{ "viewingDirection": "left-to-right", "metadata": [ { "label": "Binding", "value": "

Quarter binding of brown leather with marbled paper sides; made by Douglas Cockerell and Son, Grantchester, August 1970, as recorded on the front pastedown<\/a> by H.L. Pink.<\/p>

A former spine label of red Russia leather with the gold-stamped inscription 'Miscelleanea Medica MS' has been pasted on the front pastedown<\/a>.<\/p>

Binding height: 225 mm; width: 145 mm; depth: 35 mm.<\/p>" }, { "label": "Provenance", "value": "

Sir Thomas Knyvett (1539-1618): Knyvett's shelfmark is inscribed in the lower margin of f. 153v<\/a>: 'Sed \u2015 53'. See McKitterick (1978), p. 163 (MS 53).<\/p>

Thomas Knyvett (1596-1658): grandson of Sir Thomas Knyvett 1539-1618, inherited this manuscript together with Knyvett's collection. See McKitterick (1978), pp. 33-34..<\/p>

John Knyvett (1623-1673): great-grandson of Sir Thomas Knyvett 1539-1618 and son of Thomas Knyvett (1596-1658), inherited this manuscript together with Knyvett's collection. See McKitterick (1978), p. 36 .<\/p>

Thomas Knyvett (d. 1693): great-great-grandson of Sir Thomas Knyvett 1539-1618 and son of John Knyvett (1623-1673), inherited this manuscript together with Knyvett's collection. Thomas died without heir and the Knyvett library was fragmented after his death: 57 of Knyvett's manuscripts had been acquired by John Moore [see below] by 1698. See McKitterick (1978), p. 37.<\/p>

John Moore (1646-1714), bishop of Ely: no. 195 (inscribed on f. 1r<\/a>) in Bernard, Catalogi librorum manuscriptorum Angliæ et Hiberniæ<\/i> (c. 1697).<\/p>" }, { "label": "Physical Location", "value": "Cambridge University Library" }, { "label": "Extent", "value": "Codex: i + 117 | 16 | 9 | i leaves." }, { "label": "Funding", "value": "Wellcome" }, { "label": "Abstract", "value": "

This composite manuscript of three parts contains medical treatises and recipes in Latin and Middle English, including excerpts from the Liber de Sinthomatibus Mulierum<\/i> that was part of an ensemble of texts that was known under the title Trotula<\/i>.<\/p>

The manuscript also contains magical texts. The most significant text among these is the Liber de angelis annulis karectibus et ymaginibus planetum<\/i> (Book of Angels, Rings, Characters, and Images of the Planets), which provides detailed instructions for conjuring angels. The manuscript also features a number of added instructions with angelic characters, charms, and an elaborate necromantic instruction for a ritual aimed at raising the soul of a deceased person.<\/p>

The necromantic instruction has been transcribed by M.R. James, who used it as the basis for his publication The Experiment: A New Year's Ghost Story<\/i> in 1931. Although James's transcription is accurate overall, he has misidentified the name of one of the spirits on whose permission the ritual's success relies. The spirit whose name James transcribes as 'Raffaell', presumably the Archangel Raphael, in fact is called 'Assaell', referring to the fallen angel Azazel. With this correction it has been possible to identify the necromantic instruction as a copy of a work that circulated widely in magical manuscripts in late medieval and early modern England.<\/p>

Dr Clarck Drieshen
Project Cataloguer
Curious Cures in Cambridge Libraries
<\/p>" }, { "label": "Former Owner(s)", "value": "Knyvett, Thomas Sir, 1539-1618; Knyvett, Thomas, 1596-1658; Knyvett, John, 1623-1673; Knyvett, Thomas, d. 1693" }, { "label": "Title", "value": "Medical treatises" }, { "label": "Author(s) of the Record", "value": "Dr Clarck Drieshen, Project Cataloguer, Curious Cures in Cambridge Libraries" }, { "label": "Material", "value": "The manuscript consists of three separate parts, made of paper, but the third part also contains three parchment leaves" }, { "label": "Collation", "value": "