Reproduction of 51 drawings from Trinity College, Cambridge, MS 0.1.20 of the surgery of Roger of Parma, best known as Roger of Salerno, with detailed explanation of each drawing by Tony Hunt.

An edition of just over 1500 medical receipts transmitted in three fourteenth-century compendia. The particular interest of these multilingual compilations lies in their date – earlier than most published receipts – and their showing the three languages of medieval England in vigorous and simultaneous use. There are detailed indexes, including a survey of the medical conditions covered, and the notes provide comprehensive references to analogous receipts in other published collections, so shedding light on the processes of compilation and transmission.

First edition of the earliest Old French herbal in verse— "a surprisingly comprehensive work (3188 octosyllables), based on an eleventh-century Latin treatise 'De viribus herbarum' attributed to a certain 'Macer'. It occupies a significant place in the development of herbals and is an interesting witness to writing in Western France in the thirteenth century and to the unusual syntax and concentrated style of its author. Some one hundred and twenty-five plants are described together with their medicinal uses, which cover a remarkable range of ailments. For ease of recognition the sections of text which do not seem to be based on the received text of 'Macer' are printed in italics. Quotations from the principal source and from parallels are given in the notes" (publisher).