Mellon MS 12

 RAMON LULL
 A collection of alchemical texts attributed to Lull, with some
 additional matter, in Latin
 England, unsigned, about 1450, with early sixteenth-century
 additions

 12.1 Anonymous. A poem and prayer in praise of alchemists.
 12.2 Ramon Lull. Parvum vade mecum, an extract.
 12.3 Anonymous. Ramon Lull's epitaph in two versions.
 12.4 Ramon Lull. Testamentum, Theorica.
 12.5 Ramon Lull. Epistola accurtationis lapidis.
 12.6 Ramon Lull. Lapidarium.
 12.7 Ramon Lull. Testamentum, Practica.
 12.8 Ramon Lull. Liber de mercuriis.
 12.9 Ramon Lull. Practica medicinalis secunde partis testamenti.
 12.10 Arnold of Villanova (?). Testamentum.
 12.11 Ramon Lull. Lapidarium, or Practica de formacione et
 compositione lapidum.
 12.12 Ramon Lull. Imago mundi.
 12.13 Ramon Lull. Testamentum.
 12.14 Ramon Lull. Cantilena.
 12.15 Anonymous. Exposicio Cantilene Raymundi Lullii.
 12.16 Anonymous. Materia confusa.
 12.17 Anonymous. Alchemy.
 12.18 Ramon Lull. Repertorium, or Conclusio summaria.
 12.19 Ramon Lull. Investigatio secreti occulti.
 12.20 Robert Greene de Welbe. A fixation of mercury.
 12.21 Ramon Lull. Codicillus, or Vade mecum.
 12.22 Ramon Lull or Arnold of Villanova. Liber prophetiarum.
 12.23 Ramon Lull. Compendium abbreviatum artis magice.
 12.24 Ramon Lull. Liber quinte essentie, or Dialogus Monaldi
 monachi ac Raymundi.
 12.25 Ramon Lull. Codicillus, or Vade mecum, another version.
 12.26 Ramon Lull. Ars conversionis, or Liber quattuor aquarum.
 12.27 Ramon Lull and St. Aegidius. In librum de aquis, or Ars
 operativa.
 12.28 Ramon Lull. Anima artis transmutationis.
 12.29 Ramon Lull. Compendium.

Paper codex with one inserted parchment leaf, folio, 281 x 205, one
unnumbered leaf, 319 ff. so numbered in an eighteenth-century English hand,
of which ff. 4, 5, 275, and 276 are now missing, other leaves loose. The
first 4 ff. now extant, ff. 88-96, 163-169, 268-274, and 307-319 (of which f.
167 is a blank and f. 315 is a parchment leaf) have all been inserted after
the original date of the manuscript and are written in a second hand. The
original portion written throughout by a single English gothic cursive hand
with heavy standard abbreviation, headings in red, rubricated, usually in
single columns 205-210 x 130, with right and left bordering lines in ink,
27-31 lines to the page; some pages with diagrams or drawings. The inserted
leaves written in another gothic cursive habitually employing writing of
different sizes, red headings, and capitals with slight decoration,
blind-ruled bordering lines, up to 46 lines to the page. All of the text in
brown inks of various shades. Some traces of signatures and catchwords (at
quire-endings) in the original sections, mostly trimmed by the binder.
Collation: (1)^^6-2? (partly numbered 0, 1, 2, 3, plus 4-5 missing),
(2)^^12+1, (3-8)^^12 (but different leaves pasted to the stubs of the last 4
ff. in the last quire at an early date), (9)^^6 (continuing in the hand that
occurs on the inserted leaves; the recto of the next following leaf,
originally blank, has been written by the same hand; signature "Robertus
greene de Welbe anno 1506," in a different hand from that of the copyist at
foot), (10)^^12+1, (11)^^12-1 (last leaf cut out, but foliation is
consecutive) (12)^^18-2, (13)^^14-1, (14)^^12, (15)^^8, (16)^^12,
(17-18)^^12, (19)^^12-1, (20)^^4 (an inserted quire of slightly later
writing, as above), (21-24)^^12, (25)^^10-1 (an inserted quire, last 2 ff.,
originally f. 275-276, cut away), (26)^^12-1, (27)^^12, (28)^^2-1 (inserted;
f. 300 is blank; f. 301 has been cut away), (29)^^10?-3 (30)^^10+1 (inserted,
including a single parchment leaf; contains Greene's signature). The original
sections written on three papers, the first watermarked with an extremely
primitive-looking unicorn with very short horn and long tail somewhat like
Briquet 9962 and 10176; the second, with a less primitive unicorn rather
similar to Briquet 9985; and the third, with bullshead with defined eyes and
nostrils and with cross above, rather like Briquet 15054. The inserted leaves
written on paper with a very elegant unicorn mark, more developed than
Briquet 10104, some leaves with a gothic "P" with cinquefoil above, rather
like Briquet 8809.

BINDING: Eighteenth-century English binding of dark calf, sides paneled in
blind with a roll tool of vine pattern, leafy sprays at the corners, back
with six plain compartments and five raised bands, probably original
parchment label on second compartment from top bordered with ink rule and
lettered in ink: "RAYM. LULLII | OPERA | MANUSCRIPTA." The binding
considerably repaired and some leather renewed. Original plain edges, the top
blackened.

PROVENANCE: Original ownership unknown; belonged in the early sixteenth
century (probably not so early as 1506, a rewritten date; perhaps about 1522,
as the apparently miswritten date on f. 129v suggests) to Robert Greene de
Welbe, who wrote Cambridge University Library MS Ff. IV 12 in 1528-1529 and
who owned other manuscripts now in British libraries cited by DWS, p. 941;
may have belonged to Dr. John Dee (1527-1608), but the contents of the
manuscript do not correlate well with Dee's own description of his MS T.66,
as has been claimed (see M. R. James, Manuscripts formerly owned by Dr. John
Dee, Transactions of the Bibliographical Society London, Supplement I, 1921,
pp. 22-23); belonged in the eighteenth century to an English collector whose
cipher of the conjoined letters "WA" appears on the verso of the second front
flyleaf and who probably had the MS bound; sold at Sotheby's, London,
November 17, 1902, lot 160 (see James, loc. cit.); Robert Steele of
Wandsworth Common, with his bookplate and extensive notes in his hand; Denis
Duveen, who acquired it from Maggs Bros., Ltd. (booksellers), London, 1938,
with his bookplate but without his usual number; Mellon MS 83, acquired with
the Duveen collection. De Ricci-Bond 18 (83).

CONTENTS

Front pastedown: [Top center, bookplate of Robert Steele; below, bookplate of
Denis Duveen; to the left numbers in pen and pencil; below, Duveen's address
stamp at the College de France and date stamp, 1 March 1940, both repeated
once and both in purple ink, and the following notes in his hand in green
ink:] This Ms was formerly the property of the famous | mathematician,
astrologer and alchemist Dr. John Dee. | It figures in the list of Dr. Dee's
Mss. published by the | Bibliographical Society of London in 1921 and |
edited by Dr. James (Ms. No. T.66) and under | the same number in the
original list edited by | Halliwell and published by the Camden Society | in
1842. Denis |. Duveen. | [below:] It is said to have been written in St.
Bartholomew's Priory | London; to have belonged to Sir George Ripley (1473),
passed | from him to Sir Robert Greene of Welbe, another famous alchemist, |
and from him to Dee. When the latter's house was sacked | his Mss. were
thrown in the mud--of which treatment this | Ms. may bear evidence! | [An
inscription scraped away at foot of the page was written in the same green
ink.]

First front flyleaf: [The recto of this leaf has modern notes of the contents
of the volume in pencil, possibly in Robert Steele's hand; verso of this leaf
and recto of the second flyleaf blank; on the verso in an early
nineteenth-century English hand:] Raymundus Lullus, aut Lullius, | insul‘
indigena Majoric‘, | scholasticus, Alchymista, | multarum quoque, novi
generis, molitor rerum, | literas ad reconditos pertinentium, (Principia
quarum hos M.S. contineri videntur,) | temporibus Henrici tertii et Edwardi
primi. | vixit; annoque M.CCC.XIII. obiit. | [then after a pencil note with
date 1329 a monogram of the letters WA (?) and the number 2810.]

First early flyleaf: [An unnumbered leaf, the recto written in an English
hand of about 1500, hereinafter referred to as "the second hand," which wrote
most or all of the leaves inserted into the volume at an early date. Begins,
line 1:] Sensus percipit, Imaginatio representat, Cogitatio format... [line
6:] Quis lapis noster et de quo vel quibus exstat | Quis pater aut mater...
[five verses in all, followed by:] Oratio cuiusdam alkimici dicenda ad hanc
scientiam intelligendam | perficiendamque Dominus deus omnipotens pater
filius et spiritus sanctus. Da michi famulo tuo | licit indigno... [The
prayer ends line 38 with a series of Amens, followed by a two-line quotation
ascribed to Plato. Verso entirely blank.]
  [12.1: Anonymous, A poem and prayer in praise of alchemists, plus a brief
extract ascribed to Plato, all unidentified.]

f. 1r: [A table of contents listing twenty-three titles in the volume with
their folio numbers, written in two different English hands, both probably
about 1600; below in the more cursive hand is a list of four editions of
works ascribed to Lull, Testamentum (Cologne, 1566), Libelli aliquot chemici
(Basel, 1572), De secretis nature (no imprint supplied), and Liber
mercuriorum (Cologne, 1567), all but the third readily identifiable in
British Museum, Short-Title Catalogue of Books printed in the German-speaking
Countries...1455-1600, 1962, p. 533. Verso blank.]

f. 2r, headline: [In the second hand:] Ramundi Lullij | [line 1:] vero multa
Etiam quod non ita fortis est ligatura... [There is a complex circular
diagram labeled "Sphera quinta | ignis" at the foot of f. 3r, while f. 3v is
entirely blank; ff. 4-5 are missing; f. 6, of which the recto is blank, is of
thicker paper and may have been the first original leaf of the volume.]
 [12.2 Ramon Lull, an extract from the Parvum vade mecum according to the
headline on f. 2v, not certainly identified.]

f. 6v, headline: [In the original hand ofthe volume, hereinafter referred to
as "the first hand":] Epitaphium Raymundi | Raymundus lully claudens pia
dogmata nulli | Orbe mirans diro iacet hoc sub marmore miro | Meek Seek deet
Sum sine sensibus esse [sic] | [Below, in a modern hand in pencil, is an
alternate epitaph, noted in the margin "aliter":] Raymundus Lulli, cujus pia
dogmata nulli | sunt odiosa viro, jacet hic in marmore miro | Hic M et C.C.
Cum P coepit sine sensibus esse. | Olaus Borrichius. | [then below in the
first hand, a circular diagram with a two-line explanatory legend beginning:]
Hec figura de principiis nature... theorice testamenti: | [remainder blank.]
  [12.3: Anonymous, Lull's epitaph in two versions, of which the first is
apparently anglicized and garbled. Below them is a diagram relating to the
Testamentum which follows.]

f. 7r, headline: Theorica testamenti | [text, line 1:] Deus qui gloriose
omnipotens existis... [The text ends on f. 87r, 13] ... in omnibus suis
elementis | Explicit Theorica testamenti translata de hispanica | Lingua in
Latinam Anno 1446 [sic] Deo gracias | [f. 87r, however, is an inserted leaf
mounted to a stub and is written in the second hand, although the whole of
the text to this point was written by the first hand.]
 [12.4: Ramon Lull, Testamentum, Theorica, translated into Latin by Lambertus
G. (or S?) in the priory of St. Bartholomew, London, in 1443, TK 410; the
full colophon, abbreviated and with the date 1446 in this MS, is quoted by
DWS 244 from a Cambridge MS.]

f. 87v: [Much of the page is occupied by a very large circular diagram
written by the second hand, as are the pages following through f. 97r. Below
the diagram is the following line:] Figura epistole accurtationis Raimundi
Lullij | [The text begins on f. 88r, with the headline:] Incipit epistola
accurtationis lapidis philosophorum Raimundi ad regem Robertum | [line 1:] In
virtute sancte trinitatis per ipsius infinitatem bonitatem Amen. Cum ego rai-
| mundus lully de insula maioricarum iam preteritis temporibus... [f. 90r,
6:] ... Elige ergo | ex ea intentum Laudans deum qui vivit in secula
seculorum Amen | Explicit epistola accurtationis ad Regem robertum | deo
gracias | [Below is a modern pencil note:] Responsio ad Robertum Brucem 1360-
| [remainder blank; on ff. 90v and 91r are four circular diagrams, two to
each page, which appear to relate to the foregoing text; f. 91v blank.]
 [12.5: Ramon Lull, Epistola accurtationis lapidis benedicti philosophorum ad
Robertum regem Anglorum. TK 296, DWS 250, etc.]

f. 92r, headline: Practica de lapide secundum Raimundum Luly | [line 1:] Deus
in virtute tua et trinitatis sancte. Incipio tractare generationem | lapidum
per artem ad regem virtuosum qui propter tuum amorem dedit se tuo ser- |
vicio. Et primo fili dicimus quod necessarium est scire et intelligere... [f.
97r, 37:] Finis lapidarij Raimundi | Reliquam istius lapidarij partem in fine
picture [?] magni Lapidis reperies | [in the right margin in ink in a late
sixteenth-century hand:] Vide in libro de | mercuriis | [then below, stained,
probably once treated with a chemical reagent to bring out the faint writing
and then overwritten, in another hand:] Robertus greene de Welbe anno 1506
[or 1516?] |
  [12.6: Ramon Lull, Lapidarium (?). A version of the text beginning as this
copy does has been described by DWS 253.xxi-xxiii, but this version ends
differently. The text concentrates on various precious stones and their
properties.]

f. 97v: [A large circular diagram by the first hand (which continues through
f. 127r, 13) in the form of a wheel in which twenty-three chemical substances
are named and given letter equivalents; the figure belongs to the practical
alchemy which follows.]

f. 97r, headline: Practica [then, a single word in a late sixteenth-century
hand:] Alkimia | [line 1:] Incipit secunda pars que dicitur practica et primo
diffinitio quod est alkimia | primum capitulum 1332 compleuit magister
raymundus testamentum. | [text:] Alkimia est vna pars philosophie naturalis
celata... [f. 119r, 18:] ... Et intellige quod quelibet pars istius est Ro- |
tunda intus et extra. Cum dei laude explicit tractatus iste. |
 [12.7: Ramon Lull, Testamentum, Practica, TK 77, DWS 244.vi. The Latin
translations of both the theoretical portion (ff. 7r-87r) and the practical
are entirely different from those printed by Ze IV, pp. 1-170, though the
chapter divisions and the diagrams in the text are similar. The final short
chapter of the Practica (XXXII in Ze, but 33 in the MS) is very much expanded
in the version in MS 12.]

f. 119v, headline: [At the top of the page a late sixteenth-century hand has
written:] Liber de mercurii [sic] seu Elixirum mercuriorum | [The headline in
the first hand reads:] In Libro de mercuriis seu elixirum mercuriorum
Capitulum 30ium - | [line 1:] Fili necesse est tibi ut intelligas operaciones
per quas creantur nostra | argenta viva... [f. 125v, 13:] ... que est
caliditas et siccitas | nata in ventre argenti. vi[vi] per calorem et
siccitatem. cum temporis mora. [superscript in the second hand:] largitate |
[at line-ending:] Explicit. |
 [12.8: Ramon Lull, Liber de mercuriis, TK 560, DWS 246, both recording only
one other copy; this copy is very slightly incomplete at the end. There are
seventeen chapters, numbered here 30-46, following consecutively on those of
the preceding text.]

f. 125v, 15: Nunc dicemus de composicionem [sic] aqu‘ potabilis sim- | plicis
que fit de sanguine fixato per naturam per confortandum humorem | radicalem
humanum. Capitulum 47um..- | Ac- cipe [?] aquam quam tibi supradiximus...
[Ends f. 127r, 3:] ... da ei cum aqua frigida gummi Et toxicato cum vino |
albo. Summo deo laus [flourishes] | Explicit practica medicinalis secunde
partis testamenti |
 [12.9: Ramon Lull, Practica medicinalis secunde partis testamenti, TK 963,
DWS 247. As in the other known copy the text is here anonymous, but placed in
close juxtaposition to other texts assigned to Lull; in this copy the
chapters are consecutively numbered.]

f. 127r, 6: Lapis philosophorum de terra scaturiens, in igne perficitur...
[line 15:] ... egrediatur a monumento cum regia potestate. | Explicit |
[12.10: Arnold of Villanova (?), Testamentum, TK 810; see also DWS 255.xv,
where the brief text is associated with works by Lull.]

f. 127r, 17: Sequitur alia pars practice que inquit [?] de [the next two
words probably over an erasure, then continuing through f. 130v, all in the
second hand:] Lapidibus philosophorum.- | Ad dandum intelligenciam super
illud quod declaravimus de effective | potestate sulphuris... [f. 127v,
headline, crossing the double-opening, repeated through f. 129v:] Practica
Lapidum Preciosorum Raymundi Lullij | [f. 127v, 14:] ... sicut postea in ista
practica declarabimus. | De modo faciendi elixir Lapidum virtuosorum
capitulum primum. | Accipe vnciam vnam aeris sulphuris albi... [f. 129v, 22:]
Et nota... [line 26:] ... Nec non cum sulphuribus simplicibus mineralis ac |
vegetalis mercurij quemadmodum in capitulo Lapidis diamantis declaratum est |
Et sic que dicam sicut pro composicione elixeris omnium Lapidum vir- |
tuosorum ac formis eorum sufficere videntur. | Deo gracias | Practica
raimondi Lullij de formacione ac composicione Lapidum | et elixir eorum
feliciter explicit | Ex ideomate gallico educto [the next four words
overwritten and stained:] Laudes deo dicam perfecta [?] | [then in the second
hand:] Anno incarnati verbi sesquimillesimo vigesimo secundo [sic] |
 [12.11: Ramon Lull, Lapidarium, or Practica deformacione et composicione
lapidum, apparently the completion of this work referred to on f. 97v of the
codex; the ending seems to relate to DWS 253.v. The date 1522 is perhaps
intended at the end.]

f. 129v: [The last two lines of the page are in the second hand in small
writing and seem to cast doubt on the proper location of the text which has
just been noted above.]

f. 130r, headline: Extractum conpendium [sic] ex Libro Intitulato y- | mago
vite raimundi lullij pernecessarium et vtile. | Ars nostra secreta continet
vnam medicinam factam ex vno corpore | ... [f. 130v, 28:] ... et sic apparent
predicte tres virtutes in ipsum | esse contente [sic] Deo gracias. 1506. |
Explicit ymago vite raimundi Lullij | [remainder of f. 130v and all of f. 132
blank.]
  [12.12: Ramon Lull, Imago mundi, extracts dated 1506, a text which has not
been identified in the literature consulted.]


f. 132r, headline: [In the second hand:] Testamentum Raimundi Lully
excellentissimi | De furnacis et Vasis Et primo de furnacis Testamentum
Capitulum 48um [Most of the preceding title, except for "Testamentum," has
been crossed through lightly by a later hand.] | Fili ad componendum summam
medicinam nostrem... [f. 160r, 17:] ... Fecimus | nostrum testamentum per
voluntatem de A In Insula anglie in ecclesia sancte ka- | terine prope
londonum vsque [?] partem castri ante tamisiam Regnante | rege edoardo de
Woodstock per gratiam dei in cuius manibus mittimus | in custodia per
voluntate de A. presens testamentum In anno post incarna- | cionem. Mo. ccco.
xxxij. cum omnibus suis voluminibus ["que," omitted] nominata fuerunt in
presenti | testamento cum cantilena que sequitur in presenti. | Deo gracias |
Translatum fuit presens testamentum de li[n]gua catelanica in latinum | Anno
domini 1443 6mo. Junij et cetera.- | [Below is a pencil note probably by
Robert Steele referring to manuscripts in the British Museum and Bodleian
Library.]
  [12.13: Ramon Lull, Testamentum, TK 559, DWS 248, also supplied with other
titles in the literature. In another manuscript the colophon is completed, as
in DWS, p. 230; see Manget 1, pp. 806-822. As in BM Sloane 419, the Cantilena
follows and is attributed to Ramon Lull.]

f. 160v: [The Cantilena is written out in ten stanzas of eight verses each,
two columns on f. 160v, but ending with a single column on f. 161r, which is
otherwise blank. Begins:] Amor nos facit hoc rimare [or rimari] | Cum
corruptione poteris scire | ... [Ends f. 161r, 15:] Sicut nos volumus
breviter | Tradere philosoficaliter | Explicit cantilena. | [Below is a
four-line note in a good sixteenth- century hand treated with chemicals and
stained, about the Cantilena, beginning:] Ista Cantilena est valde rudis...
[Below is a pencil note in Steele's (?) hand noting the occurrence of the
poem in BM Sloane 419.]
 [12.14: Ramon Lull, Cantilena, translated into Latin, TK 92, DWS 805, with
some variations from the lines cited by DWS.]

f. 161v: [This page contains an alphabet and the alchemical significance of
each letter, written by the first hand in two columns; an alphabet also
follows the Cantilena in BM Sloane 419, as noted by DWS.]

f. 162r, 1: [In the second hand, as is the case through f. 169r:] Nota de
Corporibus et spiritibus... [This and the following page contain procedures
unrelated to the Lullian corpus and not transcribed; ends f. 162, 10, the
remainder of the page blank.]

f. 163r, headline: Exposicio Cantilene Raymundi Lulij doctoris Illuminati |
[line 1:] mor facit nos hoc rimare Cum corruptione poteris scire. Corruptio
taliter facta | ... [Ends f. 163v, 26:] Explicit Exposicio cantilene
Raymundi. |
 [12.15: Anonymous, Expositio cantilene Raymundi Lullii, noted from its
occurrence in BM Sloane 419 by DWS 805.ii, etc.]

f. 163v, 27: Materia Confusa | [Below, the names of several substances are
arranged in a diagram; at the foot of the page is:] In ista figura perpendere
potes de quibus et quantis elementis...
 [12.16: Anonymous, Materia confusa, unidentified.]

f. 164r, headline: [The red writing is badly faded, but the heading is partly
repeated in the right margin by a later hand:] Capitulum de generatione et
corruptione metallorum extractum a presenti experimento [?] | Ex hoc
evidentia perpenditur... [f. 164v, 10:] Solvere est dividere Corrumpere et
primam materiam facere | Abluere est inhumare, distillare et Calcinare |
Reducere est interare impregnare, et sublimare | Fugere est desponsare,
resolvere et coagulare | [then in very large writing:] Scias quod philosophi
sunt sapenciores homines tocius mundi | Cum de omni re naturali intelligunt
et declarant naturam cunctam [?] | et occultam et manifestam quod quidem
absque eorum | scientia haberi non potest. | [remainder of the page blank.]
  [12.17: Anonymous, Alchemy in Latin, unidentified.]

f. 165r, headline: Repertorium Raimundi | In dei nomine Incipit conclusio
summaria Valde utilis ad intelligen- | ciam testamenti codicilli et aliorum
nostrorum librorum Nec non argenti | Vivi in quem pendet intentio tota
intentiva que aliter Repertorium dicitur. | Aqua vero nostra phisica
[superscript, "secreta"] tribus naturis componitur... [Ends f. 166v, 28:]
Explicit Repertorium Raimundi Lullij | [remainder of f. 166v and f. 167
blank.]
 [12.18: Ramon Lull, Repertorium, or Conclusio summaria, TK 121, DWS 259,
printed in Verae alchimiae, 1561, and Ze III, pp. 730-734.]

f. 168r, 1: Investigatio secreti Oculti Ramundi Lullij super opus maius. |
Ista est secunda pars huius libri que est de alphabeto... [Ends f. 168v, 40:]
... de liquore in proiectione. Et sic referans deo nunc gracias et semper.
Amen. | Explicit practica inventiones secreti oculti | Raimundi lullij Deo
gratias [This is followed by a monogram which has been read as combining R
and G, presumably for Robert Greene. Remainder of f. 168v blank.]
 [12.19: Ramon Lull, Investigatio secreti occulti, consisting of a second and
third part, as in DWS 254, parts II and III, and as cited by TK 779.]

f. 169r, 1: Si fixaveris Mercurium hec sunt proportiones... [Ends line 8:]
... quemadmodum ascendisti et cetera. [This is followed by a canceled word
that has not been read, then in a different hand:] greene de | Welbe [Greek]
[i.e., a Greek transliteration of "Robertos" and a Greek translation of
"Green."] | [In the right margin above is a note in an old hand:] Recipe per
Robertum Green | de Welbe | [remainder of f. 169 blank.]
 [12.20: Robert Greene de Welbe, A fixation of Mercury in Latin, not
otherwise identified.]

f. 170r, headline: [In the first hand:] Codicillus Raymundi [then in a fine
sixteenth-century italic:]
 aliter: Vade mecum de mercurio Philosophorum. |
 aliter: Clausula testamenti |

[line 1:] Deus in virtute trinitatis qua vnitas diuinitatis tue non leditur |
nec confunditur... [f. 214v, 2:] Et secundum istas quas tibi dedimus
operaciones multas alias facere po- | teris ad libitum dum tamen intelligas
magisterium. [flourishes] | Explicit thezaurus infinitus:- | [then in the
second hand:] quidem Codicillus veni mecum dc mercurio philosophorum |
[remainder ofthe page blank.]
  [12.21: Ramon Lull, Codicillus or Vade mecum, TK 409, DWS 252, printed in
Manget I, pp. 880-911.]

f. 215r, headlinc: [In the second hand:] Liber propheciarum Raimundi Lullij,
ceu [sic] arnoldi de villa noua. | [line 1:] In nomine sanctissime virginis
marie genetricis domini | nostri... [line 6:] Deus fecit nouum super terram
hoc enim comprehendit... [f. 216v, 27:] ... Et hoc est almizadir verum et
perfectum Deo gracias | Explicit liber propheciarum | [remainder of the page
blank.]
 [12.22: Ramon Lull or Arnold of Villanova, Liber prophetiarum, not
identified in the literature consulted.]

f. 217r, headline: [Continuing in the second hand:] Abstractum ab Compendio
artis magice Raimondi. | [line 1:] Recipe nigrum nigrius nigrissimo... [f.
218r, 32:] Explicit abbreviatum Compendium artis magice magistri | fratris
Raimundi lulij de secreta transmutatione metallorum | [remainder off. 218
blank.]
 [12.23: Ramon Lull, Compendium abbreviatum artis magice, TK 1331, where
citations to other manuscripts are supplied.]

f. 219r, headline: [In the first hand:] Liber quinte essentie Raymundi Lulij
| [heading, line 1:] Prologus Monaldi monachi de abbatia sanctc bencdicti
Parisius con- | solatoris Raymundi magni in libris dc secretis nature seu
quinte esscntie | quem composuit idem Raymundus abbati sancti Benedicti
Parisius | Contristatus erat vehementer Raymundus et uide [? corrccted in
supcrscript to "non" probably by the second hand] modica | desolacione
repletus... [f. 220r, 18:]... rerum ad plenum in eo tractatur [the previous
three words corrected by erasure from "per in eo contractatur"] Ideoque sic
intitulatur: | [in the right margin:] Prologus auctoris... [line 19:] Deus
cum tue sublime bonitatis ac infinite pietatis virtute... [Ends f. 299v, 24:]
et ametur quem quidem librum Christi custodie | commendavit. [flourishes] |
Finivit Raymundus istum librum parisius Anno ab incarnatione | domini
M.ccc.xix in monasterio sancti benedicti extra civitatem | [The year date is
repeated below in a later hand: remainder blank; f. 300 blank. F. 301,
possibly a blank, is missing.]
  [12.24: Ramon Lull, Liber quinte essentie or Dialogus Monaldi monachi ac
Raymundi, TK 263; DWS 241 refers to different printed versions. In this copy
the text appears to be complete.]

f. 302r, headline: De codicillo | [line 1:] De ultima circulatione et quare
fuit inuenta | Circulatio ista fuit inuenta per alios circulos circulatos ut
lapis noster | in quo ceteri circuli sunt. [Ends f. 306v, 10:] ... dum tamen
intelligas magisterium | Explicit noster [?] codicillus qui aliter dicitur
veni mecum | de mercurio philosophorum. | [remainder of the page blank.]
  [12.25: Ramon Lull, Codicillus or Vade mecum, an extract of TK 409, DWS
2S2, consisting of chapters 76 through the end of the text, a repetition of
the matter on f. 210r, 22 through 214v, but in a somewhat different recension
of the text.]

f. 307r, headline: [In the second hand:] Liber de aquis Raimundi Lulij [then
in a later hand:] seu quaestiones Mercurij | et saturni in solem et lunam. |
[Text begins and continues in the second hand through the end of the volume:]
Venerando amico Salutem. Et Iuxta Ritum salvatoris intuita namque | tua
epistola... [Ends f. 309r, 14:] ... si ibi non ponatur apud siluestre[m]
oleandrum cardinalem [?] visci squilla et cetera. | Et sic ad honorem dei et
Vtilitatem fidelium fuit iste tractatus | Vtilis editus rome Anno salutis
M.ccc.xxij. [then in a later hand:] aliter 32o. | [below, in another late
hand:] 1329 | [then in a modern hand in pencil:] 1329 | [remainder of the
page blank.]
 [12.26: Ramon Lull, Ars conversionis, or Liber quattuor aquarum, TK 1358,
not in DWS. T IV, p. 629, gives extracts of four manuscripts which closely
correspond to this copy.]

f. 309v, headlines: Raimundus Lullius in Librum de aquis partim beato ‘gidio
| existenti in heremo et domino Ihesu reuelatis et partim ipsi raimun- | do
ab ipso deo ob salutem fidelium eciam propalatis Vt postea in libri | serie
luculenter patebit | [line 1:] Cum ego Raimundus lullius alerde [sic]
existens a quibusdam amicis meis olim [?] | vt rogatus fuissem vt illis
librum aliquot super infirmitatum difficilium curatione | componere... [Ends
f. 312v, 8:] ... facit quidem hominem hilarem et iocundum et cetera. | hic
finiunt aque egidij et raimundi Lullij, felix | est qui eas possidet ac illis
vtitur deo gratias | [then, overwritten and stained:] R. Green | [remainder
ofthe page blank.]
 [12.27: Ramon Lull and St. Aegidius, In librum de aquis, or Ars operativa,
closely related to TK 296 (this copy has the prologue cited there), T IV, p.
631, and ending as in DWS 1004.V. Apparently other copies do not mention St.
Aegidius.]

f. 313r, headline: Anima artis seu diadema Roberti | [line 1:] Fvlgeat regis
diadema Roberti regum Illustrissimi rex illustrissime... [There appear to be
a few fragments of the Catalan text on f. 313v; f. 315 is a parchment leaf
with circular drawings, four on the recto and two on the verso, partly
containing triangles and intersecting triangles; ends f. 316r, at foot, after
describing the figures, line 35:] ... complementum tocius o- | peris in
alkimia perfectum. Deo gratias | Explicit compendium alkimie artis Raymundi
Lullij finitum anno salute 1321 ad ho- | norem domini et cetera. |
  [12.28: Ramon Lull, Anima artis transmutationis, apparently an abbreviated
version, TK 572; DWS 253]

f. 316v, headline: Compendium artis Raimundi Lullij in quo flores omnium
suorum | Librorum vniuntur | [line 1:] Homo cognoscens vxorem vel per
sompnium vel actualiter lapidem nostrum generare | non potest... [Ends f.
319v, 41:] ... secundum ra- | tionem facere debes et secundum magnum
ingenium. Compendium raimundi su- | per testamentum et codicillum et veni
mecum de mercurio philosophorum finitur. | Deo gracias | [A long marginal
note, beginning in the left margin and continuing across the page below the
explicit, begins:] O lector, ego caritative [?] | te moneo... [and ends with
five lines below the explicit; there follows, written over an erasure:]
Robertus greene de Welbe [Below, a monogram (?) has been rendered illegible
by overscoring; an inserted smaller leaf follows with notes on the manuscript
and on Lull in various hands, not transcribed; three binder's leaves and
pastedown follow, the note in red ink "319 pp" on the recto of the first,
pencil notes of Lull MSS in the British Museum by Robert Steele on the next
two pages, otherwise blank.]
  [12.29: Ramon Lull, Compendium, described by DWS 254 as a composite text
with extracts from DWS 252, 253, and other works, not in TK.]


SUMMARY: MS 12 is a highly important collection of pseudo-Lullian alchemical
writings with  a little additional matter. The translations from the French
and the Catalan originals which it  contains were mostly or entirely made in
England in the fifteenth century and are very closely related  to the groups
found in British Museum MS Sloane 419 and Cambridge Corpus Christi College MS
396. MS 12 can hardly be much later than the date 1443 associated with these
translations, as on f.  160r, but it is interesting to note that the texts in
MS 12 often differ somewhat from the versions  with fuller colophons, as
reported in DWS. The codex underwent a transformation about 1500 or a little
later when considerable new matter was added by another English hand on
different, thinner paper. Some of these additions have what are apparently
inscriptions, sometimes with a date, not in the copyist's hand, of Robert
Green(e) of Welbe, a known English alchemist of the earlier sixteenth
century. However, these signatures have at least in part been tampered with:
they have probably been treated with acid and overwritten. But one or two
have seemingly survived without such tampering. In the sixteenth century the
manuscript twice received a thorough reading and marginalia in two different
hands: a gothic cursive which might be Greene's or that of a contemporary,
and a later italic hand of some distinction which might be that of Dr. John
Dee, whose hand it does resemble. However, this codex does not correspond to
any of those described in the surviving lists of Dee's library. There is no
trace of ownership by George Ripley in the fifteenth century, as has been
claimed by earlier owners. The manuscript has also received later
annotations. The illustrations in the codex include Lullian alphabets and
tables in the form of wheels, an Arbor philosophorum, a group of flasks, and
a good, large drawing of a furnace. Several of these were reproduced in F.
Sherwood Taylor's The Alchemists, New York, 1949.