[Discovering the authentic Hildegard. Comments on the only in Florance 'Physica' handwritten texts].
The recently discovered ms. of Hildegard's, Physica' (Florence, B. Med.-Laurenz. Ashburnh. 1323) contains much more text than the Migne edition, based on Paris, BN.lat. 6952, does. Did the Florence ms. add or the Paris ms. omit? A comparison of all extant mss. and the edition princeps of 1533 reveals that the corpus of items and their order remain essentially the same, whereas the number of recipes and applications is in permanent decrease. We also observe an increasing reduction of explanatory remarks unique to Hildegard's medical doctrine. The more copious text of the Florence ms. must, therefore, be regarded as authentic, and it should be made the base of a future edition of the 'Physica'.
Vollmann
Benedikt Konrad
BK
D006236:Handwriting; D049691:History, Medieval; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008374:Manuscripts, Medical as Topic / Q000266:history*; D008519:Medicine, Traditional / Q000266:history*; D008517:Phytotherapy / Q000266:history*; D012068:Religion and Medicine