SC - Spinach Tarte

[Phil & Susan Troy]

Michelle wrote:
> 
> In the following post, the Harleian MS. 4016 was mentioned - now I keep
> coming across various books which use a Harleian MS of some description -
> but the numbers after the MS vary - does this mean they are actually a
> different MS?
> 
> If they aren't different MS, can somebody explain why the date when it was
> written keeps changing depending on which book I'm looking at?
> 
> If they are different, can somebody please let me know what the date of the
> one that was used here was?

Harleian MS 4016 is dated roughly at 1450. The reason the dates change is
because they are different manuscripts. But then, I could never figure out the
dating system on Star Trek either.
 
It's my understanding that the name of the manuscript is that of the library
in which it is stored, be it a university library, a personal library, or a
library in some castle, etc. The Harleian Library is one such. Others with a
lot of the cookery manuscripts we tend to use in the SCA are the Ashmole, the
Bodleian, and the Royal. I'm sure I'm forgetting several others; the ones I've
named are all English,  there are numerous others in France, Spain, Italy,
Germany, etc.

The actual manuscripts are then numbered in some way, in some cases by shelf
or room, and then by manuscript, hence Harl. 4016. Depending on their length
and structure, they can be further divided into folios, pages, and paragraphs
or sections. So yes, Harl. 279 and Harl. 4016 are different manuscripts, both
in the Harleian Library. 

So, when you see a medieval recipe listed as, say, Bodl. 2073.B.iii, you're
looking, more or less, at an archaic equivalent (archaic, perhaps, but still
effective) of the Dewey Decimal System code for a specific book. In some cases
this notation can bring you to a specific recipe, not just the book. 

You can find more about the library notation system generally used for a lot
of medieval manuscripts in the introduction to Hieatt and Butler's "Curye On
Inglysch", and there is probably similar commentary on the specific manuscript
you mention in The Early English Text Society's "Two Fifteenth Century Cookery-Books"
 
I hope this answers your question...I hope anyone with additional information
or corrections will feel free to jump in here.

Adamantius

Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com
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