Extent: folded: 135 x 45 mm bound to 134 x 40 mm; unfolded 241 x 120 mm (average)
Note:
Script: Mature gothic bookhand Decoration: Kalends are illuminated in gold on pink and blue grounds, and astronomical cycles are iluminated in pink, blue, and gold. A large illumination depicts the placement of zodiac signs on an outstretched human body in a distinctive English illumination style. Binding: Possibly original, brown leather stitched around the edges. Provenance: Purchased from Sam Fogg Ltd, 2022 Portable, folded almanacs of this type survive in limited numbers, with twenty-nine survivals noted by Talbot, and are a phenomenon limited to England in the late 14th- and early 15th centuries. Even less common are examples that survive with their original bindings, such as this example. These manuscripts were used by physicians for making calculations and were probably worn hanging from the physician's belt. See Talbot, C. H. “A Mediaeval Physician’s Vade Mecum.” Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences 16, no. 3 (1961): 213–33. The manuscript includes a calendar and astromonical charts including Canons of the eclipses of the sun and moon. Previous shelfmark: Almanac
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