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Medicine and Humanism in Late Medieval Italy The
Carrara Herbal in Padua Medicine in the Medieval
Mediterranean 1st Edition Sarah R. Kyle Digital Instant
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Author(s): Sarah R. Kyle
ISBN(s): 9781472446527, 1472446526
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Medicine and humanism
in late medieval Italy

This book is the first study to consider the extraordinary manuscript now known as
the Carrara Herbal (British Library, Egerton 2020) within the complex network of
medical, artistic and intellectual traditions from which it emerged. The manuscript
contains an illustrated, vernacular copy of the thirteenth-century pharmacopeia by
Ibn Sarābī, an Arabic-speaking Christian physician working in al-Andalus known
in the West as Serapion the Younger. By 1290, Serapion’s treatise was available
in Latin translation and circulated widely in medical schools across the Italian
peninsula.
Commissioned in the late fourteenth century by the prince of Padua, Fran-
cesco II ‘il Novello’ da Carrara (r. 1390–1405), the Carrara Herbal attests to the
growing presence of Arabic medicine both inside and outside of the University.
Its contents speak to the Carrara family’s historic role as patrons and protectors
of the Studium, yet its form – a luxury book in Paduan dialect adorned with fam-
ily heraldry and stylistically diverse representations of plants – locates it in court
culture. In particular, the manuscript’s form connects Serapion’s treatise to pat-
terns of book collection and rhetorics of self-making encouraged by humanists and
practiced by Francesco’s ancestors.
Beginning with Petrarch (1304–74) and continuing with Pier Paolo Vergerio
(ca. 1369–1444), humanists held privileged positions in the Carrara court, and
humanist culture vied with the University’s successes for leading roles in Carrara
self-promotion. With the other illustrated books in the prince’s collection, the
Herbal negotiated these traditional arenas of family patronage and brought them
into confluence, promoting Francesco as an ideal ‘physician prince’ capable of
ensuring the moral and physical health of Padua. Considered in this way, the
Carrara Herbal is the product of an intersection between the Pan-Mediterranean
transmission of medical knowledge and the rise of humanism in the Italian courts,
an intersection typically attributed to the later Renaissance.

Sarah R. Kyle is an associate professor of humanities at the University of Central

Oklahoma, USA.
Medicine in the Medieval Mediterranean
Series Editor
Alain Touwaide
Institute for the Preservation of Medical Traditions, Washington, DC, USA

Editorial Board
Vivian Nutton
Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at University
College, London, UK

Paul Canart
Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vatican City

Marie-Hélène Congourdeau
Centre d’Histoire et Civilisation de Byzance, Paris, France

Dimitri Gutas
Yale University, USA

Medicine in the Medieval Mediterranean is a series devoted to all aspects of

medicine in the Mediterranean area during the Middle Ages, from the 3rd/4th
centuries to the 16th. Though with a focus on Greek medicine, diffused through
the whole Mediterranean world and especially developed in Byzantium, it also
includes the contributions of the cultures that were present or emerged in the area
during the Middle Ages and after, and which interacted with Byzantium: the Latin
West and early vernacular languages, the Syrian and Arabic worlds, Armenian,
Georgian and Coptic groups, Jewish and Slavic cultures and Turkish peoples,
particularly the Ottomans.
Medicine is understood in a broad sense: not only medical theory, but also
the health conditions of people, nosology and epidemiology, diet and therapy,
practice and teaching, doctors and hospitals, the economy of health, and the non-
conventional forms of medicine from faith to magic, that is, all the spectrum of
activities dealing with human health.
The series includes texts and studies. It will bring to light previously unknown,
overlooked or poorly known documents interpreted with the most appropriate
methods, and publish the results of cutting-edge research, so providing a wide
range of scholarly and scientific fields with new data for further explorations.
Medicine and humanism
in late medieval Italy
The Carrara Herbal in Padua

Sarah R. Kyle
University of Central Oklahoma
First published 2017
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa
business
© 2017 Sarah R. Kyle
The right of Sarah R. Kyle to be identified as the author of this work has
been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other
means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and
recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978-1-4724-4652-7 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-27691-5 (ebk)

Typeset in Times New Roman

by Apex CoVantage, LLC
For my mother and father
This page intentionally left blank
Contents

List of illustrations viii

Acknowledgements xii

Introduction: Medicine and metaphor at the Carrara court 1

1 The Carrara Herbal and the traditions of illustrated

books of materia medica 23

2 The healthy pleasures of reading the Carrara Herbal 67

3 The ‘physician prince’ and his book 88

4 Portraits of the Carrara 116

5 Physiognomy in late medieval Padua 149

6 Embodiments of virtue in Francesco Novello’s library 169

Conclusion 188

Appendix 193
Bibliography 196
Index 225
Plates
Illustrations

Colour plates
1 Frontispiece with Carrara heraldry and citron (Citrus medica, L.,
citron tree)
Carrara Herbal
London, British Library, Egerton 2020, f. 4r
35 × 24 cm, gouache on vellum, Padua, ca. 1390–1400
2 Meliloto (Lotus corniculatus L., bird’s foot trefoil)
Carrara Herbal
London, British Library, Egerton 2020, f. 15r
35 × 24 cm, gouache on vellum, Padua, ca. 1390–1400
3 Author portrait of Manfred de Monte Imperiale
Lippo Vanni or Roberto d’Oderisio, Tractatus de herbis
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, lat. 6823, f. 1r
34.5 × 24.7 cm, Southern Italy, ca. 1330–1340
4 Formento (Hordeum hexastichum L., six-row barley)
Carrara Herbal
London, British Library, Egerton 2020, f. 21r
35 × 24 cm, gouache on vellum, Padua, ca. 1390–1400
5 Carrara emblems
Stanza Terrena B (formerly Anticamera dei Cimieri)
Padua, Accademia Galileiana di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti
Fresco, Padua, ca. 1340–1343
6 Domenico Campagnola and Stefano dall’ Arzere, Sala dei Giganti
(formerly Sala virorum illustrium)
Padua, University of Padua, Palazzo Liviano
Fresco, Padua, ca. 1540
7 Personal arms of Ubertino da Carrara
Liber cimeriorum dominorum de Carraria
Padua, Biblioteca Civica, B.P. 124, XXII, f. 16r
27 × 20 cm, Padua, ca. 1390
8 Scene of the execution of Giacomo da Carrara in 1240
Gesta magnifica domus Carrariensibus
 Illustrations ix
Venice, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, lat. X, 381 (coll. 2802), f. 2r
Folio 58 × 43 cm, Padua, ca. 1390
9 Scene of the election of Giacomo ‘il Grande’ da Carrara in 1318
Gesta magnifica domus Carrariensibus
Venice, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, lat. X, 381 (coll. 2802), f. 2r
Folio 58 × 43 cm, Padua, ca. 1390
10 After Altichiero (?), portrait of Giacomo ‘il Grande’ da Carrara
Liber de principibus Carrariensibus
Padua, Biblioteca Civica, B.P. 158, f. 4v
Folio 34.2 × 24.8 cm, Padua, ca. 1402

Black and white figures in text

1.1 Malbavisco (Althaea officinalis L. and Lavatera thuringiaca
L., genera of marshmallow) 25
Carrara Herbal
London, British Library, Egerton 2020, f. 52v
35 × 24 cm, gouache on vellum, Padua, ca. 1390–1400
1.2 Sponga marina (Euspongia officinalis L., marine sponge) 27
Carrara Herbal
London, British Library, Egerton 2020, f. 14r
35 × 24 cm, gouache on vellum, Padua, ca. 1390–1400
1.3 Pino (Pinus pinea L., Italian stone pine tree) 29
Carrara Herbal
London, British Library, Egerton 2020, f. 41r
35 × 24 cm, gouache on vellum, Padua, ca. 1390–1400
1.4 Portraits of Epinoia (Knowledge), Dioscorides and Painter 34
De materia medica
Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, medicus graecus 1, f. 5v
37.6 × 31.2 cm, Constantinople, ca. 512/13 CE
1.5 Bird and grasshopper with water dock (?) (Rumex aquaticus L.) 39
‘Abdallâh ibn al-Fadl, De materia medica
Istanbul, Süleymaniye Kütüphanesi, Ayasofia 3703, f. 3b
33 × 24 cm, Baghdad (?), 1224
1.6 Physicians preparing medicine 41
‘Abdallâh ibn al-Fadl, De materia medica
Istanbul, Süleymaniye Kütüphanesi, Ayasofia 3703, f. 2b
33 × 24 cm, Baghdad (?), 1224
1.7 Verminatia (Verbena officinalis L., vervain) as treatment for
rabid-dog bite 44
Herbarium Apuleii Platonici
Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, plut. 73.16, f. 34v
17.5 × 11.4 cm, Southern Italy, ca. 1220–1250
x Illustrations
1.8 Portrait of Aesculapius with betony plant (Stachys officinalis L.) 45
Herbarium Apuleii Platonici
Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, lat. 93, f. 5v
28 × 18.5 cm, Sicily, ca. 1220–1266
1.9 Allelulia (Oxalis acetosella L., wood sorrel), acetosa (Rumex acetosa
L., sorrel), albatra (Arbutus unedo L., strawberry tree) and
balsamus (Commiphora gileadensis L., balsam) 48
Tractatus de herbis
London, British Library, Egerton 747, f. 12r
36 × 24.2 cm, Salerno (?), ca. 1280–1310
1.10 Portraits of Hippocrates and Johannitius (above), and Hippocrates
and Galen (below) 51
Lippo Vanni or Roberto d’Oderisio, Tractatus de herbis
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, lat. 6823, f. 1v
34.5 × 24.7 cm, Southern Italy, ca. 1330–1340
1.11 Frontispiece (detail of figured initial ‘E’) 52
Carrara Herbal
London, British Library, Egerton 2020, f. 4r
Gouache on vellum, Padua, ca. 1390–1400
2.1 Detail of penwork face from entry on çucha (Cucurbita lagenaria
L., bottle gourd) 70
Carrara Herbal
London, British Library, Egerton 2020, f. 165r
Gouache on vellum, Padua, ca. 1390–1400
3.1 Anon., medal with portrait of Francesco il Vecchio 105
Obverse: FRANCISCI. DE CARRARIA.
Reverse: 1390. DIE. 19 IVNII. RECVPERAVIT. PADVAM. ET C.
Padua, Museo Bottacin, Inv. 89
3.5 cm diameter, bronze, Padua, ca. 1390
3.2 Anon., medal with portrait of Francesco Novello 105
Obverse: EFIGIES. DNI. FRANCISCI. IVNIORIS.
D. CARARIA. PAD.
Reverse: 1390 DIE. 19. IVNII. RECVP-ERAVIT:
PADVAM: ECETA.
Padua, Museo Bottacin, Inv. 796
3.3 cm diameter, silver, Padua, ca. 1390
4.1 Altichiero (?), portrait of Petrarch (extensively repainted) 131
Sala dei Giganti (formerly Sala virorum illustrium)
Padua, University of Padua, Palazzo Liviano
Fresco, Padua ca. 1374–1379
5.1 Giotto, Invidia (Envy) 155
Padua, Scrovegni Chapel
120 × 55 cm, fresco, Padua, ca. 1305
5.2 Andriolo de’ Santi, tomb of Ubertino da Carrara 158
Padua, Church of the Eremitani
Marble, Padua, ca. 1345
 Illustrations xi
5.3 Andriolo de’ Santi, tomb of Giacomo II da Carrara 159
Padua, Church of the Eremitani
Marble, Padua, ca. 1350
5.4 Pre-World War II photograph showing Andriolo de’ Santi’s
tomb of Giacomo II with donor portraits and fragments of
Coronation of the Virgin fresco 160
Padua, Church of the Eremitani
Padua, ca. 1350
6.1 Diagram of the carro labelled with Cardinal virtues 172
De currus Carrariensis moraliter descriptus
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, lat. 6468, f. 9v
Folio 35 × 25.5 cm, Padua, ca. 1376
6.2 Altichiero, The Council of King Ramiro 174
Padua, Chapel of San Felice (formerly San Giacomo), Basilica of
Sant’Antonio
Fresco, Padua, ca. 1373–1379
6.3 Scene of Giacomo da Carrara defying Ezzelino da Romano 175
Gesta magnifica domus Carrariensibus
Venice, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, lat. X, 381
(coll. 2802), f. 1v
Folio 58 × 43 cm, Padua, ca. 1390
6.4 Scene of the election of Marsilio ‘il Grande’ da Carrara in 1337 177
Gesta magnifica domus Carrariensibus
Venice, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, lat. X, 381
(coll. 2802), f. 6r
Folio 58 × 43 cm, Padua, ca. 1390
6.5 After Altichiero (?), portrait of Marsilio ‘il Grande’ da Carrara 180
Liber de principibus Carrariensibus
Padua, Biblioteca Civica, B.P. 158, f. 16v
Folio 34.2 × 24.8 cm, Padua, ca. 1402
Acknowledgements

In the years spent preparing this manuscript, many individuals have supported and
guided me, generously sharing their knowledge and expertise. I take pleasure in
acknowledging them here.
C. Jean Campbell encouraged me to pursue my research on the Carrara Herbal
and provided direction and insightful criticism during the research and writing of
the dissertation from which this book grew. I owe a special debt to her and to the
other members of my dissertation committee, Walter Melion and Jack Zupko. I
also thank Cathleen Hoeniger for first introducing me to the traditions of illustrated
botanical manuscripts and Karen Reeds for engaging me in lively discussions and
correspondence about the study of botany during the early Renaissance. Alain
Touwaide, my editor and a respected mentor, worked diligently with me on the
final stages of this project. His confidence in my work and his thoughtful recom-
mendations have been invaluable and have helped transform a dissertation into a
book. Additionally, I would like to thank the Board of the Medicine in the Medieval
Mediterranean series for their support and for the opportunity to share my ideas
with the series’ diverse readership.
Colleagues and friends at the University of Central Oklahoma and at institu-
tions further afield encouraged my research and the writing of this book. My
deepest thanks to Margaret Musgrove for her perceptive comments on portions
of the book and its argument and for her assiduous help in making sense of often-
obscure medieval Latin texts (certain thorny passages from Paduan chronicles in
particular). Darian DeBolt cheerfully assisted me with any Greek terminology I
brought to his desk. Scott Samuelson thoughtfully commented on early drafts of
a number of chapters and helped me to better understand, among other things, the
Aristotle in Avicenna. I am deeply grateful to Gabriella Zuccolin, who shared her
manuscript-in-preparation of the critical edition of Michele Savonarola’s Speculum
phisionomie, enriching my understanding of Savonarola’s work enormously. Vivian
Nutton graciously met with me to discuss the Carrara Herbal and its intersections
with trends in humanism and traditions in medicine. His astute observations steered
me in new directions and so saved me from several errors of omission. I also would
like to thank Geraldine Brooks for her kind permission to include a line from her
beautiful novel, The People of the Book, as the epigraph to my introduction.
In my research on manuscripts and book culture, libraries and librarians
naturally have played central roles. I especially thank Susy Marcon and Elizabeth
 Acknowledgements xiii
Lugato of the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Gabriele Bejor and Vincenza Donvito
of the Biblioteca Civica di Padova, and Valeria Vettorato and Marco Callegari of
the Museo Bottacin di Padova for their kindness, interest in my project, and guid-
ance in navigating their institutions’ respective collections. My thanks to Kathleen
Doyle, Curator of Illuminated Manuscripts at the British Library, and to the staff of
the British Library’s Manuscript Reading Room, who made my research a joy and
allowed me to spend a great deal of uninterrupted time with the Carrara Herbal.
In addition, I am indebted to the Interlibrary Loan department at the University
of Central Oklahoma for their tireless efforts in procuring (often-unwieldy) books
from near and far during the final phases of this project.
Over the last several years, I have presented parts of this book to audiences at
the College Art Association and the Renaissance Society of America annual confer-
ences and at the International Congress on Medieval Studies, and I especially thank
Shelley MacLaren, Allie Terry-Fritsch, Jennifer Webb, Mildred Budny, Gur Zak,
Todd Richardson and John R. Decker for their thought-provoking questions and
conversation in these settings. Portions of this book also have appeared in different
form in The Anthropomorphic Lens: Anthropomorphism, Microcosmism and Anal-
ogy in Early Modern Thought and Visual Arts (Leiden: Brill, 2014) and Mediaeva-
lia 35 (2015). I would like to thank Brill Publishers and SUNY Press for introducing
some of my ideas to a wider audience and for permission to reproduce them here.
From its inception as a dissertation, my project has received generous financial
support from several institutions. The Laney Graduate School and the Art History
Department of Emory University financed research travel, and an Andrew W. Mel-
lon Dissertation Seminar Fellowship and a graduate fellowship at the Manuscript,
Archives, and Rare Book Library (MARBL) of Emory University provided sup-
port during the writing stages of the dissertation. A University of Central Okla-
homa Liberal Arts College Research Grant funded a final research trip to London,
and a Faculty On-Campus Regular Grant provided a much-needed course release
to enable the completion of this manuscript. A Department of Humanities and Phi-
losophy grant helped to offset the cost of images and permissions fees. I also would
like to thank the Biblioteca Civica di Padova, the Museo Bottacin di Padova, the
Università degli Studi di Padova, the Accademia Galileiana di Scienze, Lettere ed
Arti in Padova and the Süleymaniye Kütüphanesi in Istanbul for generously waiv-
ing their fees for administration and image reproduction rights.
Last, but by no means least, I am profoundly grateful to my friends and family
for their good cheer, humour and confidence in me, especially to Sarah Milan,
Meme Moore, Randell Baze, Phillip Dunford, Sienna Brown, Jessica Gershultz
and Graham Kepfer. I also thank Erik Tamplin. I greatly appreciate the kindness of
Renée Schlueter, Ceren Ciraci, Thomas Kirk and Teodora Kirk, who, at the elev-
enth hour, helped me to chase down image permissions in Istanbul and Florence.
Patricia Kyritsi Howell introduced me to the history and practice of herbal medi-
cine in the Appalachian Mountains, an experience that enriched my understanding
of traditions of healing and for which I am thankful. Finally, I owe a great debt to
my family, especially to my mother and father, Krystyna and Gerald Kyle, for their
innumerable kindnesses, love and unwavering faith in me. I dedicate this book to
them, with gratitude and love.
This page intentionally left blank
Introduction
Medicine and metaphor
at the Carrara court

‘A book is more than the sum of its materials. It is an artifact of the human mind
and hand’.1
~ Geraldine Brooks, People of the Book: A Novel

On 9 May 1404, Francesco Zago made a list of books belonging to Francesco II ‘il
Novello’ da Carrara, the last seigniorial lord of Padua (1359–1406, r. 1390–1405).2
Zago, the official deputy of the massaria (the office that managed Padua’s rev-
enues), recorded titles and authors and gave brief descriptions of the contents of
57 books, and he further described the books’ bindings, formats and any identifying
marks (Venice, Biblioteca Marciana, lat. XIV, 93 [coll. 4530], f. 147r).3 Remark-
ably, over two-thirds of the titles on Zago’s list address the theory and practice of
medicine, especially from the Arabic tradition, while, perhaps more expectedly,
local histories, chronicles and family genealogies account for the remaining third.
The collection is a curious one for the prince of a late medieval city-state, especially
for a prince with no training in the discipline of medicine.4
While the whereabouts of most of the books on Zago’s list remain unknown,
a handful have been identified based on Zago’s descriptions and the presence of
Carrara family heraldry.5 The sole identified medical book on the list, recorded by
Zago as ‘Serapiom in volgare’, is known in contemporary scholarly literature as
the Carrara Herbal (London, British Library, Egerton 2020). In addition to the
pronounced Carrara heraldry on the book’s frontispiece, the scribe (and perhaps
translator), Frater Jacobus Philippus, identified the place of production in his
excipit.6 However, knowing the identity of this book only adds to the mystery of
Francesco Novello’s book collection.
The Carrara Herbal is an exceptional illustrated book of materia medica (thera-
peutic substances drawn from plants, animals and minerals).7 It is exceptional in
both its illustrations and its content, making it of interest to historians of art and
medicine alike. The Herbal contains a translation into Paduan dialect of a Latin
version of the mid-thirteenth-century Arabic pharmacopeia, Kitāb al-Adwiya
al-mufrada (The Book of Simple Medicines), written by Ibn Sarābī,8 a Christian
physician working in al-Andalus and known in the Latin West as Serapion the
Younger.9 The treatise is Serapion’s sole extant work, which Simon of Genoa
2 Introduction
(fl. late thirteenth century) and Abrāhām ben Shēm-Tōb of Tortosa (fl. late thir-
teenth century) translated into Latin as Liber Serapionis aggregatus in medicinis
simplicibus (Serapion’s Book of Aggregated Simple Medicines) around 1290, per-
haps in Rome.10 In his treatise, Serapion accumulated information about ‘simples’
(medical substances) drawn from earlier Greek and Arabic sources and brought
them together into one volume. He noted this fact in his preface, along with his
intention to amalgamate and reconcile the views of the two principal Greek medi-
cal authorities, Dioscorides (first century CE) and Galen (129–ca. 216/17 CE).11
Further, Serapion told his readers that he intended to improve these Greek authori-
ties with the knowledge of other Arabic physicians.12
In the Carrara Herbal, an ambitious, though unfinished, illustrative cycle
accompanies Serapion’s treatise.13 Executed by an unknown artist in gouache
on vellum, 56 images of individual plants range in type from the extraordinarily
verisimilar (from a botanical viewpoint) to the staunchly schematic and to distinc-
tive hybrids of the two.14 The illustrations complicate and blend traditional and
new forms of plant representation and, doing so, they echo the complex history
of transmission and compilatory form of Serapion’s treatise and break from the
trajectory of contemporary and earlier herbal illustrations.
This study considers how the Carrara Herbal redefined Carrara family patron-
age away from imitatio antiquorum, with its roots in the Petrarchan humanism so
central to the patronage of Francesco Novello’s ancestors, and toward a celebra-
tion of contemporary medical learning and practice as taught at the University of
Padua. The Carrara Herbal reflects this transition from an old to a new rhetoric
of patronage in its novel content and, most clearly, in its multifaceted illustrations.
The artist incorporated and blended visual elements from older forms of botanical
illustration while he also invented new ones. Doing so, he created illustrations that
not only parallel the aggregate nature of Serapion’s text, they effectively parallel
the transition in self-making practices mobilised by Francesco Novello’s patron-
age choices as well. Francesco’s efforts to align advances in medical knowledge
with his vision of self and of Carrara-ruled Padua represent the first expression in
northern Italy of an assimilation of science into a visualisation of political ideol-
ogy, a practice historically associated with the later Renaissance.
In previous scholarship on the Carrara Herbal, the complexity of the artist’s
illustrative apparatus and his motives for creating it remain obscured, as do the
patron’s motives for commissioning the book itself. Following art historian Otto
Pächt’s once influential precedent, scholars have focussed on the artist’s use of
verisimilitude and divorced the imagery from Serapion’s text.15 Likewise, in
Gustav Ineichen’s masterly philological exploration of the Carrara Herbal, the
significance of the book’s imagery is left out.16 Yet the diversity of the Herbal’s
illustrations and their integral role in the reading experience are as relevant to any
discussion of the Herbal as its verisimilar details or use of the Paduan vernacu-
lar. Furthermore, Carrara book-collecting practices, in general, and the Carrara
Herbal, in particular, are predominantly absent from scholarship on the patronage
of the Carrara family, which instead has focussed on the family’s more public
commissions (primarily their tombs and the frescoes adorning the Carrara palace
 Introduction 3
and other Paduan monuments).17 This study seeks to understand the complexity of
the Carrara Herbal within the nexus of cultural, intellectual and artistic traditions
out of which it grew, and, in doing so, to shed new light on some of these older
questions and lacunae in our understanding of the Carrara and their patronage.

*
The Carrara Herbal contains the second book of Serapion’s treatise. In this book,
Serapion grouped 462 different medical substances into three large categories
according to their place in the tria regna naturae (the three kingdoms of nature):
plants (365), animals (48) and minerals (49).18 Within these three dominant cat-
egories, Serapion grouped the materia medica into smaller categories according
to the substances’ elemental qualities and their combinations (temperate, hot/dry,
hot/humid, cold/dry, and cold/humid). He then subdivided the substances within
each quality according to their degree of intensity (from first to fourth), following
the example of Galenic medicine, and accordingly organised them into chapters.19
The chapters in the Herbal range in length and are each dedicated to a medical
simple. For every chapter, the scribe reserved upwards of two-thirds of a page
for an image of the chapter’s corresponding medical substance. In these images,
the artist merged different illustrative techniques and representational types. By
carefully recording observed details of the plant and by consciously perpetuating
visual elements encountered in historic models, the artist broke from the contem-
porary genres of herbal illustration and created an entirely new visual experience.
The use of the traditional types together with the verisimilar ones served to revive
the historic models within the new context of Francesco’s Herbal.
The artist’s combination of innovation, amalgamation and experimentation is a
clue to understanding the illustrations’ hermeneutical role in the codex: this varied
use of imagery visually parallels the form of Serapion’s treatise itself, mirroring
the treatise in its ‘aggregation’ and ‘amelioration’ of past imagery of materia
medica. In other words, the artist designed his imagery in relation to the content
of the Herbal. Moreover, the artist’s composition of the illustrations interacts
with the text and the available page surface to command the reader’s attention in
various ways. Although the majority of his images occupy the lower two-thirds
of the page, the artist interspersed many illustrations between passages of their
associated texts or between entries, creating breaks or continuities in the rhythm
of reading.20 The text and imagery together construct meaning.
Looking at the entire set of images and their relationship to the text, we see that
the artist integrated the illustrations with the textual content of the manuscript,
making the illustrations central to the process of reading and not separate from it.
The artist charged the reading experience – made it memorable and unique – by
moving between lifelike, fanciful and schematic types of representation: he put
the experience of viewing the illustrations into conversation with the book’s very
words and then with the history of those words. The artist defied reader expec-
tations of compositional consistency, and, doing so, he cultivated an engaged
reading experience defined by its diverse pleasures and utilities.21 Furthermore,
the readers’ active engagement with the reading experience draws their attention
4 Introduction
back to the book as an object, an object that belonged to Francesco Novello. In
drawing attention back to the prince and his book collection, the role of the Car-
rara Herbal as a locus of Francesco’s patronage and generative source for his
self-image becomes clearer.
The Carrara Herbal is exceptional, in part, because of its singularity. There are
no other extant vernacular, illustrated versions of Serapion’s work from the end of
the fourteenth century. Its singularity suggests its allure as a novel – and perhaps
defining – addition to Francesco Novello’s library. Yet, in addition to its novelty,
the book appealed to Francesco because it enabled him to bring together aspects
of his familial patronage traditions and to present them in a way unique to his
own rule. Considered within Francesco Novello’s library, full of medical books
and family histories, the Carrara Herbal becomes a site of exchange: through its
distinctive form and content, the book puts into conversation medical and moral
wisdom celebrated at the Carrara court in Padua and visible in the historic patron-
age of Francesco’s family.
For Francesco, possessing an illustrated version of Serapion’s treatise con-
ceptually connected the lord (and other privileged readers) to the medicine and
pharmacology taught at the University of Padua, a site of civic pride and of Car-
rara patronage.22 Simultaneously, the very materiality of the Carrara Herbal as
an illustrated book connected Francesco to other patronage strategies practiced
by his ancestors, especially to their book-collecting practices associated with
early humanists’ moralising study of civil history. The Carrara Herbal was both a
source of innovative medical content and a touchstone for the medical metaphors
central to the humanistic understanding of history’s value.
In the following introductory pages, I present a broad picture of Paduan culture
at the end of the fourteenth century, a culture influenced by the rise to prominence
of the university, especially its medical schools, and by Petrarch (1304–1374)
and his humanist successors. Within this framework, I situate ideas and themes
that inform the analysis of the Carrara Herbal presented in the ensuing chapters,
focussing on the complementary relationship between natural philosophy and
ethics in the study of medicine and nature and in humanist pedagogy. Further, I
introduce how this relationship manifested in the imitative patronage practices
cultivated by generations of Carrara princes.

A set of ‘humanist habits’

In commissioning the Carrara Herbal, Francesco Novello was attuned to trends
in medicine and traditions in humanism and to the roles these disciplines played at
court. The study and practice of medicine and its relationship to humanistic inquiry
were in transition at the end of the fourteenth century.23 By the time Francesco com-
missioned the Carrara Herbal, the traditional boundaries of humanism, as shaped
by Petrarch and the earlier Paduan humanists Lovato Lovati (ca. 1237–1309)
and Albertino Mussato (1261–1329), were broadening as well. While Petrarch
disparaged medical doctors in his Invective contra medicum (Invectives against
a Physician) in 1353,24 pointing to a disconnect between their (scholastic) way
 Introduction 5
of thinking and their (generally empirical) practices,25 subsequent scholars, both
humanists and physicians, would increasingly be interested in the fruitful meeting
points between humanistic, medical and scientific knowledge.
In his Invective, Petrarch perpetuated an old debate between the status of the
liberal arts, as superior arts addressing the spirit, and mechanical arts, like medicine,
as those addressing the body. His scholarly descendants, however, would cultivate
a set of ‘humanist habits’ – to borrow Brian Ogilvie’s memorable turn of phrase –
that tested this dichotomy.26 As Ogilvie, Nancy Siraisi and Chiara Crisciani have
shown (following the pioneering work of Paul Oskar Kristeller and Eugenio Garin),
the disciplines of medicine and humanism were not mutually exclusive during the
Middle Ages and Early Modern period and, in fact, shared interests particularly
closely at universities in northern Italy.27 Simply put, many humanists were medi-
cally educated, and many physicians were humanistically trained. For instance, as
students in the schools of arts and medicine, future physicians at the University
of Padua counted natural philosophy, logic, astrology and rhetoric among their
university studies.28
These scholars did not have the sense of disciplinary separation we so often
see today. Instead, they exchanged ideas from complementary fields of inquiry.
For example, in their writings, humanists and physicians shared interests in the
genre of biography, the role of faith in healing, antiquarianism and the wonders of
nature.29 Physicians borrowed humanists’ rhetorical tools for use in oratory, and,
later in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, both communities would enrich each
other’s disciplines – philological and medical – through their shared translation
efforts (especially of original Greek medical treatises). Of particular relevance
to this discussion, fifteenth-century physicians increasingly applied traditional
humanistic values associated with the study of history and rhetoric to genres of
medical writing (such as case histories and health regimens) and to the study of
nature more broadly.30
For humanistically trained scholars and physicians across the fifteenth century,
the study of nature, in which medicine played a large role, carried with it moral
overtones more commonly associated with the study of civil history and rheto-
ric (which humanists from Petrarch onward taught through the lens of ethics).31
Humanist teachers pillaged Greek and Roman histories and poetry, especially, in
search of accounts or details that provided moral exempla or that could be inter-
preted according to contemporary moral codes for their students.32 While initially
confined to ‘preuniversity studies’, these long-established practices increasingly
were integrated into university curricula, especially during the second half of the
fifteenth century – an integration that would birth what to modern eyes appear as
disciplinary hybrids, like medical humanism and medical philology.33 Scholars
began to internalise the ethical study of human history and to map it onto their
study of nature and its particular details.34 Knowledge about the natural world, then,
was not simply a form of erudition or a foundation for a community of scholars
or physicians. It connoted the moral health of individuals and their communities.
While the ethical conceits accompanying the study of nature would truly blos-
som in the sixteenth century with the growth of natural history as a discipline, they
Other documents randomly have
different content
of the sight, which is turned towards the centre of the instrument.
The thickness of the metal is hollowed away on the outer side which
comes next the eye, so as to present a thin edge only for the
sighting slit, as shown in section at A′. In some instruments the slit is
formed of two thin plates fixed to the sight by screws in slots, which
render it adjustable both to width and position; this is the better way
if machinery be not used for cutting the slit. The window B is an
oblong opening, across which a hair wire or a thin plate placed
edgewise is fixed in line with the slit. The hair or wire is laid in a
deeply engraved line, so that it is in the same plane as the centre of
the slit. The ends of the hair are held firmly by drawing them
through small holes and fixing them therein by means of dry, conical,
pinewood pins pressed tightly in the holes. When a thin plate is used
edgewise, this is soft-soldered into the top and bottom of the
window. In the pair of sights the window of one sight is placed at
the lower position and the slit in the upper. In the fellow sight the
positions of these parts are reversed, the observation being always
taken from the slit through the window. The duplication of parts in
each sight permits it to be used in either direction.
496.—In the use of the Sight the point or object to be observed
from the slit should appear to be bisected by the hair in the window
at the same time that it appears to the eye to stand in the centre of
the slit. For this reason it is not necessary that the slit should be very
narrow. It is generally more comfortable to take the sight with the
eye at the distance of 10 to 12 inches in front of the slit to obtain
clear vision of it. In this case if it be made too narrow it shuts out
the field of view.
497.—It is not quite certain that the old slit and window is the
best form. Many mining engineers prefer a pair of equal slits, one of
which replaces a window. In this case, instead of the wire covering
the object sighted in the use of the instrument, the object is made to
appear in the centre of the forward sight slit. In this construction the
sight apertures are made much narrower so that they do not cover
too much of the field of view. Excellent work is done with this open
form of sight, and its construction is much more solid than that of
having loose hairs.
498.—Universal Sight, termed technically hole and cross sight,
consists of a small hole C′, Fig. 203, on the inner side of one sight
that is hollowed away on the outer side which comes next the eye,
so as to present a thin edge of the hole only. The fellow sight C has
a hair cross placed centrally in a circular window. This is of
occasional use for sighting angles approximately in altitude and
horizon simultaneously; but the cross occupies so much of the sight
space that observation with it cannot be depended upon.
499.—Ball and Socket Joint.—This is shown in elevation Fig. 201
at F, and in section Fig. 204 F, D. It is one of the oldest forms of
adjustment, and is common to many dials. When the clamping screw
G is released the ball is free in its socket F to move about its centre,
to the extent of the opening at the top of the socket, in any
direction. A plug E, which really forms the lower half of the socket, is
screwed into the part F′ at the lower part of what is technically called
the socket-piece. The plug is turned upwards by its screws so as to
tighten the ball by means of a tangent screw G which works in a rack
thread cut in a part of the circumference of the plug, thus forming a
screw and cross screw, which, as the construction indicates, clamps
the ball with great rigidity. There are several other ball and socket
arrangements; these will be discussed in describing the special
instruments to which they are affixed. The only objection to this
form is that it elevates the dial very much more than others.
500.—The Tripod Stand of an Ordinary Miner's Dial.—The upper
part is shown in Fig. 205. This form of tripod is common to many
dials. The legs are made about 1¼ inches in diameter. The heads of
the legs are fitted directly without brasswork between the book-
plates A, to which they are held by cross screws or bolts which form
the joint on which the legs move for extension. Unless the head be
worked out of the solid, the book-pieces are screwed to a plate that
carries a male plug centre to which the dial is fixed by a milled-
headed screw shown at Fig. 201 L. The plug is grooved at the
position of the point of the screw so as to permit rotation of the
instrument when the screw is slightly released. This tripod head
remains permanently fixed to the legs. Each leg is jointed to part in
its centre by unscrewing, to present when disjointed a metal point to
hold the surface of the ground, to form a short stand. The usual
height of the full tripod legs is 5 feet; the upper part only 2 feet 6
inches. The usual form of joint is shown in detail in section Fig. 205.
C the male screw, which is fitted to the woodwork by a socket and
cross pinned to it. This piece has a point at its lower end. D the
socket-piece is screwed over the point to extend the leg when the
tripod is required of full length. The woodwork of this lower piece
has a conical metal point to bite the ground when it is set up in use.
Occasionally for close work shorter legs are provided, or the legs are
jointed in three parts. In the common dial shown, the legs are left
exposed when out of use; with superior instruments they are packed
in a deal case that protects the socket fitting to which the instrument
is attached. Another much better form of tripod will be discussed
further on with the instrument to which it is attached.
 Fig. 205.—Jointed tripod legs of a miner's dial.
Larger image

501.—Examination and Adjustment of the Plain Miner's Dial.—The

tripod should be first set up to full length and each length separately
twisted to right and left to see that its socket fittings are good and
free from shakiness. The legs should each be separately pressed in
and out at its centre to see that the screws clamp the parts firmly
and are free from shakiness. The instrument should then be set up
and its socket fitting be felt to see that it is free from shake, and also
be turned round to see that it moves freely. The ball fitting should be
clamped and its rigidity be tested by fair pressure on the two ends of
the limb separately. The sights should be examined to see that they
are quite linear with hair and slit. The compass-box should be
levelled by the coincidence of the upper surface of the needle with
the plane of the division, and be reversed in every direction by
turning the compass-box, the reading being observed with the N.
point of the needle at N. E. W. S. to see that it bisects the graduation
by angles 180° apart. The compass-box being level, the sights
should be ranged with an external object at a distance—a plumb-line
is best—a piece of string suspending a stone answers—to see that
they are vertical, and that they cut the same line with the position of
the sights changed fore to back. If the sights are coincident, but do
not range with the plumb-line, the needle is out of balance, and this
may be corrected by shifting the rider.
502.—Henderson's Dial.—This is an improvement upon
an old form of circumferentor,[19] in which four sights are centred in
opposite pairs so as to revolve about the vertical axis, so that one
pair of sights may take any angle to the other pair. In Mr. J.
Henderson's dial the improvement consists in making the compass
larger, the needle being made to read by a vernier placed upon one
end to 3′ of arc. Mr. Henderson prefers plain slit sights instead of slit
and window sights, as before stated, which avoids the accidental
derangement of the horse-hair.[20] The instrument combines some of
the parts of Lean's dial, to be next described. Illustration of this
instrument is given in Mr. B. H. Brough's Mine Surveying.
503.—Lean's Dial.—The inventor of this instrument was Mr.
Joel Lean, a Cornish mine manager, who was well known at the end
of the 18th century for his important improvements in mining
apparatus. This dial is still popular in Cornwall and other mineral
districts. In general construction the sights and limb on which they
are mounted are the same as in the plain dial just described, art.
491. The legs are also
the same—other parts are additional or modified. In the
engraving, Fig. 206, the sights and vertical arc with its telescope are
shown mounted together on the limb. This is done to show the
relative position of these parts: they could not in practice be used
simultaneously upon the instrument. They are separately attached to
the limb by the same pair of milled headed screws. As a general rule
the telescopic arrangement, which will be described further on, is
used above ground and the sight arrangement below. The details of
construction are as follows:—
Fig. 206.—Mining circumferentor or Lean's dial.
Larger image
 504.—The Tripod—of the mining circumferentor, in common with
many other forms of dial, has the legs fitted directly between book-
pieces, which are fixed to the lower parallel plate, as shown Fig. 206,
thus dispensing with the separate tripod head, common to levels and
theodolites. Otherwise the parallel plates are similar to those
described for levels and theodolites, art. 193, and are used in the
same manner. The upper parallel plate in this dial carries the male
axis, which fits into a socket attached below the centre of the limb in
the manner just described for plain dial. The tripod stand, with its
parallel plates attached, is generally packed in a pinewood case
when out of use. The reason for attaching the legs directly to the
lower parallel plate instead of having a tripod head is that it saves
the extra elevation of the instrument by the depth of one screw
fitting. At the same time it must be observed that it exposes the axis
to the air by separating the instrument at this part when it is put by,
which renders the axis difficult to be kept lubricated and in smooth
working order. On the Continent and in America it is general to
detach the legs only, on a plan shown, Fig. 85, p. 140. This keeps
the axis attached, and is probably the better plan, although it may
be found a little more troublesome to erect the instrument.
 Fig. 207.—Section of compass-box and axis of Lean's dial.
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505.—Revolving Compass forms a part of Lean's dial and many

other dials. It is shown in section Fig. 207. As the axis is constructed
in this instrument, the socket-piece A is ground to fit the male axis S,
and at the same time it is shouldered to fit the surface of the parallel
plate T to prevent excess of friction on the axis fitting, so that it may
move easily to set the needle to magnetic north of the compass-box
if desired. The socket-piece is attached to the compass-box through
a collar. The compass has a step D which is divided to degrees on its
inner edge to read to the point of the needle, and similarly to
degrees on its outer edge to read with a vernier scale, shown D to
3′. The vernier is set off on each side of the zero line in ten divisions,
which are figured 30, 45, 0, 15, 30, art 322, p. 184. The upper
surface of the needle is made level with the upper surface of the
step. The bottom plate of the compass-box is divided to 10°: in
some difficult positions in the use of the instrument this last is the
only reading that can be sighted. The compass-box, which carries
the vernier B, is fixed centrally on the arm plate. The arm plate is
centred upon a step fitting between the compass and the socket-
piece, so that it carries the whole superstructure of the instrument
around the compass, its relative position being read by the vernier.
The edge of the compass plate is formed into a toothed wheel, as
shown in section in the figure on the right-hand side, into which a
small wheel or pinion R is fixed in a box upon the arm plate that
works by means of a large milled-head screw P. By means of this
milled head the instrument may be rotated about the compass, so
that the line of division on the compass step reading into the vernier
performs the functions of the horizontal limb of a theodolite. In this
manner angles may be taken by means of the vernier, quite
irrespective of the reading of the needle. When the compass is set to
the zero of the vernier at north (360°) it may be fixed in this position
by means of a pin fitting in opposite holes to the arm plate and
bottom plate of the compass, not shown; and when thus fixed the
needle only is used as in the plain dial. Between the collar-piece C
and the socket-piece A a wedge-shaped lift raises the needle off its
centre by pressing in a slide shown at L.
506.—The Vertical Arc is erected upon the limb as close as
possible to the compass-box, so as to leave room for a level to be
placed between the seatings of the arc and sights. The axis of this
arc is a simple hinge joint, brought down nearly to the surface of the
cover which protects the glass of the compass-box: this is done to
keep the instrument as low down as possible. The telescope, which
is of the same kind as that used for the theodolite, traverses the arc
tangentially, permitting it to be adjusted for reading the arc by its
vernier by means of a clamp and tangent motion at any position.
The arc is divided on one side into degrees, and reads by the vernier
to 3′ in the same manner as the horizontal circle. On the opposite
side it is divided with a percentage scale of difference of hypotenuse
and base which reads to an index line. A spirit level is placed under
the telescope, in line with its axis, to which it is adjustable by means
of capstan-headed screws. The telescope when fixed is placed just
sufficiently above the arc to permit it to be brought to a vertical
position at 90°, or a degree or two over this, with the full aperture of
the object-glass beyond the extreme edge of the horizontal circle. By
this construction a bearing may be taken of any object upon the
surface from the top of a shaft, and a line may be sighted to the
bottom of the shaft in exact azimuth with this without changing the
horizontal adjustment of the instrument. In the same manner, if the
vertical axis be perfectly adjusted by the level on the vernier plate,
the telescope at 90° + n will indicate a perfect vertical to the station
of the instrument above, the + n being the allowance to be made for
the eccentricity of the telescope, provided the collimation is perfect.
If this is not perfect, the vertical may still be taken accurately by
means of three observations taken from equal division of the entire
horizontal circle, say at 360°, 120° and 240°.
507.—It will be noticed that the vernier to the compass circle
comes directly under the vertical arc, therefore it can only be read
obliquely when this arc is mounted: with open sights the vernier can
be read directly. This is a defect in this instrument, as the vernier is
mostly required for exact work when the telescope is used.
508.—Lean's dial possesses the qualities 1 and 4, pointed out in
art. 490 as important to dials; in 4 the power of setting the telescope
to the vertical with great facility being the most important. This
quality has kept the dial a favourite with many mining engineers in
mineral districts for many years. Otherwise for general work the
compass is most inconveniently obstructed by the arc above it, and
the instrument, although, of course, of less height than the
theodolite, some of the functions of which it performs indifferently, is
too high to be used in shallow workings. The height of a 5-inch
Lean's dial to the central apex of the telescope is 9½ inches; to the
top of the sights placed in a level position, 8 inches; weight of
instrument only, 6½ lbs. The 6-inch instrument is about 1 inch
higher, and weighs 1 lb. more.
509.—A number of variations have been made in Lean's dial; but
none that the author is aware of has proved successful. In an
instrument of this class, designed by Mr. J. Whitelaw,[21] the vertical
arc is brought down to the compass-box by placing pivots on each
side of the box after the manner of Hedley's dial, to be next
described. This lowers the instrument about an inch, and is an
improvement; but this is effected at the expense of placing a striding
bar across the compass box, which is a great impediment to the
clear sighting of the compass.
Messrs. Newton & Son have made the telescope to detach from
the arc of Lean's dial to be placed directly upon the limb. In this way
they claim for it that it combines a miner's dial and dumpy level. The
arrangement appears to the author to make the instrument top
heavy as a dial, and to give too little power for a good level, added
to which it costs about the same as the two separate instruments of
equal quality. Of course any telescopic dial may be used as a level by
clamping it at zero. Practical surveyors generally object to compound
instruments that entail many loose pieces. These were a fashion in
the middle of the nineteenth century.
510.—Examination of Lean's Dial.—As regards the stand, sights
and parallel plates, particulars have been given upon the plain dial
just described. The revolving compass should be turned round by the
milled head P, Fig. 207, of the pinion wheel R to see that the
compass-box revolves steadily at all points without disturbance of
the needle. It may also be particularly observed that the needle does
not oscillate at any part of the circle, to be sure that the compass-
box is quite free from iron. The vernier should be examined at four
opposite positions of the needle to see that the needle is truly
centred and is in accord with the vernier. The lifter should be tried to
see that it lowers the needle gently on the centre, and that it holds
the needle firm off the centre. The telescope should be set up and
directed to an object, and all parts of the instrument clamped and
the needle observed. The telescope should then be detached and the
sights set up, to see that they range fairly with the telescope. If they
do not do so the difference should be noted and treated as a
constant in any case of change from telescope to sights on the same
survey. The difference ought to be very small, otherwise the
instrument should be returned to the maker.
511.—The Adjustment of Lean's Dial is the same as that of the
plain theodolite, so far as this can be carried out; but generally the
adjustment is depended upon as it leaves the manufacturer. For the
general use of this and other dials some notes will be made further
on, but as regards vertical position and the taking of azimuth angles,
for which this dial is specially adapted, notes may be made here.
512.—To set a line in Azimuth with one taken above Ground.—
This is necessary where there is local attraction to the needle below,
or there is a suspicion of this, so that the needle cannot be
depended upon with certainty. The instrument is placed on staging
over the pit and a vertical is taken to its centre either by the means
briefly discussed art. 506 by the instrument, or by suspending a
plummet, a ball, or a bullet from the centre of the instrument by a
thread and burning the thread when the ball is free from vibration.
The ball is allowed to fall upon a smooth horizontal surface formed
of earth or otherwise, in which it makes a dent which will be vertical
to the axis of the instrument if the ball has not been deflected by
ventilation currents. Two lights, as distant as possible to be seen to
range in line with the dent, are placed at the bottom of the pit. The
lights, if thought desirable, may range north and south with the
needle; but in whatever direction this may be set the correct azimuth
of this may be taken by cutting them by the webs of the nearly
vertical telescope of the dial; and this azimuth may be correctly set
out on the surface by a pole or other station mark, or its true
direction by a pair of these, one on each side of the pit's mouth, the
second station mark being set out after a shift of the horizontal
vernier exactly 180° on the circle. A straight-edged flooring board
painted white may be made to cut the line from light to light, which
is more definite for bearing than the lights themselves.
513.—Hedley's Dial, the invention of John Hedley, H.M.
Inspector of Mines, in 1850, has now become the most popular form
of miner's dial, modified, however, from its original form in various
ways. The peculiar feature of this form of dial is that the sights move
upon a framework centred upon a horizontal axis, so that they may
by a rocking motion take horizontal angles within a wide azimuth
without obstruction to the sight of the compass.
 Fig. 208.—Hedley's dial.
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514.—For consideration of the general features of Hedley's dial,

the tripod and the ball and socket are the same as that described for
the plain dial; but the socket is not cut down on one side to change
the position of the axis, as the compass-box in this instrument is
required to be kept uniformly level. The general appearance is shown
Fig. 208. For districts in which the working strata are fairly level,
parallel plates are put to this instrument in place of the ball and
socket joint. The compass-box revolves, as that described for Lean's
dial; but it is more general in this instrument to have a clamp and
tangent motion, as in a theodolite, than the rack and pinion motion.
Two levels for setting the compass horizontal are sunk into the plate
of the compass-dial low enough to miss the edge-bar needle. The
step of the compass is divided into degrees and the plate of the dial
to 10°. The vernier, which is placed on the opposite side of the box
to the vertical arc, reads to 3′, as described for Lean's dial.
515.—The Rocking Centre forms the peculiar feature of Hedley's
dial. From opposite points of the under side of the compass two
pivots are projected. These are set perpendicular to the vertical axis,
which is placed above the ball and socket. The pivots are placed
central with the vernier and in line with E. to W. of the compass
when this is set to zero (360°). The pivots form the axes of a stout
ring—rocking ring—which surrounds the compass-box, with space
sufficient to clear it when the ring is rocked about its axis. The ring
has two extended arms which carry sights as shown. These turn
down upon the compass-box when out of use. One of the pivots is
prolonged for about ¾ inch beyond the outer circumference of the
ring. The prolongation is made generally of triangular section. This
forms a fitting to the vertical arc, which is attached by a milled-
headed screw when required, the arc being an encumbrance when
this dial is used for making horizontal plans only.
516.—The Vertical Arc, with its index arm, forms a separate
piece. The arm is centred upon the arc with a ground fitting, which is
retained in its position by a collar fixed with three screws. The arm-
piece forms the axis, through the centre of which a triangular hole is
made to fit the triangular prolongation of the pivot, so that the index
arm remains fixed, and the arc moves with the rocking ring, to which
it is held by a pair of dowels. The arc is divided into degrees on the
outer edge of its surface, and a scale of difference of hypotenuse
and base upon its inner edge. The graduations read to a single index
line upon a fiducial edge carried down from an opening in the index
arm.
Hedley's dial can be locked by a pin, which is attached to the
under side of the compass-box, so as to work by the compass only.
The ring can also be locked level with the compass by a sling latch-
piece so as to convert it into a plain dial.
517.—The great merit of Hedley's dial is that the rocking centre
permits a greater range of open sighting than any other; and the
instrument is very low, permitting its use in shallow workings.
Further, that it is a very strong instrument to resist accidents, and is
very portable. The height of a 6-inch Hedley's dial above the tripod
head, in a level position, is 9 inches to the top of the sights. Weight
of instrument, 7 to 10 lbs.
Fig. 209.—Hedley's dial with ball clamp.
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 518.—In the author's simple dial, Fig. 209, which is of a modern
form, the ball is clamped by a capping-piece over it moved to clamp
by two stout pins. This form gives a little less height and still holds
the dial firmly. The horizontal axis moves rather stiffly, so that no
clamp to the arc is required. It is a very cheap form of dial, but
substantially made. It answers for a small mine survey.
519.—There have been many variations made and proposed for
Hedley's dial. Mr. Casartelli, of Manchester, places the arc over the
centre of the compass-box.[22] This plan is intended to make the
rocking centre firm; but the arc interferes a little both with the sights
and the view of the compass box. Messrs. Davis and Son connect
wheel-work with the arc, so as to magnify the scale of motion. Other
less important variations in Hedley's dial are common.
520.—Examination and Adjustment of Hedley's Dial.—The general
examination of the stand and of such parts of the instrument as
correspond with Lean's dial is the same as just given. The rocking
ring should be lifted and pressed down at each end alternately to see
that there is no loss of time on the axis. The arc should be examined
in like manner. The dial should be set up in front of a plumbed line to
see that its sights range properly when the instrument is set level by
its bubbles. A point should be observed, say through the hole and
cross webs at the top of the sight; and with this point kept in view
the rocking ring should be moved upwards or downwards so that the
point traverses the plumb-line to the extent of the rocking motion. If
it does not do so, possibly the transverse level in the plate of the
compass-box may be adjusted to make it do so; but in this
adjustment it must be particularly observed that the balance of the
needle remains so that it still reads the graduation with its upper
edge, and that the sights traverse the same plumb-line when turned
about, as it is possible to set the level right with one pair of sights
and throw other parts out. There are no simple means of adjustment
provided, so that if the instrument is not accurate it should be
returned to the maker for correction.
521.—Improvement in Hedley's Dial, by Addition of
Telescope.—Surface work being generally performed with the
theodolite, surveying with open sights following this cannot be
effected with sufficient accuracy; therefore there becomes a
necessity for the use of the telescope, which was first placed on this
instrument by the author at the suggestion of Mr. W. Preece, C.E. In
mines, also, although sights present often the only possible means of
directing angular positions in cramped and tortuous workings, on the
other hand, better work can very often be done and the telescope be
conveniently used. Under these conditions, this addition forms an
important improvement in the instrument, to be at hand to apply
when desired. The telescope of this instrument detaches exactly as
with Lean's dial, but the sights are made with an angle piece, so as
to extend them to a distance of about 12 inches apart for sighting.
Fig. 211 is of one cranked sight. The instrument illustrated Fig. 210
has parallel plates, art. 193, p. 99, suitable for fairly level workings.
A ball and socket joint is sometimes fitted to this instrument in place
of these.
 Fig. 210.—Hedley's dial with telescope. Fig. 211.—Bracket sight.
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522.—The Telescope is placed on Y's, and is of exactly the same

form as that described for a plain theodolite. The Y's in this
instrument offer a great convenience for reversing the telescope for
back sights in range when the vertical axis is fixed. The level under
the telescope is sufficiently good to convert this instrument into a
level for drainage, etc., when the rocking ring is locked with the
compass. Its examination and adjustment are the same as those last
given, except for the telescope, which is the same in all particulars
as that of a 5-inch plain theodolite.
Fig. 212.—Improved miner's dial.
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 523.—Improved Miner's Dial.—The illustration given,
Fig. 212, is of the form of dial introduced by the author, a part of the
arrangement only being of his own design. The telescope with Y
supports is the same as that just described, and the sights, not
shown, are cranked in the same manner as shown Fig. 211. The
horizontal circle, instead of being in the interior of the box, is placed
on the exterior rim, and reads with two verniers—not for correction,
but for convenience of reading in different positions. The compass is
divided upon the upper surface of the step to degrees, and in the
same manner on the interior cylindrical surface of the step. This last
often permits the compass to be read in a close working when the
upper surface could not either be lighted or sighted. This plan was
used on old circumferentors.[23] The plane of the compass is divided
to 10° as usual. The compass adjusts by clamp and tangent motion.
The axis of the instrument is supported upon a ball and socket
arrangement designed by the author for roughly bringing the
compass to level, and a parallel plate adjustment for final setting.
The ball is fixed by clamping a pair of plates together by a thumb-
screw. Each plate is hollowed in the centre to hold nearly half the
ball. When fixed, the instrument is found to be very rigid.
524.—A plan of clamping designed by the author to meet the
conditions of the tribrach system of adjustment of equal rigidity to
that above described, is shown in elevation, Fig. 213 B. In this the
upper half of the socket is screwed down outside the lower half
socket by means of three projecting handle pins. This is a somewhat
neater arrangement than that shown in Fig. 212. Either of the
above-described ball arrangements elevate the instrument, and are
better omitted for close working if there is a special adjustment in
the tripod attached to the instrument, as that to be described
presently, which will be found sufficient in most cases. The height of
the instrument from the tripod is about 6½ inches; weight, 11 lbs.
for both parallel plate and tribrach adjustments.
525.—Adjustable Tripod for Dials.—The author's improved form of
tripod is adjustable to all heights between 30 inches and 57 inches,
Figs. 213, 214. Each leg is formed of two stiff bars of mahogany,
shown in detail, Fig. 214 G of section, about 1¼ inches by 5/8 inch,
and a third bar or leg G′ of about 1¼ inches square, which slides
between the other two. The sliding surfaces are grooved and
tongued together in V grooves in the solid. Two strap-pieces of brass
SS′ are fixed near the ends of the bars. One of these S′ is firmly
soldered to a boss-piece that takes a thumb-screw, which has quite
sufficient power to hold the leg G′ firmly at any position of extension.
It is a rigid stand, which may leave the tripod head nearly vertical
upon any inclination of the floor surface.
 Fig. 213.—The author's adjustable ball joint and socket tribrach
stand.
Fig. 214.—Adjustment to leg of tripod.
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526.—Hedley'sDials, with Pastorelli's and

Hoffmann's Ball Arrangements.—By either of these
arrangements the ball and socket is brought down close into the
parallel plate adjustment so that the dial is of less total height.
Hoffmann's is now becoming the most popular system, as practice
has shown it to be the most perfect for mining survey. By either of
these arrangements the ball and socket is clamped by the same
screws that bring the instrument to final position. In Pastorelli's
arrangement[24] the socket is drawn down upon the ball by the
adjusting screws. In Hoffmann's[25] the ball is pressed up into the
socket, which is the exact mechanical equivalent. When the screws
are lightly clamped the ball can be moved with moderate force, or
even quite loosely by careful adjustment; and in either case, when
the ball is once set, care must be taken to keep pressure constantly
upon it during the final adjustment by the screws. The general
arrangements are shown in two Figs. 215, 216, which are taken from
the drawings of the respective patents. In Fig. 215, va, the axis of
the instrument terminates in a ball e which works in a cup f. The axis
has also a portion of a ball of greater radius b concentric with the
lower ball e. The upper parallel plate d is cupped over this ball.
When the parallel plate is moderately free on b, the axis va may be
set to any angle within the range of the central opening of d; and as
the friction upon bd is greater than that upon fe, the axis moves by
the adjustment of the parallel plate screws aa. In Fig. 216 the action
is precisely the same, except that the pressure is upwards instead of
downwards. In Fig. 215 there are springs s under the parallel plate
screw heads to keep contact when the screws are loosened. In Fig.
216 the spring is a plate under the screws s, the action being the
same in both cases.

Fig. 215.—Pastorelli's ball and socket adjustment.

Fig. 216.—Hoffmann's ball and socket adjustment.
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 527.—Some objections have been made to this class of
arrangement, over the simpler one of clamping the ball
independently and then adjusting by the screws, as being more
complex. On the other hand this compound arrangement has the
merit in underground instruments of being lower and more compact,
which is very important. The author has somewhat modified the
arrangements of Hoffmann's head, as shown in the engraving on
next page, to render it still more compact for mining instruments.
Fig. 217.—Improved Hedley's dial, mounted on Hoffmann's head.
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 528.—In Fig. 217 an improved Hedley's dial is mounted upon an
improved form of Hoffmann's head. The whole arrangement is very
compact, rigid, and rapid in action. The height of this dial is 9½
inches; the weight 8 lbs. for a 6-inch instrument, in aluminium 5 lbs.

Fig. 218.—Improved Hedley, with cradle ring.

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 529.—Hedley's Dial with Cranked Rocking
Centre.—One defect of the Hedley's dial, which in certain cases
makes Lean's preferred, is that with the rocking ring the sights
cannot be brought vertical for looking up or down a shaft. The
author has devised a means of getting over this difficulty by making
the ring of cradle form, thus throwing the bearing surfaces to
sufficient height to cause the ring, when the arc is raised to about
90°, to fall under the compass-box and its adjustments, Fig. 218.
This dial presents possibly the greatest refinements of the Hedley
principle at the time of its patent, No. 9134, 1898. Since this date
the reviser has introduced a few further refinements as illustrated at
Fig. 219.
Fig. 219.—Stanley's improved dial.
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 This instrument has tribrach levelling with quick-setting spherical
lower plate, a sliding tribrach for centring over any desired spot, and
full clamp and tangent motions to both horizontal centres. The
dividing is upon silver on a 6-inch covered limb reading by two
verniers to single minutes, folding sights interchangeable with
telescope Y's, and this dial may be used upon any staging without its
stand. The somewhat peculiar shape of the cranked rocking ring is
necessitated by the movement of the sliding tribrach, which it has to
clear in all positions for reading vertical sights.
530.—Accessories Common to Hedley's Dials
are a vertical reflector and a diaphragm illuminator.
Reflecting Cap.—One of the disadvantages of Hedley's dials over
Lean's was pointed out to be the impossibility of vertical sight where
the two last described dials are not used. Some years ago the author
devised a plan of obtaining this vertical sight by reflection by means
of a reflecting cap, Fig. 220, placed over the end of the telescope.
The cap is formed of a tube which fits the outer surface of the object
end of the telescope. This is prolonged sufficiently to lock it by a
dowel in correct position against revolution when the points that are
used for index in the diaphragm of the telescope are vertical. The
tube is cut in two and hinged to turn up, as shown in two positions H
and H′. When turned up it leaves the tube open for direct vision. A
reflector R is placed in the cap, and there is an opening below it
equal to the full aperture of the telescope. It is easy to see that by
this means a pair of lights or a line may be sighted up or down a
shaft, and the azimuth of its direction be reflected to follow a line by
slightly rocking the telescope upon its pivots. This may be done,
however, with more refinement if there is a clamp and tangent
motion to the vertical arc, which is placed only on first-class
instruments.
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