Egerton Tractatus de Herbis
Founded during the 9th century in the southern Italian city of Salerno, the Schola Medica Salernitana was the first and most important medical school in Western Europe. It was here that Greek and Arabic medical texts were first translated into Latin before being copied and disseminated across the continent. One of the most popular and influential of these texts was the Tractatus de herbis, a pharmacopeia consisting of 524 chapters combining the knowledge of various other works concerning the medicinal uses of substances derived from plants, animals, and minerals.
An exceptionally artistic manuscript of the work originating from Italy ca. 1300 is stored under the shelf mark Egerton 747 in the British Library. It is the oldest surviving and probably the original manuscript of the Tractatus de herbis and for the first time since Late Antiquity, the illustrations of the plants appear to be based on direct observation, probably from a botanical garden. These miniatures have no equal among contemporary works of art β not even panel paintings and murals from the period can rival them.
Egerton Tractatus de Herbis
The Tractatus de herbis is a fine example of the medical handbooks created for physicians and apothecaries during the Middle Ages and were compilations of knowledge from Byzantine, Arabic, and Mozarabic sources. Due to the diverse cultural and ethnic origins of this information, medicinal plants had many different names. To avoid confusing different plants with one another, pharmacological manuscripts paired images of the plants with descriptions of their properties and applications as well as their most common names in various languages. The earliest surviving version of this text and one of the most beautiful originated from Salerno in the early-14th century but was relatively unknown before 1950 and was critical for the realization by researchers that there was an entire family of medieval herbals with a common ancestor.
An Italian Masterpiece
Egerton 747 of the British Library was purchased on July 10th, 1839 for the princely sum of Β£12,000. Although incomplete, it is one of the most artistically refined works of the period and is distinguished by both its beauty and its naturalism, most likely the result of direct observation by the artists. It originated in Salerno between ca. 1280β1310, home of medieval Western Europeβs first and most important medical school. While some versions of the Tractatus de herbis show only the names of the plant, animal, or mineral depicted, Egerton 747 includes detailed information neatly written in two columns with the miniatures embedded in the relevant text. It is one of the most important exemplars for the study of the family of Tractatus de herbis manuscripts.
Codicology
- Alternative Titles
- Abhandlung ΓΌber Heilpflanzen -Β Egerton 747
De Simplici Medicina
Circa instans
Antidotarium Nicolai
Tractatus de Herbis - Egerton 747 - Size / Format
- 294 pages / 36.0 Γ 24.0 cm
- Origin
- Italy
- Date
- Ca. 1280β1310
- Epochs
- Style
- Language
- Script
- Gothic
- Illustrations
- 6 full-page miniatures with titles; Large miniatures throughout the Tractatus de herbis illustrate each plant or substance described; 2 historiated initials; Initials in red and blue; Border decoration
- Content
- Collection of medical texts: Tractatus de herbis, text on forecasting with a lunar calendar, Antidotarium Nicolai, De dosibus medicinarum, a substitution list in case a certain ingredient is not available, 3 texts on weights and measures, synonyms for pla
- Artist / School
- Bartholomeus Mini de Senis (scribe)
- Previous Owners
- Reverend John Josias Conybeare
Sir Frederick Madden
#1 A Medieval Herbal
Language: English
(under 1,000β¬)
#2 A Medieval Herbal - Egerton 747
Language: English
(under 1,000β¬)
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