{"id":3458,"date":"2017-06-09T14:28:28","date_gmt":"2017-06-09T18:28:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.library.mcgill.ca\/osler-library\/?p=3458"},"modified":"2017-06-09T14:28:28","modified_gmt":"2017-06-09T18:28:28","slug":"excision-of-middle-english-medical-recipes-in-osler-library-bibliotheca-osleriana-7591","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.library.mcgill.ca\/osler-library\/excision-of-middle-english-medical-recipes-in-osler-library-bibliotheca-osleriana-7591\/","title":{"rendered":"Excision of Middle English Medical Recipes in Osler Library, Bibliotheca Osleriana 7591"},"content":{"rendered":"

Guest post by Patrick Outhwaite. Patrick is a PhD candidate at McGill University in the department of English under the supervision of Professor Michael Van Dussen. He holds an MSt in Medieval Studies from the University of Oxford, and an MA in Medieval English from King\u2019s College London. In 2015-16 he was a placement student at the Wellcome Library. His research interests include the interplay between medieval theology and medicine, as well as palaeography.<\/em><\/p>\n

La version fran\u00e7aise suit<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

One of the most intriguing manuscripts of the Osler Library is Bibliotheca Osleriana 7591, a collection of Middle English medical recipes from the early sixteenth century. The recipes are from the Practica phisicalia<\/em> composed by John of Burgundy (c. 1338\u201390), who was best known for his plague treatises. In his most famous tract, De epidemia<\/em>, he identifies himself as \u2018John with the beard\u2019, practitioner of the art of medicine from Li\u00e8ge. As is typical of recipe collections of the period, John of Burgundy\u2019s Practica <\/em>covers treatments for the entire body, arranged from head to foot. The recipes treated everything from \u2018the ffistula\u2019 (p. 1) to \u2018a charme for the tothake\u2019 (p. 140).<\/p>\n

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The Osler copy of the Practica phisicalia <\/em>is a relatively small and cheap production written in a fluid cursive script. It is likely that the manuscript, or perhaps the scribe, was from the northern part of England, as the text contains northern dialectical features. The codex survives in a good condition, although it has been rebound in a modern binding, and a few pages have been damaged.<\/p>\n

The codex does not only contain the Practica<\/em>, as it also contains lists and lyrics on the practical uses of particular ingredients. On page 20 there is a list of the uses of \u2018Wateris\u2019 added by the hand of the main text into the bottom margin. This list comments, for example, that: \u2018Water of calamynt is good for the stomake\u2019 and \u2018Water of violette is good to hele aman & for the peynes & for the lyver.\u2019 Osler 7591 also contains a poem entitled \u2018Ematites is the stones name\u2019 (p. 100a) in 24 lines of iambic tetrameter.<\/p>\n

\"\"These lyrics explain the uses of Hematite, a red iron ore. This page features an annotation hand that updates the spelling of certain words in the poem and provides comments. On the following page (p. 100b) the annotator explains that the lyrics are \u2018a specimen of the poetry in those \/ Days; bring the virtues of the lapis \/ Hamatitis set forth in stylish verse.\u2019 The fluid cursive secretary hand of the annotations match a signature at the beginning of the codex: \u2018Ed. Cooper 1726.\u2019 Cooper comments at other points throughout the manuscript, such as on page 61 where he explains that he owns a small octavo insert that he believes to have been composed by the same scribe.<\/p>\n

One of the most peculiar aspects of Osler 7591, is that its section on male genitalia has been excised from the manuscript. Two leaves are missing that contained almost all of the recipe \u2018Ffor swellyng of ballokes\u2019 (only the title and five lines survive) and the entirety of the recipe \u2018Ffor ache in mannes lendes [loins or genitalia]\u2019. We can be sure that two leaves are missing because the quire (gathering) in which these recipes are partially contained (quire six of ten) is the only quire of six in the entire manuscript (the rest of the quires are made up of eight leaves each). Also, remnants of the excised pages are visible, as the remaining stubs show clear signs of excision with clean lines that result from cutting.<\/p>\n

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Adding to this, the recipes concerning the penis and testicles that do survive in Osler 7591 are the only recipes in the entire manuscript that feature manicules (pointing hands) drawing attention to their titles. This suggests that they were at some point considered notable. Perhaps the two missing leaves were removed by a reader for ease of access in continued consultation. Equally, the leaves may have been excised as an act of censorship, because the owner of the manuscript did not appreciate the attention that they received.<\/p>\n

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Osler 7591 shares an interesting parallel with London, Wellcome MS. 406, another copy of John of Burgundy`s Practica phisicalia<\/em>. The same section of the text has been censored in this manuscript. Instead of removing pages, an annotator in Wellcome MS. 406 has crossed through offensive words in the titles of two recipes. The first case of censorship appears on folio 35 verso, in a recipe entitled: \u2018For swellyng of a mannys veretrum\u2019. The second censored recipe, on folio 36 recto, is entitled: \u2018For scalding of a mannys veretrum\u2019. In each title the Latin word \u2018veretrum\u2019 has been added by the annotator. This Latin replaces the Middle English term for penis, \u2018pyntell\u2019, which has been thoroughly crossed out in each case. One can only infer that the exchange of Middle English for Latin was done in the interest of taste, as the word \u2018pyntell\u2019 had vulgar, colloquial connotations that were not shared by \u2018veretrum\u2019. The censorship of Wellcome MS. 406 allowed readers educated in Latin to comprehend the treatments, but others would have been ignorant of what the recipes concerned.<\/p>\n

The Osler and Wellcome manuscripts examined here reflect a trend in the early modern period where owners of medieval manuscripts became increasingly concerned with obscuring references to reproductive organs. Owners considered such content to be indecent and did not want readers to see the information. Whether through excising leaves or Latin glosses, the interventions in these manuscripts provide a clue as to how such codices were treated by post-medieval readers.<\/p>\n

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<\/a>Excision de Moyen-Anglais Recettes M\u00e9dicinales dans la biblioth\u00e8que Osler, Bibliotheca Osleriana 7591<\/strong><\/p>\n

L’un des manuscrits les plus intrigants de la biblioth\u00e8que Osler est Bibliotheca Osleriana 7591, une collection de recettes m\u00e9dicinales du Moyen-Anglais du d\u00e9but du XVIe si\u00e8cle. Les recettes proviennent de la Practica phisicalia<\/em> compos\u00e9e par Jean de Bourgogne (c. 1338-90), connue pour ses trait\u00e9s de peste. Dans son \u00e9criture le plus c\u00e9l\u00e8bre, De epidemia<\/em>, il s’identifie comme \u00ab Jean avec la barbe \u00bb, praticien de l’art de la m\u00e9decine de Li\u00e8ge. Comme \u00e7’est typique pour livres des recettes de la p\u00e9riode, la Practica<\/em> de Jean de Bourgogne couvre les traitements pour l’ensemble du corps, dispos\u00e9s de la t\u00eate aux pieds. Les recettes traitent tout de \u2018the ffistula\u2019 (p. 1) \u00e0 \u2018a charme for the tothake\u2019 (p. 140).<\/p>\n

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La copie d’Osler de la Practica phisicalia<\/em> est une production relativement petite et peu co\u00fbteuse, \u00e9crite dans un script cursive fluide. Il est probable que le manuscrit, ou peut-\u00eatre le scribe, provenait du nord de l’Angleterre, car le texte contient des caract\u00e9ristiques dialectiques du Nord. Le codex survit en bon \u00e9tat, bien qu’il ait \u00e9t\u00e9 plac\u00e9 dans une liaison moderne, et quelques pages ont sont endommag\u00e9es.<\/p>\n

Le codex ne contient pas seulement le Practica<\/em>, mais il contient \u00e9galement des listes et des paroles sur les utilisations pratiques d’ingr\u00e9dients particuliers. \u00c0 la page 20, il existe une liste des utilisations de ‘Wateris’ ajout\u00e9es par le scribe du texte principal dans la marge inf\u00e9rieure. Cette liste commente, par exemple, que: \u2018Water of calamynt is good for the stomake\u2019 et \u2018Water of violette is good to hele aman & for the peynes & for the lyver.\u2019 Osler 7591 contient \u00e9galement un po\u00e8me intitul\u00e9 \u2018Ematites is the stones name\u2019 (p. 100a) en 24 lignes de t\u00e9tram\u00e8tre iambique.<\/p>\n

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Ces paroles expliquent les utilisations de Hematite, un minerai de fer rouge. Cette page comporte une touche de notation qui met \u00e0 jour l’orthographe de certains mots dans le po\u00e8me et fournit des commentaires. Sur la page suivante (p. 100b), l’annotator explique que les paroles sont\u00a0: \u2018a specimen of the poetry in those \/ Days; bring the virtues of the lapis \/ Hamatitis set forth in stylish verse.\u2019 Las \u00e9criture secr\u00e9taire fluide et cursive des annotations correspond \u00e0 une signature au d\u00e9but du codex: \u2018Ed. Cooper 1726.\u2019 Il a comment\u00e9 \u00e0 d’autres points tout au long du manuscrit, comme \u00e0 la page 61 o\u00f9 il explique qu’il poss\u00e8de un petit \u2018octavo insert\u2019 qu’il croit avoir \u00e9t\u00e9 compos\u00e9 par le m\u00eame scribe.<\/p>\n

L’un des aspects les plus \u00e9tranges d’Osler 7591 est que sa section sur les organes g\u00e9nitaux masculins a \u00e9t\u00e9 retir\u00e9e du manuscrit. Il manque deux feuilles qui contiennent presque toute la recette\u00a0: \u2018Ffor swellyng of ballokes\u2019 (seulement le titre et cinq lignes restent) et la totalit\u00e9 de la recette\u00a0: \u2018Ffor ache in mannes lendes [longes ou organes g\u00e9nitaux]\u2019. Nous pouvons \u00eatre s\u00fbrs que ces deux feuilles sont manquantes parce que le quire dans lequel ces recettes sont partiellement contenues (quire six de dix) est le seul nombre de six dans le manuscrit entier. En outre, les restes des pages excis\u00e9es sont visibles, car les bouts restants montrent des signes clairs d’excision avec des lignes propres r\u00e9sultant de la coupe.<\/p>\n

En ajoutant \u00e0 cela, les recettes concernant le p\u00e9nis et les testicules qui survivent \u00e0 Osler 7591 sont les seules recettes dans le manuscrit entier qui pr\u00e9sentent des manicules (les mains que point) qu\u2019attirent l’attention sur leurs titres. Cela sugg\u00e8re qu’ils \u00e9taient \u00e0 un moment donn\u00e9 consid\u00e9r\u00e9s comme notables. Peut-\u00eatre que les deux feuilles manquantes ont \u00e9t\u00e9 retir\u00e9es par un lecteur pour faciliter l’acc\u00e8s en consultation continue. De m\u00eame, les feuilles peuvent avoir \u00e9t\u00e9 excis\u00e9es comme un acte de censure, parce que le propri\u00e9taire du manuscrit n’a pas appr\u00e9ci\u00e9 l’attention qu’ils ont re\u00e7ue.<\/p>\n

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Osler 7591 partage un parall\u00e8le int\u00e9ressant avec Londres, Wellcome Ms. 406, une autre copie de La Practica phisicalia <\/em>de Jean de Bourgogne. La m\u00eame section du texte a \u00e9t\u00e9 censur\u00e9e dans ce manuscrit. Au lieu de supprimer des pages, un annotateur dans Wellcome MS. 406 a trac\u00e9 une ligne \u00e0 travers des mots offensifs dans les titres de deux recettes. Le premier cas de censure appara\u00eet sur le folio 35 verso, dans une recette intitul\u00e9e: \u2018For swellyng of a mannys veretrum\u2019. La deuxi\u00e8me recette censur\u00e9e, sur le folio 36 recto, est intitul\u00e9e: \u2018For scalding of a mannys veretrum\u2019. Dans chaque titre, le mot Latin ‘veretrum’ a \u00e9t\u00e9 ajout\u00e9 par l’annotateur. Ce mot Latin remplace le Moyen-Anglais terme pour le p\u00e9nis, ‘pyntell’, qui a \u00e9t\u00e9 compl\u00e8tement \u00e9limin\u00e9 dans chaque cas. On peut d\u00e9duire que l’\u00e9change de l\u2019Moyen-Anglais pour le Latin a \u00e9t\u00e9 fait dans l’int\u00e9r\u00eat du go\u00fbt, car le mot \u00ab pyntell \u00bb avait des connotations vulgaires qui n’\u00e9taient pas partag\u00e9es par \u00ab veretrum \u00bb. La censure de Wellcome MS. 406 a permis aux lecteurs du livre, \u00e9duqu\u00e9s en latin de comprendre les traitements, mais d’autres auraient ignorant de quoi les recettes concern\u00e9es.<\/p>\n

Les manuscrits Osler et Wellcome ont examin\u00e9 ici sont repr\u00e9sentatif d\u2019un trend dans le d\u00e9but de l’\u00e9poque moderne, o\u00f9 les propri\u00e9taires des manuscrits m\u00e9di\u00e9vaux \u00e9taient de plus en plus pr\u00e9occup\u00e9s par des obscurcir r\u00e9f\u00e9rences aux organes reproducteurs. Les propri\u00e9taires consid\u00e9raient que ce contenu \u00e9tait ind\u00e9cent et ne voulait pas que les lecteurs puissent voir l’information. Que ce soit par les excisions, ou les gloses Latin, les interventions dans ces manuscrits fournissent un indice quant \u00e0 la fa\u00e7on dont ils ont \u00e9t\u00e9 lus.<\/p>\n

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Guest post by Patrick Outhwaite. Patrick is a PhD candidate at McGill University in the department of English under the supervision of Professor Michael Van Dussen. He holds an MSt in Medieval Studies from the University of Oxford, and an … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1083,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[293,323,324,134],"class_list":["post-3458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","tag-livres-rares","tag-manuscripts","tag-manuscrits","tag-rare-books"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.mcgill.ca\/osler-library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.mcgill.ca\/osler-library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.mcgill.ca\/osler-library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.mcgill.ca\/osler-library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1083"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.mcgill.ca\/osler-library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3458"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.mcgill.ca\/osler-library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3458\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3490,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.mcgill.ca\/osler-library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3458\/revisions\/3490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.mcgill.ca\/osler-library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.mcgill.ca\/osler-library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.library.mcgill.ca\/osler-library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}