Verse and Transmutation - A Corpus of Middle English Alchemical Poetry (Critical Editions and Studies)

390 Pages·2013·2.16 MB·English

by  Timmermann

Verse and Transmutation
History of Science
and Medicine Library
VOLUME42
Medieval and
Early Modern Science
Editors
J.M.M.H.Thijssen,RadboudUniversityNijmegen
C.H.Lüthy,RadboudUniversityNijmegen
EditorialConsultants
JoëlBiard,UniversityofTours
SimoKnuuttila,UniversityofHelsinki
JürgenRenn,Max-Planck-InstitutefortheHistoryofScience
TheoVerbeek,UniversityofUtrecht
VOLUME21
Thetitlespublishedinthisseriesarelistedatbrill.com/hsml
Verse and
Transmutation
A Corpus of Middle English Alchemical Poetry
(Critical Editions and Studies)
By
AnkeTimmermann
LEIDEN•BOSTON
2013
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Timmermann,Anke.
Verseandtransmutation:acorpusofMiddleEnglishalchemicalpoetry(criticaleditionsand
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgements..................................................... xi
ListofTables,DiagramsandFigures.................................... xiii
Abbreviations........................................................... xv
NamingConventions ................................................... xvi
Introduction............................................................ 1
1 DefiningaCorpus:TheScopeofHistoricalMaterials
Considered..................................................... 2
2 WritingHistoryThroughtheLivesofTexts:AnAlternative
Approach....................................................... 5
3 ReadingthisBook:ABriefGuide............................... 9
CRITICALSTUDIES
1 IntroductiontoaCorpusofMiddleEnglishAlchemicalPoetry .... 15
1 AlchemicalPoetryinLateMedievalEngland .................. 15
2 TheCorpusAroundthe“VersesupontheElixir”............... 23
2.1 The“VersesupontheElixir” ............................... 25
2.2 TextsAssociatedwiththe“VersesupontheElixir”......... 31
2.2.1 PhysicalRelations:“BoastofMercury”,“Mysteryof
Alchemists”and“LiberPatrisSapientiae” ........... 31
2.2.2 CloseBonds:“Exposition”and“WindandWater”... 36
2.2.3 IntertextualConnections:“RichardCarpenter’s
Work”................................................ 40
2.2.4 PeripheralCorporality:“ShortWork”and“Trinity”.. 50
2.2.5 AdditionalPoemsfromtheRipleyScrolls:“Onthe
ground”,“Inthesea”,“Ishallyoutell”................ 55
2.2.6 AddedIngredients:“Lead”,“ThomasHend”and
“TerraTerraePhilosophicae” ........................ 58
2 TheCorpusaroundthe“VersesupontheElixir”:Origins,Patterns
andPeculiarities.................................................... 63
1 TheCorpusAroundthe“VersesupontheElixir”in
Fifteenth-CenturyManuscripts ................................ 64
2 TextualVariationandCorpusConnections .................... 70
viii contents
2.1 StructuralAdaptation...................................... 71
2.2 TextVariationinPoetry.................................... 76
2.3 Interphraseology........................................... 82
3 InterpretingScribalVariations ................................. 85
4 Coda:CopyistsandCollectorsintheCorpusAroundthe
“VersesupontheElixir” ........................................ 88
3 Authorship,AuthorityandAlchemicalVerse....................... 93
1 MedievalAuthorshipandAlchemica........................... 93
2 Attributingthe“VersesupontheElixir”........................ 96
3 Translations:Language,GenreandAuthority.................. 101
3.1 “RichardCarpenter’sWork”:“AlumendeHispania”in
EnglishVerse............................................... 102
3.2 “TerraTerraePhilosophicae”:The“Versesuponthe
Elixir”inNeo-LatinProse.................................. 107
4 TheRipleyScrolls:AlchemicalPoetry,ImagesandAuthority ...... 113
1 PoemsandPrettyPictures:IntroductiontotheRipleyScrolls 114
2 IlluminatedScrollsvs.PlainCodices:TheCopyist’sDilemma.. 126
3 NamedAuthorities,theRipleyScrollsandtheCorpus
Aroundthe“VersesupontheElixir”............................ 137
5 AlchemicalPoetryandAcademia:ManuscriptsasChroniclesof
ScholarlyEnquiry................................................... 143
1 TrinityCollegeCambridgeMSR.14.56andtheLibrariesof
Sixteenth-CenturyCambridge ................................. 144
2 TheMarginsofKnowledge:BooksandCommonplacingin
TudorEngland ................................................. 155
3 AlchemyAnnotated............................................ 159
3.1 ConversationsintheMargins:MarginaliainTrinity
CollegeCambridgeMSR.14.56............................. 162
3.2 ReadingAnnotationsasHistoricalRecords................ 168
6 AlchemicalVerseandtheOrganisationofKnowledge ............. 173
1 TheSloaneNotebooks:MedicineandtheCorpusAroundthe
“VersesupontheElixir” ........................................ 174
1.1 IntroductiontotheNotebookSeries....................... 174
1.2 TheCompiler .............................................. 178
2 NotebooksasVirtualLibraries ................................. 179
2.1 Medica ..................................................... 180
contents ix
2.2 Alchemica.................................................. 184
2.3 ContemporaryLibrariesasaSourceofNotebook
Knowledge................................................. 185
2.4 LibrariesandLaboratoryKnowledge ...................... 187
3 TheOrganisationofThoughtintheNotebookSeries .......... 190
3.1 TheOrderofMedicine..................................... 191
3.2 TheArrangementofAlchemicalInformation ............. 193
ConcludingThoughts................................................... 203
EDITIONS
PrefacetotheEditions.................................................. 209
1 AbbreviationsUsedintheCriticalApparatus.................. 212
2 NotesontheStemmata ........................................ 212
Poems................................................................... 215
1 “VersesupontheElixir” ........................................ 215
2 “BoastofMercury” ............................................. 233
3 *“MysteryofAlchemists”(excerpts)1........................... 243
4 “LiberPatrisSapientiae”(excerpts) ............................ 248
5 “Exposition”.................................................... 254
6 “WindandWater”.............................................. 260
7 “RichardCarpenter’sWork” .................................... 266
7.1 “Spain” ..................................................... 267
7.2 “TitanMagnesia”........................................... 268
7.3 “GodAngel”................................................ 277
7.4 “Sun” ....................................................... 278
7.5 “FatherPhoebus”........................................... 282
8 “ShortWork” ................................................... 286
9 TextsfromtheRipleyScrolls ................................... 294
*“Ontheground” .............................................. 295
*“Inthesea”.................................................... 297
*“Ishallyoutell”............................................... 298
10 “Trinity” ........................................................ 300
1 Textsmarkedwithanasterisk(*)arereproducedindiplomaticedition.
x contents
ProseTexts.............................................................. 305
1 *“AlumendeHispania” ........................................ 305
2 “Lead” .......................................................... 312
3 “ThomasHend” ................................................ 316
4 *“TerraTerraePhilosophicae”.................................. 320
Bibliography ............................................................ 327
1 ListofManuscripts............................................. 327
2 HandlistofManuscriptWitnesses ............................. 329
3 SecondaryLiterature........................................... 350
Index ................................................................... 371