THE BRITISH LIBRARY

Medieval manuscripts blog

10 April 2012

First Science Manuscripts Published

A selection of manuscripts in our Harley Science Project has now been published to the British Library's Digitised Manuscripts site. More volumes will be added in the coming weeks, and full details will be posted here. The recent upload starts the final phase of what has been a very exciting, 18 month project, opening up access to the British Library's outstanding collections.

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The first upload includes works by some of the greatest ancient and medieval scientists, such as Bede, Isidore of Seville, Martianus Capella and Pliny the Elder. The manuscripts deal with astrology, astronomy, the computus, mathematics, natural history and medicine, among other subjects, demonstrating the broad range of items incorporated in the Harley Science Project. It's particularly pleasing to note that the manuscripts in question cover many centuries of scientific knowledge, and that they were made in England, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, besides featuring texts in a variety of medieval languages (including English, Latin, Anglo-Norman French and Middle Dutch).

One volume was the subject of an earlier blogpost, Help us date and localise this manuscript, and we are extremely grateful for the assistance of those readers who provided us with information. We hope that you derive great enjoyment from this first upload, and that it leads to many great discoveries.

Harley MS 1009 William Rede, Astronomical tables with canons (England, 14th century)

Harley MS 1010 Medical miscellany (England, 13th-14th century)

Harley MS 1121 Miscellany including Livre de Sydrac (England, 14th century)

Harley MS 1585 Illustrated pharmacopeial compilation (Netherlands, 12th century)

Harley_ms_1585_f012v
Precatio Terrae: Netherlands, 12th century (Harley MS 1585, f. 12v).

Harley MS 1676 Constantinus Africanus, Theorica Pantegni (France, 13th century)

Harley MS 1683 Barthelemy Pardoux, Lectures on Galen and others (France, 17th century)

Harley MS 1684 Medical miscellany (Netherlands, 15th century)

Harley MS 1685 Gariopontus, Passionarius Galeni (France, 12th century)

Harley MS 1687 Expositiones vocabulorum Bibliae, including a medical note (England or France, 13th century)

Harley MS 1706 Medical and verse miscellany (England, 15th-16th century)

Harley MS 1720 Georg Joachim Rheticus, Magnus canon doctrinae triangulorum (Germany, 16th century)

Harley MS 1735 John Crophill, Commonplace Book (England, 15th century)

Harley MS 1811 Nicholas of Lynn, Astronomical calendar with canons (14th-15th century)

Harley MS 2269 Astrological compendium (England, 16th century)

Harley MS 2332 Illustrated physician's almanac (England 1411-12)

Harley MS 2378 Medical and culinary miscellany (England, 1360 with later additions)

Harley MS 2558 Thomas Fayreford, Medical miscellany and commonplace book (England, 15th century)

Harley MS 2650 Martianus Capella, De astronomia (France or England, 12th century)

Harley MS 2651 Macer Floridus, De viribus herbarum (Italy, 1458)

Harley MS 2660 Isidore of Seville, Etymologiae and De natura rerum (Germany, 1136)

Harley_ms_2660_f001v
The opening page of Isidore of Seville's Etymologiae: Germany, 1136 (Harley MS 2660, f. 1v).

Harley MS 2676 Pliny the Elder, Historia naturalis (Florence, 1465-1467)

Harley MS 2766 Iulius Firmicus Maternus, Mathesis (Italy, 15th century)

Harley MS 3015 Miscellany including Bede's De natura rerum (England, 12th century)

Harley MS 3017 Miscellany of computistical and astronomical texts (France, 9th-10th centuries)

Harley_ms_3017_f057v
Consanguinity table preceding the text 'Ratio sphere Pitagore philisophi quam Apuleius descripsit': France, 9th-10th century (Harley MS 3017, f. 57v).

Harley MS 3022 Collection of texts on theology, instruction and natural history (Italy, 14th century)

Harley MS 3035 Isidore of Seville, Etymologiae and De natura rerum (Germany, 1495)

Harley MS 3092 Hrabanus Maurus, De universo and De computo (Germany, 12th century)

Comments

If we wish to discuss the material on a particular folio of a particular ms., is there any way to link directly to that page, so that readers can use the browser to scroll around it?

The second and last image seems to have the wrong caption. What the image actually shows is one of Isidore's three tables of consanguinity. I have an English translation of it here:
http://piggin.net/stemmahist/envelopeconsang.htm

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