Matthaeus Platearius, De Medicinis, in Latin, manuscript on parchment [England or France, 12th centu

Ɵ Matthaeus Platearius, De Medicinis Simplicibus, a medieval herbal, in Latin, manuscript on parchment[England or France, second half of the twelfth century] Single leaf, with double column of 35 lines in an angular and prickly gothic textualis libraria bookhand, one- or 2-line simple red or blue initials, some small marginalia and manicula marks, recovered from a binding and hence trimmed at head and foot, stains, small holes, overall fair and presentable condition, 210 by 160mm.; in cloth-covered binding An extremely early witness to an important medical text, composed in the Salerno medical school only decades before this manuscript was copied, and attesting to its rapid spread throughout Europe Provenance: 1. Bernard Rosenthal (1920-2017), San Francisco, California. 2. Quaritch cat. 1088, Bookhands of the Middle Ages III, 1988, no. 80. 3. Schøyen Collection, London and Oslo, their MS 703, acquired November 1990. Text:This text was fundamental to the medieval study of herbs and their medicinal applications. It was composed in the celebrated medical school of Salerno about 1150 by one of the foremost physicians of the school. "Copies were circulated throughout Europe, where its value was instantly recognized and where it shaped the literature of botany and pharmacy for the next 300 years" (F.J. Anderson, Illustrated History of the Herbals, 1977). Copies were so sought after that it appears that early manuscripts of the text were used to pieces by the centres that had them, and they are of enormous rarity, with none definitively predating this witness. Apart from this leaf, the oldest recorded extant manuscript is that of the library of the New York Botanical Garden, their MS A, dating to c. 1190; while that of Wroclaw University Library, MS M1302 (the Codex Salernitanus) dating to c. 1180, was destroyed during the Second World War.The text here is that of chs. 17-23, describing: "Camodreos", used for vomiting, catarrh and scurvy; "Carui" (caraway) for flatulence; "Cuminum" (cumin) for coughs; "Cicuta" (hemlock) for gout, spleen complaints, redness of the eyes and scrofula; and "Ciperus" (cyperos, a kind of rush).