| Item Description: | Robin Bledsoe, bookseller, translation of description: Manuscript of great documentary richness which, besides its text dedicated to equine veterinary medicine, treats us to original recipes and secrets such as the mineral waters of widow Madame Rambouillet and Madame de Vimbrée, and the excellent recipe for farcy given by M. de la Feuillée to Madame la Marquise de Mirabeau (the water of which was used by the gouty and paralytic septuagenarian Reine Elisabeth). Also recipes to prevent rabies in dogs and horses, to make a parchment chamois, for secret writing, to cure burning urine or the clap, or even to restore one's virginity. The central part of the manuscript, devoted exclusively to the care of horses, contains around 100 sections that give cures for the most diseases of the time, such as "les suros, les lampas, la pousse, les malandres, les capelets, les javarts, l'anticoeur, le farcin, la gourme," as well as secrets for whitening the coat, "faire pousser la corne," and making the mane grow. The last part consists of personal writings by Villeferry, such as "Les contredits de la court," composed of 21 quatrains, aphorisms, and sonnets, revealing "a real literary talent." "Perfectly" preserved (despite its great age), the manuscript warrants a leisurely reading. Besides its documentary importance, it is of special interest because of the earlier manuscript that serves as its cover. This is a letter from Henry III, king of France, headed: "Henry par la grace de Dieu de France et de Pologne" and ending with the phrase "Par le conseil," then an undeciphered word, and then a signature that "seems to be that of the king." |
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