[Anonymous] Albertus, Magnus, Saint, 1193?-1280 Khālid ibn Yazīd al-Umawī, 7th cent Martin Roesel of Rosenthal Wolfgang the Organist
Published / Created:
1536, ca. 1520, and ca. 1586
Call Number:
Mellon MS 27
Image Count:
141
Resource Type:
Archives or Manuscripts
Abstract:
Manuscript on paper, composed in three parts, of a large number of practical procedures, chiefly alchemical but sometimes medical, with a few standard medieval alchemical texts by Khalid ibn Yazid, Theodoric, and Albertus Magnus. Occasionally there are passages in cipher, added by Martin Roesel of Rosenthal ca. 1586, long after the principal contents were written; the cipher seems to be of a simple number-substitution type.
Description:
Binding: Probably ca. 1586 for Martin Roesel. Red-stained limp parchment (most of the stain now lost), single central clasp and catch now missing from center of fore-edges, two slits on each fore-edge for thong or ribbon ties, also missing., In Latin and German, partly in cipher., Script: Part I (ff. 1-29): Written in 1536 in red and black in a gothic cursive by Wolfgang the Organist. Part II (ff. 30-65): Written in a well-controlled gothic cursive without color. Part III (ff. 66-132): Written in one or possibly two scrawling gothic cursives, with red headings on ff. 109-124., Several initials illuminated in trick have been cut from a late 15th-century MS and pasted into the present MS at ff. 2v, 4v, 5, 10r, and 16r. Marginal drawings of alchemical apparatus are cropped, as also marginalia., and Watermarks: 1) unidentified eagle watermark somewhat resembling Briquet 104; 2) a crown pattern resembling Briquet 4921 and 1922; 3) the Paschal lamb resembling Briquet 61.
Subject (Topic):
Alchemy--Early works to 1800, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven, Medicine, Medieval, and Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library
Manuscript on parchment roll, composed of 15 membranes, of a Chronicle of biblical world history and the genealogy of the kings of England.
Description:
Binding: Unbound., One large illuminated initial for the prologue, 8-line, mauve and blue with white filigree against gold ground thinly edged in black. The initial is filled with a large flower, red, yellow and green, and curling acanthus, orange and green extending into the margin and continued as black inkspray with large leaves, heart-shaped or acanthus, blue, pink, orange, white and green with white filigree, a large orange and gold flower, smaller leaves in gold with blue and pink, gold dots and small green leaves, extending into the upper and left margin to form a partial border. Smaller illuminated initial for the beginning of the main chronicle, 5-line, gold on blue and mauve ground with white filigree. Numerous small initials, 2-line, alternate in gold with blue penwork and blue with red. Paragraph marks alternate in red and blue., Purchased from C. A. Stonehill in 1959 by Thomas E. Marston., Script: Written by a single scribe in a somewhat rough textura., and The genealogical diagrams, which are fitted into the empty spaces between the columns of text, begin with a roundel formed of concentric bands of blue, gold and red with a miniature of Adam with Eve, who is being handed an apple by the serpent. From the roundel of Adam and Eve to the Ascension of Christ the successive Biblical names, framed in orange or green squares, are linked by a continuous band in blue, red and gold. The names of the ancestors of the Kings of England, starting with Brutus, appear in red or blue circles, surmounted by gold crowns. Other names are in plain red circles. Linking lines in the genealogies are in red or green. At the appropriate places in the text are inserted schematized diagrams in red and green ink of Noah's Ark, a plan of the Israelite camp in the desert and a plan of the city of Jerusalem.
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain--History--1066-1687
Subject (Topic):
Bible--History of Biblical events, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Kings and rulers--Genealogy, Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven, Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library, and World history--Early works to 1800
Manuscript on parchment of Biondo Flavio, Italia Illustrata with the dedicatory preface to Pope Nicolas V (d. 1455).
Description:
Binding: Eighteenth century, England. Red goatskin gold-tooled, with the crest of Charles Chauncy on the sides. Gilt edges. Rebacked. The fine quality of the endleaves and leather, and the tool used on the edges of the boards and the turn-ins are similar to those in Marston MS 102 and Beinecke MS 497, both probably bound by Richard Wier, active in London and France in the 1770s; d. 1792)., Elaborately illuminated title page with historiated initial, 10-line, mauve with silver filigree against gold ground, edged in black, with a portrait of the author, seated and holding a book, against a hilly landscape and blue sky. Partial border of white vine-stem ornament against a predominantly gold ground with blue, green, and red patches with white and pale yellow dots in inner and upper margins, terminating in dense penwork scrolls with gold dots. In outer and lower margin, border of stylized flowers and foliage in red, purple, green, and blue, surrounded by dense penwork scrolls punctuated by gold dots. In center of lower margin, wreathed medallion with unidentified arms, supported by two purple winged putti outlined in blue and wearing red necklaces. 14 illuminated initials, 9- to 6-line, gold, on blue, green, and red ground with white vine-stem ornament, sometimes extending into the margins. Headings, running titles, and marginalia in red., and Script: Written in fine humanistic bookhand, below top line, by a single scribe who also wrote the running titles (epigraphic majuscules) and marginalia, in red.
Subject (Geographic):
Italy--Description and travel
Subject (Topic):
Geography, Medieval, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven, and Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library
Manuscript on parchment of Pauline Epistles (Epistola ad Romanos 2.27 through Epistola ad Hebreos 11.34), with commentary of Gilbert de la Porree. With Argumenta, later additions, all attributed to Hugo de Sancto Caro or Peter Lombard.
Description:
Binding: Twentieth century, United States (?). Half bound in dark red goatskin with gold-tooled lettering on the spine ("St. Paul/ Epistulae cum commento/ MS. 12th Cent."), marbled paper sides, and yellow edges., Script: Written in fine early gothic bookhand in two sizes of script, above top line., and Three illuminated initials at beginning of first three Epistles of excellent quality, ff. 34v, 69v, 86v, 8- to 5-line, with descenders extending into margins, red, blue, green and beige against gold ground. Bodies of initials filled with stylized scrolling foliage, bright blue, red, green, orange, silver and yellow with white highlights against gold ground. Descenders serve as a trellis for similar scrolls, some ending in biting animal's heads or fantastic birds. Scrolling foliage, f. 86v, inhabited by beasts of a canine variety, white with red shading. The decoration of manuscript is unfinished; f. 99r pen and ink underdrawing for an initial as above, with only touches of red added; blank spaces left for initals for remaining Epistles. Small initials, 3-line, gold with red penwork, for beginning of commentary for each Epistle. Headings in red or alternating red and blue majuscules. Plain initials touched with red. Running titles, later addition, in red.
Subject (Name):
Gilbert, de La Porrée, Bishop, ca. 1075-1154, Hugh, of Saint-Cher, Cardinal, ca. 1200-1263, Paul, the Apostle, Saint, and Peter Lombard, Bishop of Paris, ca. 1100-1160
Subject (Topic):
Bible.--N.T.--Epistles of Paul, Bible--Commentaries, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven, and Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library
Manuscript on parchment of Nicolaus de Lyra, Postillae on Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, and I-IV Kings.
Description:
19 pen-and-ink drawings with washes in red, green, blue and pale yellow, some inserted into the text column, others up to half-page size dealing with the Tabernacle in the Desert and the Temple of Solomon: the drawings serve to clarify the written text by depicting differences in interpretations between Jewish and Catholic exegesis; contrasting drawings are usually juxtaposed and labelled with the respective source for each., Binding: Modern restoration? Limp vellum case with earlier title (mostly illegible) running lengthwise on spine and later title added at top of spine: "Fr. Nicolai de Lyra ord. min. Commentaria in Libro historico Sacrae Scripturae"., ff. 43-44 loose., Many fine flourished initials, red and blue divided, 9- to 3-line, with penwork designs in red, blue and/or purple; somewhat smaller less ambitious initials alternate red and blue with designs in the opposite color. The minor decoration appears inconsistently, with running headlines, rubrics, paragraph marks and underlining of Biblical texts, in various colors or totally absent., Purchased in 1958 from Emile Rossignol, Paris, by L. C. Witten, who sold it the same year to Thomas E. Marston., Script: Written by several scribes in gothic bookhand., and Written by several scribes in gothic bookhand.
Subject (Name):
Nicholas,--of Lyra,--ca. 1270-1349
Subject (Topic):
Bible.--O.T.--Historical Books, Bible.--O.T.--Pentateuch, Bible--Commentaries, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven, Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library, and Scholasticism
Manuscript on paper (thick, coarse) of Lives of the Saints, preceded by accounts of events in the Bible from both the Old and New Testaments. Folios 51 and 61 interchanged in rebinding.
Description:
Binding: Nineteenth century, Italy. Rigid vellum case with two red labels on spine: "Trattati di storia sacra" and "Manuscritto 1360"., Crudely executed title page, f. 1r, consisting of floral and foliage motifs in upper margin, scroll around column in inner margin, and, in outer margin, scroll around column terminating in elongated arm with text on the scroll (much rubbed and stained). In lower margin a coat of arms (damaged; probably: or, two columns gules); the letters B and C on either side in the bases of columns in inner and outer margins. The decoration of title page in bright red and green. Plain initials (some with simple foliage designs), headings, paragraph marks, pointing hands, and hands holding crosses or symbols of passions of martyrs (e. g., gridiron for Laurence), all in bright red, green, and/or black., Folio 1 damaged; no loss of text., Script: Written by several scribes in unruly mercantesca script, above top line. Script becomes smaller and tighter toward end of codex., and Watermarks: similar in design to Briquet Ciseaux 3708 dated Genoa, 1465.
Subject (Topic):
Christian hagiography, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Italian literature--15th century, Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven, and Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library
Manuscript (holograph?) on parchment of nineteen poems, dedicated to Niccolo Franco, Bishop of Treviso (d. 1499), and other members of the literary circle in Treviso with whom Giovanni Aurelio Augurello (ca. 1440-1524) was actively connected as a famous private teacher and distinguished poet from 1491 until his death. Only the seventeenth poem of MS 22 is directly related to alchemy, but it is above all a literary exercise.
Description:
Binding: Apparently original. Blind-stamped red goatskin (now darkened), repaired, sides paneled with blind fillets, two rows of differing knotwork tools, four clasps and catches now lacking, two asterisk-headed brass nails for each clasp remaining on upper cover, plain edges, modern leather label on backstrip with three faintly raised original bands., Large capital letters, mostly plain, at the beginning (written in the left margins) and dedication of each poem in pale red. On f. 1v (blank on the recto) is a drawing in delicate wash of a tree, lower left, against the base of which leans a small book in a red cover; extending upward from the treetop to the sun, at extreme top right, is the inscription in red capitals: "VTCVNQ[VE] TIBI." On f. 2r, opposite the dedicatory drawing just described, there is further decoration in the same delicate wash colors: a leaf in the margin beside the dedication to Niccolo Franco, Bishop of Treviso; light tracery ornament surrounding the capital "F" in the left margin at the beginning of the first poem; and Franco's arms, surmounted by the Bishop's mitre and surrounded by green twigs tied with red ribbons, in the lower margin. At the end of the manuscript, beneath the colophon, there is a further drawing and inscription in green wash, referable to the final poem: a small Roman sarcophagus with a little book in red binding lying atop it, and the inscription "POSTERITATI SACRUM" below., and Script: Written by a single scribe in a good humanistic cursive.
Subject (Geographic):
Treviso (Italy)
Subject (Name):
Augurelli, Giovanni Aurelio,--ca. 1456-1524?
Subject (Topic):
Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Latin poetry, Medieval and modern, Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven, and Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library
Manuscript on paper of an unidentified treatise, incomplete, on the Cardinal Virtues; material taken mostly from Valerius Maximus, with additional material from Augustine, the Bible, Cicero, Seneca, Macrobius, Aristotle, and Vegetius. and Unidentified treatise, incomplete, on the Cardinal Virtues; material taken mostly from Valerius Maximus, with additional material from Augustine (De civitate Dei, De beata vita, Epistolae), Bible (Proverbs), Cicero (De officiis, etc.), Seneca (Epistolae morales, De ira, De constantia), Macrobius, Aristotle, Vegetius, the "Storie Romane" of "Arineo" (f. 6r), and "Salino" (f. 23v). The presence of the "versificatore" (f. 11r), cited in Latin (Walther, Sprichwoerter 33507), and a similar constellation of sources suggest that Vincent of Beauvais' Speculum Doctrinale was a major (though not exclusive) source for this author.
Description:
Imperfect: incomplete manuscript; leaves 42-43 also wanting. and Written by a single scribe in humanistic cursive script.
Subject (Name):
Valerius Maximus
Subject (Topic):
Cardinal virtues, Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Literature, Medieval--Translations, Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven, and Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library
Manuscript on parchment of Ps.-Joachim da Fiore, Vaticinia Pontificum. With additional prophetic texts including a Sibylline tract entitled De imperatore; and a Version of the "Tripoli" prophecy, added by a late 15th- or early 16th-century hand, here recorded as a vision in a Cistercian monastery in 1346.
Description:
15 small miniatures, 12-line, within narrow ochre frames inserted into text column, one for each prophecy in art. 3, ff. 15r-22r. The miniatures depict a cycle of Popes and city scapes with emblematic attributes against pink, blue and ochre grounds with small white filigree designs along the edges. Numerous flourished initials, 2-line, alternate in red and blue with purple or red penwork designs. Headings in red. Paragraph marks alternate red and blue., Binding: Fifteenth century (?). Tacketed through a limp vellum (palimpsest?) wrapper to thick leather pads with a basket weave around the sewing threads. Contemporary title in ink, on front: "De imperatore." Backs of quires cut in for sewing., Binding: Place uncertain, s. xv [?]. Tacketed through a limp vellum (palimpsest?) wrapper to thick leather pads with a basket weave around the sewing threads., Contemporary title in ink, on front: "De imperatore., Purchased from L. C. Witten in 1959 by Thomas E. Marston., and Script: Arts. 2-4 written in neat gothic bookhand. Art. 1 in a less formal bookhand and art. 5 in a notarial hand with various flourishes.
Subject (Name):
Joachim,--of Fiore,--ca. 1132-1202
Subject (Topic):
Illumination of books and manuscripts, Medieval, Manuscripts, Medieval--Connecticut--New Haven, Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library, Papacy--History, Prophecies--Early works to 1800, and Visions--Early works to 1800