This is part of a series of posts that will compile gilding recipes that I come across, pairing them with a little information about the manuscript and links on where to find or access it.
Liber ruralium commodorum – The Book of Profits (13th c.)
Image: The Morgan Library and Museum, MS B.17 fol. 1v
Liber ruralium commodorum (Book of Profits)
Author: Petrus de Crescentius (Pietro de Crescenzi)
Original manuscript about 1304-1309; gilding notes from manuscript created sometimes during the 1400s
Held by: The Morgan Library and Museum, New York, Buhler MS 17
Link to manuscript: https://www.themorgan.org/manuscript/77144
Liber ruralism commodorum was a major treatise on agriculture that was produced in the early 1300s and consisted of twelve books. Like many agricultural books of its time, it contains a variety of topics from the keeping of livestock to medicinal plants and pleasure gardens. The author, Petrus de Crescentius, was born in Bologna, Italy where he studied medicine, natural sciences, and logic. He wove in Classical readings with his own observations to create this tool used by aristocratic landowners.
Written on the flyleaves of the manuscript held by the Pierpont Morgan Library are instructions for decorating manuscript pages. The exact date of these is unknown, though it seems likely they were created between the 1450s-1460s.
The transcriptions below are from Texts from the Margin: Lydgate, Recipes, and Glosses in Buhler MS 17 by Paul Acker (Chaucer Review, v. 31, n. 1, 2002).
[fol. 2v, recipe a]
To make sise for gold letteres.
Take a drye sound of stokfissh & wash it ones or twise in cold watir and pen lay in watir all a nyghe and on the morne take a posnet with a quarte of watir and sethe it rit wele to pu may qwish it thoror thy fyngyrs and then grynd it on a stone right small. And if it wax tughe in the gryndyng cast theron a litill of the watir pat it was sodyn in and grynd it faste. & put perto a litill yalow bole to colour it with. And take good hede for per is two maners of bole, yalow & rede. Lefe be rede and take be yalow. And when it is groundyn ynogh strayn it thorow a clothe. And if it be to thikke to drawe with letteres temper it with the same watir it was sodyn in. And kepe evir of the same watir to pu nede perof anoper tyme. And if pi sise be bully take pin erewax and touche perwith pe bullis to pai be away and door pat or pu drawe thy letteres.
Anothir maner of sise.
Take old glaire & chalke & cole and colour it with bole.
Yit another sise.
Take clere glayre & let it stand ij wekis till it be old and pen take fair nesch chalke and grynd it the space of ij owris and temper it with cole and putt perto a litill of the old glaire & a litill bole and strayn it thorow a clothe and if it be full of bull put erewax perto. And if it haue no bull put perto on the gryndyng a litill safroun and let it not be to yalow ne to white bot a dymme colour. And if pu temper it with newe glaire let it stand vij days or pu wirke perwith. And pen strayn it and wirk perwith.
[recipe d}
To make letteres of gold.
First fourme thy letteres with side and let paim dry all a day. Bot if pu touch paim with thy hand pal will take no gold. Then take an oxe to the full smethe. Then take vpp thy gold with a pensell with thy leffte hand and lay it on thy letteres and with pi right hand rubbe on the gold with pe to the and after lay thy colors.
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