Strange and Wonderful

Of all the strange and wonderful books from the past, one of the quirkiest is the Kyranides, a book in vernacular Greek that describes in alphabetical order the magical healing powers of plants, animals, stones and their secret relationships. Also entitled The Book of the physical virtues, diseases and treatments or Liber medicinalis, the work is made up of two sections (the Kyranis of the Persian king Kyranus and the Liber therapeutikos of Harpokration of Alexandria), compiled by a Byzantine author only datable to somewhere from the 5th to the 8th century.


The first Kyranis, carved in Syriac characters on an iron pillar, was supposedly given by Hermes Trismegistos to men so that they could be educated on the virtues of 24 stones, plants, fish and birds. The book contains hints on alchemy and tons of lore about amulets and their powers.

Reg.lat.773 contains one of the most reliable Latin translations of the Kyranides, attributed to one Paschalis Romanus, a clergyman working in about 1169 in Constantinople. For a survey of all the manuscripts, see Mirabile.

This codex, which starts off with a "Liber Provinciale," also contains other unexpected items, such as a manual of French court procedure beginning, Li prevoz de Paris tendra cette forme a ses plaiz. Se aucuns meut question devant ... There's an image of these procedures too:

In the past week, 73 new items have arrived online in the Vatican Library's digitization program, bringing the total to date to 14,506. This does not count Pal.lat. items which I track separately. New in color (formerly only in black and white) is Vat.lat.1573, which is one of Lowe's examples of Beneventan script. This is an 11th-century book of Vergil, containing the Bucolics, Georgics, Aeneid.

1. Reg.lat.64
2. Reg.lat.82
3. Reg.lat.85
4. Reg.lat.95
5. Reg.lat.98
6. Reg.lat.100
7. Reg.lat.649
8. Reg.lat.726
9. Reg.lat.773, Liber Provinciale, Kyranides, Li Prevoz de Paris (above).
   
10. Reg.lat.794
11. Reg.lat.797
12. Reg.lat.814
13. Reg.lat.815
14. Reg.lat.841
15. Reg.lat.874
16. Reg.lat.876
17. Reg.lat.878
18. Reg.lat.879
19. Reg.lat.884
20. Reg.lat.885
21. Reg.lat.887, Relatione dello Stato dell'Imperio, e della Germania per tutto l'anno 1628, on paper
22. Reg.lat.899
23. Reg.lat.903
24. Reg.lat.906, Pedemontanus commentary of 1567 on 60 speeches of Tacitus, see Persee.
25. Reg.lat.907
26. Reg.lat.950
27. Reg.lat.958
28. Reg.lat.963
29. Reg.lat.1065, French synod documents dated 1284
30. Vat.ar.924
31. Vat.lat.1305, Arnaldus de Vilanova
32. Vat.lat.1414
33. Vat.lat.1423
34. Vat.lat.1499
35. Vat.lat.1583
36. Vat.lat.1637
37. Vat.lat.1666
38. Vat.lat.1729
39. Vat.lat.1780
40. Vat.lat.1797
41. Vat.lat.1807
42. Vat.lat.1808
43. Vat.lat.1809
44. Vat.lat.1813, Poggio Braccolini, 15th century ms.
45. Vat.lat.1814
46. Vat.lat.1817
47. Vat.lat.1822
48. Vat.lat.1823
49. Vat.lat.1825
50. Vat.lat.1830
51. Vat.lat.1835, Bellum Catilinae, Bellum Iugurthinum (Histories) by Sallust in a luxury Renaissance manuscript. See Rome Reborn
52. Vat.lat.1838
53. Vat.lat.1839
54. Vat.lat.1840
55. Vat.lat.1849
56. Vat.lat.1854
57. Vat.lat.1856
58. Vat.lat.1862
59. Vat.lat.1864
60. Vat.lat.1865
61. Vat.lat.1866, Gestis Alexandri Magni, by Curtius Rufus
62. Vat.lat.1868
63. Vat.lat.1871
64. Vat.lat.1879
65. Vat.lat.1883
66. Vat.lat.1885
67. Vat.lat.1888
68. Vat.lat.1892, translation by Ambrogio Traversari of Diogenes Laertius, De vitis philosophorum
69. Vat.lat.1905
70. Vat.lat.1906, Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars
71. Vat.lat.1916
72. Vat.lat.1930
73. Vat.lat.4075, astronomy in Latin translation: Ptolemy of Alexandria and Abū Maʻšar

This is Piggin's Unofficial List number 122. If you have corrections or additions, please use the comments box below. Follow me on Twitter (@JBPiggin) for news of more additions to DigiVatLib.