Liber institutionum activarum

The Liber institutionum activarum is the Latin translation, compiled in Spain in the thirteenth century, of an Arabic apocryphal Kitab al-nawamis drawn up perhaps by Abu Zayd Hunayn.

Also known under the titles Liber de ordinationibus, Liber Tegimenti (or Regimenti), Liber vaccae, the treatise contains several recipes and alchemical practices, integrating Picatrix.

The subtitle Aneguemis comes from the transliteration of the Arabic word nawamis or, more probably, the Syriac namusa. The two terms mean, respectively, "laws" and "secrets".

Some scholars suppose that the text is the Arabic version of a Syriac original entitled Liber secretorum, written by Thabit ibn Qurra, member of the hermetic circle of the Harran's Sabians. This hypothesis could be valid if we consider that the word tegumentum, often used by the author, means "the lining of secrets".

However, the attribution to Plato and Galen has ensured a wide circulation of the Liber institutionum activarum in the Middle Ages and Renaissance.

Divided into two sections, the treatise presents experimenta, fumigations, actions to produce mirabilia, exploiting the virtues of natural substances, and recipes related to organic magic.

Media:

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Manuscripts

Erfurt, Stadt- und Regionalbibliothek / Universitätsbibliothek, Ampl. 4° 188, sec. XIII-XV, membr., ff. I+104: 103ra-104vb.

Firenze, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, II.III.214, sec. XV, cart., ff. 84: 57r-74.

Innsbruck, Universitätsbibliothek, 489, sec. XIII, membr., ff. I+75: 64rv.

Leiden, Bibliotheek der Rijksuniversiteit, Voss. Chym Q. 60, sec. XVI, cart., ff. 64: 52-64r.

London, British Library, Arundel 342, sec. XIV, membr., ff. 86: 46r.

Montpellier, Bibliothèque Interuniversitaire. Section de Médecine, 277, sec. XIV/XV, membr. e cart., ff. I+163: 68v-78v.

München, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm 615, sec. XIII-XIV, membr., ff. 103r-108r.

New Haven (CT), Yale University Medical Library, Fritz Paneth, sec. XIV, ff. 685.

Oxford, Bodleian Library, Digby 71, sec. XV, membr., ff. 97: 36r-56r.

Oxford, Corpus Christi College, 125, sec. XIV (ca. 1300), membr., ff. 176: 123v(122b)-142r.

Oxford, Corpus Christi College, 132, sec. XV, membr., ff. 172: 139r-165.

Vaticano (Città del), Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Pal. lat. 1892, sec. XV, membr., ff. 266: 103v-119v.

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Firenze, Biblioteca Riccardiana, Ricc.119, sec. XIV-XV, cart., ff. II+200+I: 1ra-2va.

München, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm 22292, sec. XII/XIII, membr., ff. 174: 70-71 (prologus).

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, arabe 2577 (1167), sec. XVI, ff. 105: 104r-105r.

Antique Book

Modern Book

P. Scopelliti - A. Chaouech (a cura di), Liber Aneguemis, Mimesis, Milano 2006.

Bibliography

C. Burnett - W. F. Ryan, Magic and the Classical Tradition, Warburg Institute - Nino Aragno Editore, London - Torino 2006.

A. J. Festugière, La révélation d'Hermès Trismégiste, Les Belles Lettres, Paris 1944-1949.

A.-J. Festugière, La révélation d'Hermès Trismégiste, I: L'astrologie et les sciences occultes, Gabalda, Paris 1950.

O. Kibre - L. Thorndike, A Catalogue of Incipits of Medieval Scientific Writings in Latin, The Mediaeval Academy of America, Cambridge (MA) 1963.

B. Láng, Unlocked Books: Manuscripts of Learned Magic in the Medieval Libraries of Central Europe, Penn State Press, Pennsylvania 2010.

P. Lucentini - V. Perrone Compagni, I testi e i codici di Ermete nel Medioevo, Edizioni Polistampa, Firenze 2001.

P. Lucentini - I. Parri - V. Perrone Compagni (eds.), Hermetism from late Antiquity to Humanism. La tradizione ermetica dal mondo tardo antico all'Umanesimo, Atti del Convegno Internazionale di Studi, Napoli 20-24 novembre 2001, Brepols, Turnhout 2003.

D. Pingree, "Plato's Hermetic «Book of the cow»", in P. Prini (ed.), Il neoplatonismo del Rinascimento, Atti del Convegno, Roma 1990, Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Roma 1992, pp. 133-145, 323.

A. Sannino, Il De Mirabilibus mundi tra tradizione magica e filosofia naturale, SISMEL Edizioni del Galluzzo, Firenze 2011.

A. Sannino, "Tra Medioevo e Rinascimento: il De mirabilibus mundi", in Viator, 42 (2011), pp. 225-237.

A. Sannnino, "Altri due testimoni manoscritti del De mirabiblibus mundi", in Bruniana&Campanelliana, 2 (2012), pp. 215-229.

L. Thorndike, A History of Magic and Experimental Science, Columbia University Press, New York 1923-1958.

M. van der Lugt, "Abominable Mixtures. The Liber Vaccae in the Medieval West or the Dangers and Attractions of Natural Magic", in Traditio, 64 (2009), pp. 229-277.

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