Gilbert the Englishman, Compendium medicine
St John's College MS 108
St John's College, University of Oxford
Description
From Medieval manuscripts in Oxford libraries
This is an extract only. For more information, see the catalogue record in Medieval manuscripts in Oxford libraries.
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Title
Gilbert the Englishman, Compendium medicine
Shelfmark
St John's College MS 108
Place of origin
England
Date
s. xiv1
Language
Latin
Middle English (1100-1500)
Contents
Form
codex
Support
Vellum (FSOS/FHHF).
Physical extent
Fols. iv + 351 + ii(numbered fols. v–vi).
Hands
Written in gothic textura rotunda . Punctuation by point and medial point .
Decoration
Like MS 76, the textual presentation is modelled on that of Bible MSS. Rubrics in red; alternate red and blue 2-line lombards at the heads of divisions (up to fol. 86, elaborately flourished in the other colour forming a full column border; thereafter flourishing ceases).
Running titles usually in blue (only fitfully present after fol. 300)—in books 1, 3, and the early part of book 5 ( fols. 189–201), alternate red and blue—giving book and folio number.
Quire 26, in addition to its peculiar formation, is also unusual in its decoration, with some starts on flourishing with extended blue bars by initial capitals and a few capitals in gold leaf (continuing into the next quire and occasionally used for numbering in running titles).
One illuminated initial, in a champe with marginal floral sprays on gold-leaf ground, shows a red-robed physician examining a urine flask ( fol. 1ra).
See AT, no. 293 (30), dating s. xiv2/4.
Binding
A limp vellum wrapper, s. xvi, with two rag ties to hold the book shut. Sewn on three thongs. Gold ‘108’ at the head of the spine, in black ink on the leading edges. Pastedowns modern paper, a College bookplate on the front pastedown. At the front, one modern paper flyleaf and three medieval vellum ones (apparently fols. ii + iv are a bifolium, fol. iii single and followed by its stub); at the rear, one medieval vellum flyleaf and one modern paper one (v–vi). When Coxe described the MS, it included flyleaves (s. xv3/4) from a commentary on Paul’s epistles to Timothy. These have now been removed and form MS 235, frag. nos. 112–13.
Provenance
‘Liber Collegij Divi Johannis Baptistae Oxon’ ex dono Domini Gulielmi PaddeiMilitis et olim Collegii Convictoris 1634’ ( fol. 2 , upper margin).
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