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Cambridge (UK), Cambridge University Library, Ff.iii.30

Microfilm

Additional Information

  • Appr. Date: 16th c. (July, 1550)
  • Genres: Medical or scientific
  • Illustrations: No

Notes

Anno 1550, Mense Juliano, Die Sextusdecimo
Iter Psellianum nos. 754, 1044sq (pp. 255-257, 432-444)
Halliwell entry Ff.III.30 (p. 153)
Hardwick & Luard no. 1238 (vol. 2, pp. 426-429)

For a detailed description of contents, along with provenance &c., see Hardwick & Luard, loc. cit. above (see bibliography and online resources). Written in a hand of enviable beauty, neat and clear but with occasional triumphal excursions into the margins (for an outstanding example, see the bottom of 254v).

At some points in the manuscript certain words are written in a color that does not come through in microfilm.

252r  The previous work or section ends, and the page begins, «...ἔοικε γὰρ οὗτος οἷον Θεμιστοκλῆς εἶναι τῶν χρησμῳδουμένων Πυθοῖ· ὥσπερ γάρ τις προφήτης καὶ πρόμαντις τοῦ χρῶντος προέστηκε τὰ λοξὰ ἐκείνου αἰνίγματα ἀναπνέων ἅμα κἀξηγούμενος :~ »

In a slightly different hue, but still clearly visibile on the film, are another seven lines, beginning on the same line where the above ends but apparently referring to the wide-ranging (so-called) De Iride that follows: «Περὶ διαφορᾶς νοσημάτων προβληθέντων παρὰ τῶν μαθητῶν· εἰσὶ δὲ ταῦτα: ποταπὸν τὸ τῆς ἀστραπῆς πῦρ, καὶ ὁπόθεν ἅψεται· καὶ εἰ πᾶν πῦρ ἐκ νεφῶν κατωρρηγνύμενον καυστερόν, καὶ διατί τὰ μὲν τῶν ἐκεῖθεν πυρσῶν δρᾷ, πρὸς τὰ σώματα τάδε, διαμέσων αὐτῶν χωρούντων, οὐκ ἐπιδείκνυται τὴν ἐνέργειαν:~ »

On the following line, and reverting to the previous color, begins the next section, labeled #180 (ρπ’) and beginning with a lovely, decorated capital the height of four lines (plus another two with its flowing top). Cf. Opusculum 19 in Duffy’s edition (see bibliography), which is somewhat different and fuller than this manuscript.  Incipit, «Ὁ μὲν περὶ τῆς ἴριδος λόγος, περὶ ἧς δὴ πρώτης τήμερον ἠρωτήκατε ἀναβεβλήσθω. Πολὺς γάρ ἐστι καὶ ποικίλος καὶ πλείστης δεόμενος ἐξετάσεως...»

254r  The usually careful scribe seems to have suffered a slight lapsus oculi and omitted a line, which he inserts into the margin: «ἑτέραις οὐσίαις εἰς ἔξαψιν θᾶττον ἀποσβέννυται· εἰ δὲ ἐντύχῃ». He soon recovers his composure and decorates the margin with another cordiform flourish, coming from the rho of a πρός. A small number in a later hand (λγ’) is at the bottom of the page.

256r  At the top of the page, not introducing or interrupting the text, is an inscription so faint it cannot be read with any certitude from a microfilm [we guess that it may include the word ἀστραπή but cannot make any assertion with confidence]. To the inscription’s right, and twice as high, is a triangular, deltoid figure with additional marking on the top, giving it the appearance of an old doll or angel. At the end of his labors the scribe (V&G 79sq.) signs his name, Georgius Peccator (though whatever else may be on his list of sins, bad penmanship is not among them), and tells us with a smile that he finished at eleven o’clock on Wednesday.

...εἰ δ’ ἴσως καὶ βάσκανος δαίμων τὸ σῶμα τοῦ δράκοντος ἐνδυσάμενος ἐπεκεῖνα τῶν μερῶν ἄγει τὸν θῆρα ὑπὸ τοῦ πυρὸς διωκόμενον, οἷς δὴ ἐξ ἀρχῆς βασκαίνειν εἴωθεν, οὐδ’ οὗτος ὁ λόγος ἀπόβλητος· ἀρχαῖον γὰρ αὐτῶν ἐνδιαίτημα τὸ τοιοῦτον γένος. Καὶ διὰ τούτου, πάλαι μὲν ἡμᾶς ἐξῶσε τοῦ παραδείσου. Νῦν δὲ καὶ τῆς γῆς ἐπιβασκαίνων, ἐξάγειν πειρᾶται. :~ ~

+            +            +            +            +

Ἐτελειώθη τὸ παρὸν βιβλίον τῆς ἰατρικῆς ἐπιστήμης εἰς δόξαν Θεοῦ, διὰ χειρὸς κἀμοῦ τοῦ ἁμαρτωλοῦ Γεωργίου ἐκ τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως. Ἔτει ἀπὸ Χριστοῦ συγκαταβάσεως ,αφν’, ἐν μηνὶ Ἰουλίῳ ις’ ἡμέρᾳ τετράδι.
ὥρᾳ ια’   :~ ~

Bibliography

  • The Manuscript Rarities of the University of Cambridge (Open in Zotero)
  • A Catalogue of the Manuscripts Preserved in the Library of the University of Cambridge (Open in Zotero)
  • Michaelis Pselli Philosophica minora (Open in Zotero)
  • Iter Psellianum: A Detailed Listing of Manuscript Sources for All Works Attributed to Michael Psellos, Including a Comprehensive Bibliography (Open in Zotero)
  • Die griechischen Schreiber des Mittelalters und der Renaissance (Open in Zotero)
  • Byzantine Medical Manuscripts: Towards a New Catalogue [to Supersede Diels] (Open in Zotero)