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Askham in manuscript
If anyone plans to get to the Beinecke this year,
I wonder if you might have a chance to compare the
paper, inks, colors and paginations on this
manuscript with the VMS. This book was never
printed, so it *might* be a companion or precursor
to the VMS. Here is the citation:
MS 337 England, 1526-27
Sacro Bosco, De sphaera (Eng. tr.), etc.
1. ff. 1r[Inscriptions at top of title page:]
Verbum domini manet in
eternum/ [Greek] [title,
enclosed in a circle with a spiralling scroll:]
here begynnythe a boke off
astronomy callyd the spere the qwyche is newly
translaytt owtt off latyne in
to owre ynglysche tonge the gere off owre lord god
m ccccc xxvj. [inscription
at bottom of folio:] Antonius Aschamus. f. 1v
blank
2. ff. 2r-7rhere begynnyth the table off th^^is
presentt boke the qwych
is dewyded in iiij bokes off whom th^^e fyrst
boke...The eclipse off th^^e
sone and mone both particular and hole. Capitulum
tertium .li. quarti. Here
ffynyshethe the table off this presentt boke.
Table of contents for art. 3.
3. ff. 7v-82rhere begynnythe sertayne notes or
rewles off geometre
necessary and nedfull to be knowyn a fore th^^e
redyng off this presentt
boke. [ff. 7v-10v contain introductory remarks
not in the Latin text]...
[beginning of treatise, f. 11r:] The difinition
off spera. Capitulum
primum li primj. Spera as euclide doth wrytt is a
thyng rownd and solide
th^^e qwych is discribed by the...for the more
that the mone dothe go in to
the opposite off the sone the more lyght she takes
as doth apere by this
fygure. Here Endithe the spere Introductory to
astronomy with the histories
off the constellationes and ymages off hewen both
fygured and emargyned the
names off the autentyke authores the longytud and
latytud off certayne
prouynces In Europe aphrice and asia the mowynge
off the .x. hewenes and
the ymaginationes off all the circles as is afore
expresed the whiche is newly
translayt surthe [?] off latyne in to yngliche By
anthony askham scoler and
studient off the vniuersite off cambrige In the
gere off oure lord god a
thowsand .v. hundrethe and xxvij. f. 82v blank
Joannes de Sacro Bosco, Sphaera, translated
into English and supplemented
by Anthony Ascham.
4. ff. 83r-105rCalendar for the years 1529-35.
For each of the twelve
months there is a table, Latin quotation, and a
volvelle with sign of the
zodiac (volvelles for January, February, June,
July, August, and September
are defective). On f. 105r is a brief explanation
of how to use the
calendar: "for the declaration off this kalender
ye shall vnderstand that
the goldyng nowmbre is set in the hyghest
circle...Also th^^e whitte
colore stand for the change and the blake for the
fulle. here endythe the
kalender composid by the sayd Anthony Askham."
5. ff. 105v-106vThe complaynt off sanct cipriane
the grett Nigromancer
mayd after that he was conuertid off the virgyne
Justyne. O mortall man
In this lyffe transitore/ In dewde with grace
throwght power celestiall/...
for me and all mankynd thy body was rent/ have
pety on me lord for mercy I
cry/ thy holy precept I shall neuer deny./ Quod
Anthony Askham.
F. Robinson, "'The Complaynt Off Sanct
Cipriane, The Grett
Nigromancer': A Poem by Anthony Ascham," The
Review of English Studies
27 (1976) pp. 257-65.
Paper (watermarks: similar to Briquet
Lettres et Monogrammes 9890
and Pot 12863), ff. paper stubs of leaves removed
+ ca. 106 (both the
foliation and collation are very confused due to
the pasting together of many
leaves, some of which have become unglued and were
foliated separately) +
paper stubs, 383 x 275 (323 x 222) mm.
Frame-ruled in ink or hard point;
lines for the text ruled in hard point. Format
and number of lines per page
vary considerably.
Text written in English secretary script.
Numerous explanatory drawings and tables
appear throughout the
manuscript, including 40 drawings of
constellations: 1. f. 22v the grete
bere; 2. f. 23v the lesse bere; 3. f. 24r the
serpent or dragon; 4. f.
24v the arctophilax or bootes; 5. f. 25r
crowne; 6. f. 25v hercules; 7.
f. 26r lyra; 8. f. 26v swane; 9. f. 27r
cepheus; 10. f. 27v cassiopea;
11. f. 28r andromeda; 12. f. 28v perseus; 13.
f. 29r auriga or the
carta; 14. f. 29v Ophiulcus or serpentarius; 15.
f. 30r dart or shafte; 16.
f. 30v Egle; 17. f. 31r delphyn; 18. f. 31v
pegasse the horse; 19. f.
32r deltoton or the triangle; 20. f. 32v Rame;
21. f. 33r bull; 22. f.
33v geminj; 23. f. 34r crabe; 24. f. 34v
lyon; 25. f. 35r virgen; 26.
f. 35v scorpius and libra; 27. f. 36r
sagyttary; 28. f. 36v capricorne;
29. f. 37r aquary; 30. f. 37v fysshes; 31. f.
38r gret whalle or monster
off th^^e see; 32. f. 38v flude eridanus; 33.
f. 39r hare; 34. f. 39v
orion; 35. f. 40r the gret dogge; 36. f. 40v
the lesse dogge; 37. f. 41r
shype; 38. f. 41v centaury; 39. f. 42r ara;
40. f. 42v hydra.
Nineteen maps, accompanied by tables of
longitude and latitude: 1.
f. 46r-v Spayne or iberia; 2. f. 47r-v gallia or
france; 3. f. 48r-v
germania; 4. f. 49r-v ytalia; 5. f. 50r-v
Cicilia; 6. f. 51r Sarmatia; 7.
f. 51v tracia; 8. f. 52r Macedonia; 9. f. 52v
epirus; 10. f. 53r-v
achara; 11. f. 54r-v lese asia; 12. f. 55r
syria; 13. f. 55v palestina
or judea; 14. f. 56r assyria, carmonia; 15. f.
56v india; 16. f. 56bis-57v
a large fold out map with composite drawing that
incoporates the preceding
geographical locations in Europe, and tables; 17.
f. 58r-v aphrica; 18. f.
58v-60r asia; 19. f. 61 a large fold out map
with composite drawing of the
earth, on verso.
Nine devices that explain the movement of the
heavenly bodies: 1.
f. 73r epicycle off fowre planettes that is to
say off saturne Jupiter mars
and venus; 2. f. 74v the sone hayth thre
perticuler orbes; 3. f. 75r the
planett Mercury hathe fyue perticuler orbes; 4.
f. 76v the mone hathe fowre
perticuler orbes; 5. f. 77r Off the station
direction and Retrogradation off
planett; 6. f. 78r the mone is eclipsid both
perticuler and hole; 7. f. 79v
the sone is Eclipsid; 8.-9. ff. 80r and 81v the
mone doth tayke lyght off
the sone (2 drawings).
All drawings are carefully drawn in brown
ink, tinted with washes of
green, yellow, black, brown, pink, and labelled in
red or brown ink.
Cropped, resulting in loss of some
marginalia.
Binding: s. xviii. Brown sheepskin,
blind-tooled with central panel
and outer border colored dark brown. Pink
spattered edges.
Written at Cambridge 1526-27 by the astrologer
Anthony Ascham, who signed and
dated the manuscript in several places (f. lr,
82r, 105r, 107r). Belonged to
Thomas Smales (signature and date "1727" on f.
lr). Purchased from C. A.
Stonehill, 14 Dec. 1964, with the Edwin J. and
Frederick W. Beinecke Fund.