Can... : Transcriptions

[R. Sale]

Many of them only have a label.

I glanced through my files. These are the ones that jumped out at me that have descriptions and which are probably describing the same plant:

Sloane 1975 (Canabe)
Plut 73.16 (capae silvatice)
Palatino 586 (Canapa)
Historia Plantarum (Canap domestica)
Harley 1585 (Canabe)
Harley 5294 (Canebe silvatica)
Trinity (Canabi silvatici)

I can't remember if the one in Egerton 747 is Cannabis or one of the other plants that looks like it (it is called Canapa but it is not drawn like the plant we call Cannabis).

The one in Morgan M.652 is probably Eupatorium (not Cannabis).

Building on that list, here is what there is so far.

Sloane 1975 (Canabe) - late 12 C; Eng. / N. Fr. Has labeled image and text.
Plut 73.16 (capae silvatice) - 1200-1299; Byzantine
Palatino 586 (Canapa) - Provencal
Historia Plantarum (Canap domestica) - multiple texts from Arab sources.
   BNF Latin 9333 - Rhineland; 1445-1451
Harley 1585 (Canabe) - 1175; Neth. (Liége?)
Harley 5294 (Canebe silvatica)- 2nd half of 12 C; Eng. Has labeled image and text.
Trinity (Canabi silvatici) - no info
Egerton 747 - c. 1280- c. 1310; Italy (Salerno)
Morgan M.652 - 10 C; Constantinople

So this includes a wide variety of potential 'sources' for a VMs illustration and text 'monograph', if that is  truly what the VMs illustration represents. Somehow these manuscripts and their potential readers traveled and mingled during the time of the VMs C-14 dates. Some of them seem more probable than others.

It is interesting to see the matching provenance Sloane 1975 and Harley 5279, both of which have revealed their illustrations, and yet their representations can be so different. Sloan is highly stylized. It almost looks like a poster from the '60s. While in this Harley at bottom of f40r, the illustration is all gray and spikey. Structurally like the stem of a lily. Also strangely like the nearby top You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. - the viola. Nevertheless, there still needs to be an investigation of both texts.

Also of potential interest is the other Harley ms. though 1175 is petty early. So what is missing are more examples dated to 1300-1450. The intent is not to match the illustrations, though that would be great, but to build on the topical identity in order to collect these examples of the related texts and look for the three section structure that the VMs text has. But if all these historical examples begin with "Nomen herbe", that might not work out.