Pseudo-Apuleius
Pseudo-Apuleius is the name given in modern scholarship to the author of a 4th-century herbal known as Pseudo-Apuleius Herbarius or Herbarium Apuleii Platonici. The author of the text apparently wished readers to think that it was by Apuleius of Madaura, the Roman poet and philosopher, but modern scholars do not believe this attribution. Little or nothing else is known of Pseudo-Apuleius apart from this.
The oldest surviving manuscript of the Herbarium is the sixth-century Leiden, MS. Voss. Q.9. Until the twelfth century it was the most influential herbal in Europe, with numerous extant copies surviving into the modern era, along with several copies of an Old English translation. Thereafter it was more or less displaced by the Circa instans, a herbal produced at the school of Salerno. "Pseudo-Apuleius" is also used as a shorthand generic term to refer to the manuscripts and derived works.
Pseudo-Apuleius Herbarius
Illustrations
Text
The text of Pseudo-Apuleius Herbarius is based on late antique sources, especially Pliny's Historia naturalis and Discorides's De materia medica. Scholars agree that it was compiled in the 4th century, according to Sigerist from Latin, according to Singer from Greek sources. Each of the 128 to 131 chapters deals with one medical plant. In these chapters the name of the plant is followed by the enumeration of indications in the form of recipes and by synonyms of the plant's name.For example: Chapter 89, Herba millefolium :
| Text | Translation |
| Herba millefolium | The herb millefolium |
| 1. Ad dentium dolorem. Herbae millefolium radicem ieiunus conmanducet. | 1. For toothache. The root of the herb millefolium should be chewed before breakfast. |
| 2. Ad uulnera de ferro facta. Herba millefolium cum axungia pistata et inposita uulnera purgat et sanat. | 2. For wounds inflicted by iron. If you put on the herb millefolium crushed in fat, so it cleans and heals wounds. |
| 3. Ad tumores. Herbam millefolium contusam cum butiro inpone. | 3. For tumours. Put on the herb millefolium crushed in butter. |
| 4. Ad urinae difficultatem. Herbae millefolium sucus cum aceto bibitur, mire sanat. | 4. For difficulties of urination. The juice of the herb millefolium drunk mixed with wine vinegar, heals wonderfully. |
| Nomina herbae. A Graecis dicitur miriofillon, alii ambrosiam, alii ciliofillon, alii crisitis, Galli mulicandos, alii uigentia, Daci diodela, Itali millefolium, alii militaris, alii Achillion, alii supercilium Veneris, alii cereum siluaticum. Hanc herbam Achilles inuenit, unde ferro percussus sanabat, quae ob id Achillea uocatur, de hac sanasse Telephium dicitur. | Names of the herb. The Greeks call it miriofillon, others ambrosia, others ciliofillon, others crisitis. The Gauls mulicandos, others vigentia. The Dacians diodela. The Italians millefolium, others militaris, others Achillion, others supercilium Veneris, others cereum silvaticum. This herb was discovered by Achilles because it healed wounds, beaten by iron. It was therefore named Achillea. |
| Nascitur in palustris locis … | It grows in swampy areas … |
Associated texts
In the surviving codices the Pseudo-Apuleius Herbarius was combined with other treatises:- De herba vettonica. Treatise dealing with the herb Stachys officinalis. It was falsely ascribed to Antonius Musa, physician of the Roman emperor Augustus.
- Pseudo-Apuleius Herbarius.
- De taxone liber. Anonymous treatise on the use of the European badger in medicine.
- Liber medicinae ex animalibus ascribed to an unknown Roman physician named "Sextus Placitus Papyriensis".
- *A-version with 12 chapters about quadrupeds.
- *B-version with 31 chapters about quadrupeds, birds, reptiles, spiders, insects and humans.
- Dioscorides de herbis femininis. According to Riddle written before the 6th century in South-Europe.
- Precatio terrae matris and Precatio omnium herbarum.
Manuscripts
- α-class containing parts 1, 2, 3, 4a and 5, moreover better synonyms than in the β-class-texts and no interpolations. The α-class is considered to be the class with the best text-tradition.
- β-class containing parts 1, 2, 3, 4b, 5 and 6, moreover interpolations. The ß-class is considered to be the class with the best illustrations.
- γ-class containing parts 1, 2 and 6, without the interpolations of the β-class. γ-class contains the oldest manuscripts.
| Class | Abbreviation | Name of the codex | Century |
| α | Ca | Monte Cassino, Archivo de la Badia, Cod. 97 | 09th century. |
| α | M | Munich, Bayrische Staatsbibliothek, Fragmenta Emeranensia, Clm 14672, 14766 und 15028, in all 8 pages. | 07th century. |
| α | L | Lucca, Bibliotheka Governativa, MS. 296 | 09th century. |
| α | Hal | Halberstadt, Domschatz, Inv.-Nr. 465–466 fol. Ir–IIv, Palimpsest. | 07th century. |
| α | Be | Berlin, Staatsbibliothek Fragmentum Berolinense Ms. Lat. fol. 381 no. 1 | 08th century. |
| α | Ha | London, British Museum, MS Harley 4986 | 12th century. |
| α | V | Vienna, Codex Vindobonensis 187 | 12th century. |
| α | A | London, British Library, MS Cotton Vitellius C. iii | 11th century. |
| β | Hil | Hildesheim, Beverinsche Bibliothek, MS. 658 | 08th century. |
| β | Vr | Bratislava, Codex Vratislaviensis Bibl. univ. III F 19 | 09th century. |
| β | Bodley 130 | Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS. Bodley 130 | 11th century. |
| β | He | Herten, Codicis medici Hertensis, destroyed by fire | 09th century. |
| β | B | Bamberg, Codex Bambergensis med 8 | 13th century. |
| β | Laur. 7341 | Florence, Bibliotheca Laurenziana, MS. 73,41 | 09th century. |
| β | Va | Vatican, Codex Vaticanus Barberinus 160 | 11th century. |
| β | Vat. Lat. 6337 | Vatican, Codex Vaticanus lat. 6337 | 15th century. |
| β | Laur. 7316 | Florence, Bibliotheca Laurenziana, MS. 73,16 | 13th century. |
| β | Vi | Codex Vindobonensis 93 | 13th century. |
| β | Arsenal 1031 | Paris, Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal, Codex 1031 | 15th century. |
| β | Paris 6862 | Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, MS. lat. 6862 | 10th century. |
| β | Ber | Berlin, Codex Berolinensis Hamil. 307 | 15th century. |
| γ | E | Fragmentum Epporigiense | 07th century. |
| γ | Vo | Leiden, Universitätsbibliothek, MS. Voss. Lat. Q. 9 | 06th century. |
| γ | C | Kassel, Landesbibliothek, 2° MS. phys. et hist. nat. 10 | 10th century. |
Singer, Grape-Albers and Collins cited more manuscripts:
- St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. 217, 9th century.
- London, British Museum, MS. Harley 585, 11th – 12th century.
- London, British Museum, MS. Harley 1585, 12th century.
- London, British Museum, MS. Harley 5294, 12th century.
- London, British Museum, MS. Harley 6258 B, 12th century.
- London, British Museum, MS. Sloane 1975, 12th century.
- Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS. Ashmole 1431, 11th century.
- Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS. Ashmole 1462, 12th century.
- Turin, Bibliotheca Universitaria, MS. K IV 3, 11th century, destroyed by fire.
- Leiden, University Library, MS BPL 1283, c 1300
- Leiden, University Library, MS Voss.Lat.Qu. 13, 10th century
- Leiden, University Library, MS Voss.Lat.Qu. 40, 11th century
- Montpellier, Bibliothèque de l'Ecole de Médecine, MS 277, 15th century
- The Hague, Museum Meermanno-Westreenianum MS 10 D 7, 10th century
Translation: the ''Old English Herbarium''
- London, British Library Cotton Vitellius C. iii
- Oxford, Bodleian Library, Hatton 76
- London, British Library Harley 585
- London, British Library Harley 6258B
Incunabula and early printings
Based on a 9th-century manuscript of Monte Cassino the first incunable of Pseudo-Apuleius Herbarius was printed in Rome in 1481.The first printing in northern Europe was done in 1537 in Zürich.
Editions
- de Vriend, Hubert Jan, The Old English Herbarium and Medicina de Quadrupedibus, The Early English Text Society, 286.
- Kai Brodersen. Apuleius, Heilkräuterbuch / Herbarius, Latin and German. Marix, Wiesbaden.