Collection ID: 0002 | Metadata type: TEI | TEI XML | Data

Title

Ars artium ... etc..

Authors

• Dee, John, 1527-1608
• Ashmole, Elias, 1617-1692
• Napier, Richard, 1559-1634
• Charles Rainsford Collection of Alchemical and Occult Manuscripts (University of Pennsylvania)

Other related names

• Northumberland, Hugh Percy, Duke of, 1742-1817, former owner (http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/nr93028960)
• Rainsford, Charles, 1728-1809, former owner

Call number

Ms. Codex 1677
(3420 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-6206, University of Pennsylvania, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts)

Alternate identifiers

• bibid: 9962935463503681
• http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/912939034
• https://repository.upenn.edu/uniqueatpenn/23/ https://colenda.library.upenn.edu/catalog/81431-p3zc7rz4q

Publisher

University of Pennsylvania

Language

English, Latin, and French, with occasional words in Greek and Hebrew

Origin

Date

1787

Place

England

Summary

Occult compendium copied and compiled by Charles Rainsford and mainly comprising prayers, lists of divine names for invocations (p. 180-189), and instructions for conjurations taken from works attributed to well-known occultists such as John Dee and Richard Napier. Practical instructions for conjuring spirits include one experiment for summoning the spirit Askariel so that he appears in a crystal or beryl with a garland of yellow flowers upon his head (p. 52). Another section details preparations to be completed before conducting rituals such as securing a secret room with an eastward-facing window that has been consecrated with frankincense, abstaining from the company of women, eating a spare diet, and dressing oneself in clean clothes (p. 39-40). A note by Rainsford on p. i states that it is an exact copy of a manuscript that he borrowed from a bookseller for the price of one guinea and that the original had the name Dr. Dee written on it, presumably a reference to John Dee, the 16th century occultist. The last section contains notes regarding the personal papers of alchemist Richard Napier which were bequeathed to fellow occultist Elias Ashmole and which are now housed at the Bodleian Libraries at Oxford. This section also occasionally makes references to earlier pages in the manuscript (for example, p. 201 refers back to the use of beryls for conjuration on p. 52). Also includes a partial list of contents (p. 190-191).

Notes

• Title from caption title (p. 1).
   
• Ms. codex.
   

Extent

234 leaves : 159 x 98 (128 x 82) mm bound to 166 x 110 mm

Foliation

Paper, i (contemporary paper) + 234 + i (contemporary paper) leaves; [ii], 1-207, [208-466]; contemporary pagination in ink, upper outer corners.

Support

Paper

Binding

Contemporary blind-tooled parchment; remnants of two metal clasps.

Layout

Written in 15-16 long lines.

Decoration

Circular diagrams (p. 180); red ink used throughout.

Script

Written in a cursive script in the hand of Charles Rainsford.

Provenance

• Formerly owned by Charles Rainsford (British army officer, fellow of the Royal Society, and alchemist); bequeathed by Rainsford to Hugh Percy, Second Duke of Northumberland.
   
• Sold at auction at Sotheby's (London), 15 July 2014, as part of Lot 411.
   
• Owned by the 2nd through 12th Dukes of Northumberland, ms. 588, Alnwick Castle, Northumberland, 1809-2014 (bookplate, inside upper cover; stamps throughout).
   

Subjects topical

• Angels--Early works to 1800
• Magic--Early works to 1800
• Angels
• Spirits--Early works to 1800
• Occultism--Early works to 1800
• Occultism
• Spirits
• Magic

Genres

• Manuscripts, European
• Manuscripts, Latin
• Manuscripts, English

Keywords

• 18th century
• English
• French
• England
• Paper
• Magic

Licenses

• Text

  These images and the content of Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts Ms. Codex 1677: Ars artium ... etc.. are free of known copyright restrictions and in the public domain. See the Creative Commons Public Domain Mark page for usage details, http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/.

  URL

  http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

• Text

  Metadata is ©2017 University of Pennsylvania Books & Manuscripts and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License version 4.0 (CC-BY-4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. For a description of the terms of use see the Creative Commons Deed https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

  URL

  https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode

Table of contents

• 190 — Table of contents, p. 190
• 208 — Blank leaves begin
• 466 — Blank leaves end

Decorations

• 180 — Diagram, p. 180