Mellon MS 27

 ALCHEMICAL MISCELLANY, in Latin and German
 Germany, the first section written in Usedom, Pomerania, by
 Wolfgang the Organist, 1536, the other sections written
 anonymously c. 1520, with additions written c. 1586 by Martin
 Roesel of Rosenthal

 27.1 Alexander Magnus. Luna plena, in Latin.
 27.2 Anonymous. De lapide ematice, in Latin.
 27.3 Khalid ibn Yazid. Liber trium verborum, in Latin.
 27.4 Anonymous. Alchemical recipe, in Latin, partly in verse.
 27.5 Anonymous. Alchemical recipes for various processes, in
 Latin.
 27.6 Theodoric. Practica, in Latin.
 27.7 Albertus Magnus. Semita recta, in Latin.
 27.8 Anonymous. Medical and alchemical recipes, in Latin and
 German, partly in cipher.
 27.9 Rupertus. Certum augmentum, in German and Latin.
 27.10 Anonymous. Alchemical recipes in German and Latin, partly in
 cipher.

Paper codex in Latin and German, partly in cipher, 4to., 210 x 155, ff. 132
with modern pencil foliation, consisting of three separate elements: the
first (ff. 1-29) of four quires written in 1536 in red and black in a gothic
cursive, (1)^^8-1, (2-3)^^8, (4)^^6; the second (ff. 30-65) of three quires
written in a well-controlled gothic cursive without color, (5-7)^^12; and the
third (ff. 66-132) of seven quires written in one or possibly two scrawling
gothic cursives, with red headings on ff. 109-124, (8)^^16, (9-10)^^8,
(11)^^10+1, (12-14)^^8. The pastedown and its conjugate flyleaf at beginning
with notes by Martin Roesel and three blank flyleaves and pastedown with
further notes by Roesel at end do not form parts of the collation. Written
space averages 180 x 140, in single columns, occasional double- and
triple-column notes, all 21-35 lines per page. At least five scripts
described above (but see Summary), plus two different, very attractive
humanistic hands by Roesel, who also appears to be the scribe responsible for
late sixteenth-century additions in cipher. Marginal drawings of alchemical
apparatus are cropped, as also marginalia, usually in the later italics, and
corrections by several hands. Inks range from light brown to near black, with
brown and red rubrics, red captions. Several initials illuminated in trick
have been cut from a late fifteenth-century MS and pasted into the present MS
at ff. 2v, 4v, 5, 10r, and 16r. Two overpatch addenda, on 31v and 32r, and
much correction, underscoring, and interpolation of textual omission, are
mostly by Roesel. Moderate standard abbreviation. Three distinct papers: the
first for quires (1-4) with unidentified eagle watermark somewhat resembling
Briquet 104 of c. 1537; the second beginning at f. 30r of a crown pattern
resembling Briquet 4921 and 1922 of c. 1500; the third of the Paschal lamb
resembling Briquet 61 of c. 1584, beginning at f. 66.

BINDING: Bound, probably c. 1586 for Martin Roesel, in red-stained limp
parchment (most of the stain now lost), single central clasp and catch now
missing from center of fore-edges, two slits on each fore-edge for thong or
ribbon ties, also missing.

PROVENANCE: Early ownership of the sections of the codex dating from the
first half of the sixteenth century is unknown, but one of them was written
in 1536 by Wolfgang, organist at Usedom in Pomerania; the earlier elements of
the volume came into the possession of Martin Roesel von Rosenthal, 1586,
with his ownership entry at f. 2r; shelf.number "A 29" from an early
collection written on the backstrip of the binding; Denis Duveen, with his
inked number 9 on front pastedown, acquired from H. P. Kraus, Inc.
(bookseller), New York, 1949; Mellon MS 8, acquired with the Duveen
collection. De Ricci-Bond 2 (8).

CONTENTS

Front pastedown: [This and the facing conjugate flyleaf have notes in Martin
Roesel's hand, chiefly in Latin, but with some words in German, Latin verses
on the flyleaf, recto, and a brief "De lapide philosophorum" on the verso. On
f. 1r, which is otherwise blank, is a recipe in Roesel's hand, followed by a
modern shelf-mark in pencil, "I.N.28"; other pencil notes, perhaps all by
booksellers, on the front pastedown.]

f. 2r: [In the originally blank margin at foot is the ownership inscription
written in a fine italic hand:] Sum ex libris Martini Roeselij a Ro:- |
senthal. Anno j586.| [The text begins, line 1:] Incipit Alexander Magnus |
Eximius experimenta- | tor Artis divine osten- | dens Viam Veritatis:- |
Memoratus primum [sic] in hoc | Libro me de Luna que om- | nibus donatur
humoribus [corrected from: humeribus] et | est Aqua et due [sic] aquae
[corrected from: aque] extracte | sicut... [f. 4r, 22:] ... et sapi- |
entibus et prudentibus Et ea par- | vulis revelavit etcetera |
 [27.1: Alexander Magnus, Luna plena, in Latin. TK 866 cites only Munich MS
26059, dated 1507, where the text is anonymous, and the opening varies
somewhat from the present version, which may be garbled.]

f. 4v, 1: Narratio de Lapide Ematice | rectificantem Tincturam. | Scias vero
quod non fit tinctura aliqua | perfecta nisi cum Lapide Ematice Rubeo qui
lapis deponit... [f. 5v, 15:] Nunc autem tibi dico de operacione | Lapidis:-
| Quid autem de Operacione | Lapidis de Philozophico | secreto plus dicam.
Hic | est enim Lapis qui seipsam | interficit proprie... [f. 9r, 2:] ... Et
vide | quot semper res Gopheff [sic] et Rubeas | imponas Et sic est finis Sic
locuis | altissimi qui vivit in secula seculorum | Amen:-:-:-:- | [remainder
of f. 9 blank.]
 [27.2: Anonymous, De lapide ematice, in Latin. Unidentified.]

f. 10r, 1: [Heading in Roesel's hand:] Rodianus Philosophus, | Alij vocant
eum Rodamus | [by the original copyist's hand:] Incipit Liber trium Verborum
| Lapis iste de quo fit hoc | Opus habet in se omnes | Colores Est enim Albus
| Rubeus... [f. 10v, 15:] Hic est Liber trium Verborum | Liber Lapidis
Preciosi qui est... [f. 15r, 6:] ... Laudetur | ergo sublimis deus qui tantum
| creavit ex re Vilissima | [by Roesel's hand:] Explicit Liber trium
Verborum.
 [27.3: Khalid ibn Yazid, Liber trium verborum, in Latin, TK 810, etc.]

f. 15r, 10: [By original text hand:] Spiritum Volantem capite | Et in radium
solis trahite | ... [f. 15r, 18:] ... Tunc in Vase proprio ponite | Vt
calcinetur optime. Post ipsam suo |
 [27.4: Anonymous, Alchemical recipe, ten lines in Latin verse. TK 1526 cites
a variant of thirty- two verse lines from B.N. MS 14007, of about the same
date as the present codex.]

f. 15v: [Originally blank, but with reading notes added by Roesel, not
transcribed.]

f. 16r, 1: SVmmi Philozophi [sic] | Hermetis ad imple= | antur et dixit: sua-
| uiter Ascendit a terra | in celum et a celo in terram | nutrix eius est
terra | ... [f. 22v, 10:] ... testam et in- | venies regem optimum et Virum |
[the rest with light double-cancel:] Et sic est finis huius operis | per me
Wolffgangum Organistum [sic] | De Uznam [i.e., Usedom] Anno 1536 | feria
secunda ante Simonis. et iude [i.e., 26 October] etcetera | [then a note by
Roesel:] Iste Stultius fuit Tran-Scriptor tantum huius nobilissimj | et
praestantissimi Librj non Compilator ac Tamen | se jactat quasi (ut eius
nomen indicate) autorem fuisse | Eiusdem autoris Compositio fuit tempore non
multo post | diluvium |
 [27.5: Anonymous, Alchemical recipes for various processes, here ascribed at
least in part to Hermes, not identified; copied by Wolfgang the Organist of
Usedom, the scribe of ff. 1-29, on 26 October 1536]

f. 23r, 1: [By Roesel's hand:] Cum illo corpore aquatico quae dicitur
Seibach, extrahitur? ... [a text of six lines, followed by alchemical symbols
listed in three lines, and further notes, then seven lines in cipher,
followed by a canceled recipe in Latin and cipher, and another canceled, in
Latin, then a final one, in German at f. 23v, 22:] Diese Chymische der
Phylosophen ... [f. 24r, 1: by Roesel's hand a canceled headline:] Sequitur
practica Theodoricalis | [then a two-line vertical note at right margin:]
Dieses ist ain Pracktick Theodoricj abbreviert... [then in Wolfgang's hand,
f. 24r, 2:] Recipe in nomine domini Venerabilem | Mercurium et ponas eum in |
suum Alveolum rotundum... [Ends defectively, f. 29v, 19:] ... ut | digeratur
usque in finalem completionem | Et vt elucescat rubicudissimus [sic] Lapis |
Sanguineus Verus Tunc illum iterum |
 [27.6: Theodoric, Practica, in Latin, incomplete at the end, perhaps an
abbreviation or unidentified extract from the "Alchemy" of Theodoric noted by
TK 619. Not otherwise located in the literature consulted.]

f. 30r, 1: [In a different sixteenth-century hand from that of the text
following, one word:] Cum [by an older, unidentified scribal hand:] cUm
multas regiones: atque provin= | cias. necnon Civitates ct Castel = | la
causa sciencie quae nuncupatur Alchi= | mia Maximo labore perlustraverim...
[f. 65r, 18:] ... Item in hac Arte vocat Aristoles [sic] cor= | pora
metallorum Lapides sicut ipse dicit in= | libro de posito exemplum quattuor.
Que scit mortifi= | care et per mortem vivificare esset dominus et |
affiniter salvacio animi Conductum pasce etcetera [in another hand:] velis
vitrix anatren | [f. 65v, blank.]
 [27.7: Albertus Magnus, Semita recta, in Latin, TK 319, etc.]

f. 66r, headline: [By another early sixteenth-century German hand:] aqua
ignea vocatur terminus | philosophorum | [line 1, by Roesel:] Unum et Item |
Cartagon. Lunaria. Lumnatica | Vel Barista. | Reperi in quodam Vetustissimo
manuscripto ... [Roesel's notes occupy the full page; then, f. 66v, 1, by the
same hand which wrote the headline on the prcceding page:] Item Cementum
nobilius super omnia cementa | ... [Further recipes and procedures in Latin
have been copied by this hand, ending f. 73v, 27:] ... circa hoc
circumspectus etcetera |
 [27.8: Anonymous, Unidentified medical and alchemical recipes, in Latin and
German, occasionally in cipher.]

f. 74r, 1: [Continuing in the same hand, the first line partly cropped by the
binder:] Nobilis Viri magistri patris Ruperty certum augmentum [of Gold] |
Nym feyn [Gold] ... [Ends f. 74v, 23:] ... ita et argento congruam | ultra
modum sit laus Deo etcetera |
 [27.9: Rupertus, Certum augmentum, in German and Latin, not otherwise
identified in the literature consulted.]

f. 75r, 1: [Continuing in the same hand:] Purgatio Saturni | Similiter
plumbum ... [The recipes and procedures continue through f. 108r, ending with
a passage in cipher, f. 108v blank. A new beginning occurs on f. 109r, from
which point there are headings in red to each procedure, more lines to the
page, and the paper probably changes, but the hand is either the same or a
closely similar one. On f. 109r, 1, a recipe is found beginning:] Praeparatio
Salis amari sequitur capitulum | Accipe sal amarum quae dicitur amarum amari
... [The text ends f. 132v, 13:] vel margaritarum est enim sulphur sapi- |
entum album quae comburit combustione meliora- | tionis: | [remainder blank;
then follow three blank flyleaves and the pastedown on which there are
further notes in Roesel's hand.]
 [27.10: Anonymous, Alchemical recipes in German and Latin, partly in cipher,
all unidentified except that beginning on f. 109r, cited above, which is
recorded by TK 23.]

SUMMARY: The contents of MS 27 combine a large number of practical
procedures, chiefly alchemical but sometimes medical, with a few standard
medieval alchemical texts, a juxtaposition already observed in early
manuscripts in the Mellon collection, e.g., MSS 2, 5, 6, etc. Occasionally
there are passages in cipher, added by Martin Roesel long after the principal
contents were written; the cipher seems to be of a simple number-substitution
type. It is not certain how many different hands have contributed to the
writing of the codex. Ff. 66-108 and ff. 109-132 are written in the same kind
of gothic cursive and are usually very careless and inelegant, so that all of
these leaves may be the work of a single copyist, and it is not impossible
that this same hand is that of Wolfgang of Usedom who wrote the first
component of the codex, and whose writing of Latin is also careless and
inelegant to the point of illiteracy. The writing of ff. 30-65 is, however,
the work of another copyist, who wrote a skillful cursive. Although all of
the papers in the manuscript are of South German, Augsburg types, the
colophon written by Wolfgang the organist suggests (but does not positively
state) that he wrote it in his native Usedom, on the island in the Oder
estuary across from Stettin; and if Rosenthal, where Martin Roesel had the
volume in 1586, is the town near Marburg, then MS 27 may have wandered
considerable distances in the sixteenth century. A very curious feature of
the handiwork of Wolfgang the organist may be noted: he cut out decorated
initials partly illuminated in trick from some other manuscript source and
adorned his own manuscript with them; despite his near illiteracy and the
clumsiness of his copy, he did not hesitate to claim authorship of a well
known text, for which Roesel soundly berated him on f. 22v.
 R.P.