06-05-2017, 07:25 AM
Indeed, of course, these are two different herbs. The 'orchid' variety can be seen in a lot of manuscripts, in quite similar forms. Most of these are after the proposed date of the Cambridge MS.
I did not include Florence Palatino 586 since this herb is in the unfinished, unpainted part.
It is also included in many alchemical herbals, but it is missing from Oxford Canon Misc.408 (dated late 14th C). The latter only has the very similar 'Satirion'.
The version of Palma Christi in Morgan MS 873, which would seem to be roughly contemporary with the Cambridge MS, looks more like Ricinus ( You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. ), though the top of the plant is quite unclear.
There are lots more intriguing herbs in the same part of the MS and I have not yet had time to look at all of them.
On You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. (top), for example, is a herb with the very distinctive name 'Tetrahit Yudaica'. This herb is also found in the Tractatus tradition, sometimes without and sometimes with the 'Yudaica'. However, the illustration does not look like these.
The description of the herb also refers to Centaurea Minor, and the illustration looks quite similar to that. Now that does not help us a lot, since this herb is common in essentially all herbal traditions that I know of.
At the bottom of the same page we find the herb 'Alleluya', which again is common from all Tractatus herbals. The fact that it looks completely similar is probably due to the fact that the simple shape does not allow for a lot of variation.
What is clear is that it is much easier to come up with lots of questions rather than with answers.
I just have the feeling that I'm stumbling along a road that someone must already have stridden along.
But it's fun.
I did not include Florence Palatino 586 since this herb is in the unfinished, unpainted part.
It is also included in many alchemical herbals, but it is missing from Oxford Canon Misc.408 (dated late 14th C). The latter only has the very similar 'Satirion'.
The version of Palma Christi in Morgan MS 873, which would seem to be roughly contemporary with the Cambridge MS, looks more like Ricinus ( You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. ), though the top of the plant is quite unclear.
There are lots more intriguing herbs in the same part of the MS and I have not yet had time to look at all of them.
On You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. (top), for example, is a herb with the very distinctive name 'Tetrahit Yudaica'. This herb is also found in the Tractatus tradition, sometimes without and sometimes with the 'Yudaica'. However, the illustration does not look like these.
The description of the herb also refers to Centaurea Minor, and the illustration looks quite similar to that. Now that does not help us a lot, since this herb is common in essentially all herbal traditions that I know of.
At the bottom of the same page we find the herb 'Alleluya', which again is common from all Tractatus herbals. The fact that it looks completely similar is probably due to the fact that the simple shape does not allow for a lot of variation.
What is clear is that it is much easier to come up with lots of questions rather than with answers.
I just have the feeling that I'm stumbling along a road that someone must already have stridden along.
But it's fun.