VMs: Alchemical herbals

["Philip Neal" <philipneal_vms@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I was at the Wellcome Library again on Saturday and I found that
they have modern editions of some of the alchemical herbals. This
tradition of herbals has been discussed previously on the list
because of their bizarre looking illustrations which look vaguely
like the herbal section of the Voynich MS. A book published
in 2000, Il giardino magico degli alchimisti by Vera Segre Rutz,
establishes new information about them which I have summarised on
a page

http://mysite.freeserve.com/philipneal_vms/alchemical.html

added to my web site

http://mysite.freeserve.com/philipneal_vms/index.html

The main points are:

1. The alchemical herbals are a tradition deriving from a single
original manuscript probably composed in 14th century Italy.

2. A 'direct tradition' of seven manuscripts are essentially copies
of the original. An 'indirect tradition' of seventeen other manuscripts
reworks material from the original.

3. The direct tradition is characterised by a list of 98 herbs with
unfamiliar names given in a fixed order.

4. Some of the herbs are thought to have held a particular interest
for alchemists, hence the name.

5. Some manuscripts in the 'indirect tradition' contain material
about gynaecology and conception. I have not seen illustrations of this.

Segre Rutz claims to have identified all or most of the plants illustrated
in the manuscripts of the direct tradition. Their odd sounding names are
derived from Italian dialect. If I have understood Segre Rutz correctly
(her editorial material is in Italian), she thinks that the illustrations
look bizarre because they represent dried and flattened specimens of
plants as they would be offered for sale in a market.

Some of the manuscripts in the indirect tradition are held by the Wellcome
Library itself. I didn't have the nerve to ask to see them, and time was
short anyway. However, the Wellcome is, among other things, an educational
charity, and I think if a group of interested people requested in advance
to see them, the Wellcome would probably oblige. Something for a list
meeting in London to do? The Wellcome Library is also within walking 
distance
of John Dee's magic mirror at the British Museum.

Philip Neal






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