tooth pain (ff. 195r-195v) ; 29. Macer Floridus (Odo de Meung), De viribus herbarum (ff. 197r-223v) ; 30. Lunary relating to medicine (ff. 224r-224v); 31. Pseudo-Hippocrates, Calendarium dieteticum (ff. 224v-225v); 32. Medical recipe (f. 225v);33. Marbodus Redonensis, Liber lapidum seu de gemmis, fragment (ff. 226r-227r); 34. Weather prognostications, proverbs and Synonyma Abuali (f. 227v).Decoration:Border decorated with penwork and a foliate bar motif in gold, blue, red and purple (f. 13r). Other borders decorated with small bezants in gold with foliate motifs in purple (ff. 65r, 73r). Initial and Fayreford's name in gold with penwork decoration in purple (f. 72v). Initials in blue or red, plain or with penwork decoration in red. Paraphs in red or blue. Maniculae in red. Cadels with human or animal features in black ink. Marginal pen-drawings representing plants, a monk, a goat (?), a penis, and a woman (42v, 63r, 85r, 97v, 112v, 118v, 139v).
 
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