St John's College L.2 (James 359)

William Davison, 'Elementa Physicae Practicae', etc. Latin, c. 1631

 

William Davison (fl. 1635-60):

  1. 'Elementa Physicae Practicae, artificiosam rerum naturalium speculationem, et in usus Medicos, praeparationem, et administrationem ...'; 'anno 1631' added in another hand (fo. 1r).
  2. 'De applicatione remediorum Chymicorum in morbis', (fo. 179).
  3. 'Erotia sive causa convexsionis verum omnium' (fo. i).

James gives some biographical details for Davison, noting that he was born in Scotland, practised in Paris and was subsequently chief physician to the King of Poland. He also cites an unfavourable entry by Chaumeton in the Biog. Universelle. See also DNB.

Manuscript extra information

225x165 mm. i-iii, 1-12, i-xlix, 13-178, i-vi (iii-vi blank), 179-83, (i-xxiv), i-iii. 'Ex dono' Martin Lister (1638/9-1712), Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge, 1664, according to an inscription inside front cover. DNB says Lister travelled to France in the 1660s and it seems possible that he acquired this MS on such a visit. College bookplate (eighteenth century) on flyleaf.

A single hand, with new sections entered into the original foliation, and a few corrections. Autograph? Double-ruled margins, the text measuring on average 145x95 mm. Paper. Contemporary binding in gold-tooled marbled calf on boards. titled on spine in gold lettering: 'Elementa Physicae Practicae'. Labelled '2' on edge of front cover.