RASIS, AVICENNA; S. XIV1

Title

RASIS, AVICENNA; S. XIV1

Shelfmark

Merton College MS. 227

Place of origin

France, South or Italy.

Date

S. XIV1

Language

Latin

Contents

Form

codex

Support

Parchment

Physical extent

215 leaves of parchment prepared in the Italian manner (iv + 208, incl. 5A, 92A-B) The edges retrimmed, affecting marginalia and running heads, and spattered with red.

Hands

Two proficient southern French or Italian gothic rotunda bookhands, the first to f. 153v.

Decoration

On f. 1 16-line coloured initial I with 3-sided border, in Italian style, showing a standing physician teaching;

red and blue initials flourished in the colours and violet; blue initials flourished in red, red initials flourished in violet; running heads in red and blue capitals; plain red or blue initials and paraphs; yellow highlighting.

Binding

Standard Merton s. xvii, repaired, rebacked and resewn (by Maltby, 1993) on four bands; formerly chained from the usual position. Fols. i-ii, 207–8 are paper binding leaves, the outermost from the same printed book as in MS 11. f. iii was once a pastedown. On f. 206 are two marks from a large iron chain-staple. The stub of this leaf is all that remains of the former rear pastedown. Near the foot of f. iv are four holes, suggestive of the large iron chain-staple; there are no marks in the corresponding positions on f. iii because the lower half of the leaf was lost and has been replaced in modern times.

Provenance

Made in south France or Italy.

Near the head of f. iiivis an erased inscription in a small early hand: [‘Iste liber est magistri R. de N de]’.

Given to the College by William Reed in 1374: UO49. 29. On f. ivv: ‘Liber magistri Willelmi Red ex dono magistri Nicholai de Sandwyco. Oretis igitur pro utroque’; ‘Liber domus scolarium de Merton’ in Oxon’ in communi libraria eiusdem et ad usum communem sociorum ibidem studencium cathenandus Ex dono uenerabilis patris domini Willelmi tercii episcopi Cicestrie. Orate igitur pro eodem ...’; in a very small informal hand, ‘Proprietas domus Mertone’. On f. 205v are ‘C. 31’ and ‘Prec. XXX s.’, s. xiv. For William Reed, fellow from 1344 until at least 1357, d. 1385, see MS 8.

Inside the front board is a sheet of paper with table of contents, s. xvii, and ‘P. 2. 10. Art:’, canc. and replaced with ‘N. 1. 1 (CCXXVII)’ in red; the College bookplate. ‘10’ is inked on the foredge.