Merton College MS. 227
Former shelfmark: A. 1. 1
RASIS, AVICENNA; S. XIV1
Contents
Language(s): Latin
Fols. iii, iv blank.
On f. iiiv is a short note from Avicenna.
On f. ivv is a table of contents s. xv ex., with three erased items now missing before f. 154: ‘d… Rasis | … Rasis | …y…mia Rasis’.
Pr. Milan 1481, fols. 7r-114r &c.; Carmody, 134–5; eTK 0272I, 0677E, 0679E.
Pr. Milan 1481, fols. 115–61 &c..
eTK 1684EPr. in his Opera, Milan 1481, fols. 163–92v, &c.; eTK 0421A, 1710E.
Pr. Venice c. 1500 (GW 311), fols. 29–64, &c.; eTK 0515I, 0570D.
Pr. Padua 1476 (GW 3116); eTK 0273I; Diaz 1608.
Physical Description
Collation
Layout
Ruled with crayon in 2 cols of 48 lines.
Hand(s)
Two proficient southern French or Italian gothic rotunda bookhands, the first to f. 153v.
Decoration
On f. 1 16-line coloured initial I with 3-sided border, in Italian style, showing a standing physician teaching;
red and blue initials flourished in the colours and violet; blue initials flourished in red, red initials flourished in violet; running heads in red and blue capitals; plain red or blue initials and paraphs; yellow highlighting.
Binding
Standard Merton s. xvii, repaired, rebacked and resewn (by Maltby, 1993) on four bands; formerly chained from the usual position. Fols. i-ii, 207–8 are paper binding leaves, the outermost from the same printed book as in MS 11. f. iii was once a pastedown. On f. 206 are two marks from a large iron chain-staple. The stub of this leaf is all that remains of the former rear pastedown. Near the foot of f. iv are four holes, suggestive of the large iron chain-staple; there are no marks in the corresponding positions on f. iii because the lower half of the leaf was lost and has been replaced in modern times.
History
Provenance and Acquisition
Made in south France or Italy.
Near the head of f. iiivis an erased inscription in a small early hand: [‘Iste liber est magistri R. de N(?) … de]’.
Given to the College by William Reed in 1374: UO49. 29. On f. ivv: ‘Liber magistri Willelmi Red ex dono magistri Nicholai de Sandwyco. Oretis igitur pro utroque’; ‘Liber domus scolarium de Merton’ in Oxon’ in communi libraria eiusdem et ad usum communem sociorum ibidem studencium cathenandus Ex dono uenerabilis patris domini Willelmi tercii episcopi Cicestrie. Orate igitur pro eodem ...’; in a very small informal hand, ‘Proprietas domus Mertone’. On f. 205v are ‘C. 31’ and ‘Prec. XXX s.’, s. xiv. For William Reed, fellow from 1344 until at least 1357, d. 1385, see MS 8.
Inside the front board is a sheet of paper with table of contents, s. xvii, and ‘P. 2. 10. Art:’, canc. and replaced with ‘N. 1. 1 (CCXXVII)’ in red; the College bookplate. ‘10’ is inked on the foredge.
Record Sources
Availability
For enquiries relating to this manuscript please contact Merton College Library.
Bibliography

Funding of Cataloguing
Conversion of the printed catalogue to TEI funded by the Warden and Fellows of Merton College .
Abbreviations
View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.
Last Substantive Revision
2019-08-30: First online publication