[Kitab al-Musta'ini, or Kitab al-adwiyah al-mufradah, book of simple medicines] [electronic resource]

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ibn Baklārish, Yūsuf ibn Isḥāq, active 12th century, Author.

Series:

Bloomsbury Arcadian Online Library: History of Science and Medicine

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Medicine, Arab--Spain.

Medicine, Arab.

Medicine, Medieval--Spain.

Medicine, Medieval.

Materia medica--Spain--Andalusia.

Materia medica.

Penn Provenance:

The work was completed by its Jewish author, Yunus ibn Ishaq ibn Baklarish, in A.D. 1106, and this copy of it was produced only 24 years later, in 1130. Ibn Baklarish dedicated the work to al-Musta'in bi-llah Abu Ja'far Ahmad, the Muslim ruler of Saragossa and a member of the dynasty of the Banu Hud. Al-Musta'in bi-llah died in 1110, and in 1119 his successor was forced to move with his library from Saragossa to Rueda de Jalon, where this copy of the Kitab al-Musta'ini was probably made. In 1140, the library of the Banu Hud was moved again, this time to Toledo. During this period the library of the Banu Hud is known to have been the only Arabic library available to Latin scholars, and the fact that some of the Latin headings in this manuscript are in a 12th-century hand (see below) suggests very strongly that the book was used by these scholars. The manuscript therefore emerges as the sole surviving book from this library, and an important monument to cross-cultural intellectual activity in 12th-century Spain, as well as an imposing Andalusi manuscript in its own right.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (280 unnumbered pages)

Other Title:

Kitab al-Musta'ini

كتاب المستعيني

Kitab al-adwiyah al-mufradah

كتاب الادوية المفردة

Book of simples

Book of simple medicines

Ibn Baklarisyh's book of simples: medical remedies between three faiths in twelfth-century Spain

Place of Publication:

[S.l.: s.n., 1130]

Notes:

This book concerns a polyglot medical manuscript, Kitab al-Musta'ini, by Jewish physician, Ibn Baklarish for his Muslim patron, al-Musta'in bi-llah (reg. Saragossa 1085 - 1110). Tables give properties, uses, and names in other languages, of over 700 medicinal substances. Latin and Romance annotations attest to Christian readers.

C.Brockelmann, 'Geschichte der Arabischen Litteratur', Leiden, 1942, GI, 486, SI, 889; H.P.J.Renaud, "Trois études d'histoire de la médicine arabe en Occident. I - Le Musta'ini d'Ibn Beklares", in Hespéris, X (1930-31); Martin Levey and Safwat S.Souryal, "The Introduction of the Kitab al-Musta'ini of Ibn Biklarish (fl.1106)", in Janus, LV (1969); Levey, Martin. "The Pharmacological Table of Ibn Biklarish", in Journal of the History of Medicine, XXVI (1971); Ana Labarta, "El prólogo de al-Kitab al-Musta'ini", in Estudios sobre historia de la ciencia árabe, Barcelona, 1980; Ana Labarta, "La Farmacologia de Ibn Buklaris: sus fuentes", in Actas del IV Coloquio Hispano-Tunecino, Madrid, 1983; Juan Vernet and Julio Samso, "Development of Arabic Science in Andalusia", in Encyclopedia of the History of Arabic Science, ed. Rushdi Rashed, I, London and New York, 1996, p.264, p.275 n.38.

Local Notes:

Coptic-sewn, non-adhesive, sand-coloured paper binding made to the highest conservational standards, preserved in a cloth box.

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.