Forgery, fiction and pseudonym in the collection of medical letters prefacing Marcellus’s De medicamentis

Abstract

English: In this article the corpus of eight letters serving as a preface to the pharmaceutical recipe collection which constitutes Marcellus’s De medicamentis is examined from a literary point of view. The classification of the various letters in the epistolographic genre is discussed; the identities of the writers and the addressees are investigated, and in cases where the names are fictitious or incorrect, an attempt is made to determine the reason. Finally, the question is posed: why do all these apparently unrelated letters form part of this collection?

Afrikaans: In hierdie artikel word die corpus van agt briewe wat as inleiding dien tot die farmaseutiese resepversameling wat Marcellus se De medicamentis uitmaak, vanuit ’n literêre perspektief bekyk. Die klassifikasie van die onderskeie briewe in die epistolografiese genre word bespreek. Die identiteit van die skrywers en die ontvangers word nagegaan en in die gevalle waar die name fiktief of foutief is, word daar gepoog om die rede daarvoor vas te stel. Ten slotte word die vraag waarom hierdie skynbaar onverwante briewe deel uitmaak van hierdie versameling, bespreek.