![[English Manuscript 404 Collection of Medical Charms and Recipes]](jrl0911752dc-ms404%20.jpg "English MS 404 Collection of Medical Charms and Recipes")
English MS 404
Collection of Medical Recipes, Charms, etc., second half of 15th century
Size: 207 x 140 mm, i + 46 + i folios.
A fragment of a composite fifteenth-century manuscript, written in several hands, containing numerous medical recipes, charms, notes on urine, etc. There are remedies for stones, gout, broken bones, headaches, fevers, etc.; recipes for laxatives and diuretics; remedies for problems associated with pregnancy and childbirth; and 'how to know if a woman be with child' (f. 45v). There is an index of recipes on ff. 1r-3r, and the recipes are numbered in the margins.
The original manuscript has been severely damaged at some date, and has been repaired and rebound in the 20th century.
There is sketch of a woman's head in profile in the margin of f. 18v, and there are grotesque pairs of eyes in the margins of some leaves.
Related links
- Catalogue entry for English MS 404
- Conservation report
