Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Research Center Isl. Ms. 1050Origin: As appears in colophon on p.18, transcription apparently completed 9 Ṣafar 787 [ca. 22 March 1385].Binding: Heavy boards covered in dark maroon leather ; Type III binding (without flap), tightback ; board linings and flyleaves in wove paper (notes, likely binder's notes, in pencil barely visible beneath board linings) ; upper and lower covers carry blind-tooled rule borders, cornerpieces and central circular ornament (outline only) ; now sewn in rose thread, seemingly over two recessed cords ; overall in good condition.Support: non-European (likely Arab) laid paper with 8 laid lines per cm. (vertical, somewhat indistinct) and grouped chain lines (threes and possibly twos) with roughly 9-10 mm. between chains and 42-50 mm. between groups, somewhat cloudy formation, quite sturdy, medium cream to buff in color, burnished ; opening leaf possibly of different paper type ; moisture damage, tears and creases, some repairs / fills.Decoration: Headings rubricated ; textual dividers in the form of three inverted commas.Script: Naskh ; clear Syrian or Egyptian hand in a thin to medium line (line thickness changes) ; mainly serifless with large curvilinear descenders (some sweeping), casually pointed (tāʼ marbūṭah often unpointed) with pointing in distinct or conjoined dots, alif maqṣūrah often pointed as yāʼ, ihmāl sign on sīn, shaqq of kāf often quite horizontal, free-standing alif often terminating in a left-ward foot, final alif often with tail or spur extending below baseline.Layout: Written in 15-16 lines per page.Collation: i, IV+1 (9), i ; catchwords present ; foliation in black ink, Hindu-Arabic numerals ; pagination in pencil, Western numerals, supplied during cataloguing.Colophon: "Scribal," reads "تمت منافع الاشربة في تاسع صفر سنة سبع وثمانين وسبعماية"Explicit: "واما من اراد ان يضيف اليه حوايج فليكن رمي [؟] الحوايج عند نضج الشعير ويغلى عليات حتى تخرج قوة الادوية منه ويرفع ويستعمل مع ما يوافقه من الاشربة نافع ان شا الله تعالى"Incipit: "بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم صفة شراب بسفايج ساذج عن طبيب مشهور بسفايج خضر المكسر طري اربع اواقى يرض وينقع في ما حار شديد الحرارة يوما وليلة ويغلي بنار هادية حتى يبقى منه مقدار ما يحل رطل سكر واوقية عسل ..."Title from 'title page' (p.1).Ms. codex.Fine, early copy of a work on potable medicaments, i.e. beverages or syrups (sharāb) attributed on the 'title page' to Amīn al-Dīn Abū Muḥammad ʻAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʻUmar al-Sīwāsī al-Abhārī (d. 733/1333).
Collection of recipes taken from works by Abū Maʿālī ibn Tammām, Ibn Al-Tilmīḏ, Dāwūd ibn Abī al-Bayān and Ibn Jumayʿ, dealing with illnesses of the stomach and the intestines.Condition: Torn, tiny holesLayout: 13 lines
Recto: note from al-šaykh Abū Saʿīd dealing with a monthly wage that partially consisted of an ounce of myrobalan, possibly for medicinal purposes. Verso: unidentified Arabic text, very fragmentary.Condition: TornLayout: 4 lines (recto); 5 lines (verso)
letter from Abū Zikrī to Abū ʿAlī, detailing ophthalmological health problems, and mentioning Abū l-Ḥasan. Abū Zukrī is suffering from a cataract, which is impairing his vision and make him see ‘like a piece of marble’, and intense eye-pain. Verso: letter of reply to Abū Zikrī written around an Arabic document, which gives advice regarding health, suggesting eye-washes with a bucket of well-water, bloodletting, and that Abū Zikrī avoid consuming dairy products.Condition: Holes, rubbedLayout: 19 lines + marginalia (recto); 26 lines + marginalia (verso)
Portions of a treatise on surgery. Parts of the second chapter and all of the third chapter of the 3-chapter treatise, which is the last of the 30 treatises in the Taṣrīf li-man ʻajiza ʻan al-taʼlīf, a larger work by al-Zahrāwī. Topics in the manuscript include incision, perforation, blood-letting, wounds, bone-setting, dislocations, and sprains. Contemporary corrections in margins; additional notes in a maghribi script also in margins.
Letter of Abū l-Maḥāsin b. ʿAlī the trader, introduced by citations from Proverbs 3:4, Psalms 37:11 and 119:165. Mentions consingments of medical commodities such as betel palm (fawfal), amomum (qāqulla) and quince (safarjal), a doctor’s visit and names such as Naḥūm the perfumer and Abū Manṣūr Ibn al-Ṣāʾiḡ (goldsmith), cousin of the writer.Condition: torn, holes, rubbed, stainedLayout: 53 lines + marginalia (recto); 6 lines (verso)
Recto: letter from a certain Abū l-Qasam (?). Verso: title page of a book of recipes used in the ʿAḍūḍī hospital in Baghdad.Condition: Torn, holes, rubbed, stainedLayout: 6 lines + marginalia (recto); 8 lines (verso)
Leaf from the opening of a Hebrew translation of a work by Abū l-Qāsim Ḵalaf b.ʿAbbās al-Zahrāwī, possibly a section of his Kitāb al-Taṣrīf. The name of the author is written in large letters above the introduction, which details the reasons for this translation. The first chapter, entitled ‘Burns’, begins on verso. The text also deals with blood-letting and cupping.Condition: torn, stainedLayout: 30 lines (recto); 32 lines (verso)
Letter from Abū l-Surūr b. Ṭarīf to Abū l-Makārim and Abū Jacob, sons of Abū Jacob Kohen, describing the severe illness of Abū l-Riḍā, ‘their brother’, and asking for doctor’s advice and medicine.Condition: holes, rubbedLayout: 19 lines (recto); 10 lines (verso)
A letter sent to Yešuʿa the Doctor ha-Sar b. Aaron the Doctor al-Mānī, who is studying in Cairo, by his cousin, Abū l-Ḥasan Judah, a teacher and court clerk, from Alexandria, c. beginning of the 13th century. The doctor strove to get an appointment in a hospital in his native city, Alexandria. The cousin advises the doctor to obtain letters of recommendation to a list of prominent figures there. He comments that whenever anyone declares he wants 'to read' medicine in Alexandria he is told that the reading has to be done in Cairo and, likewise that the tazkiya (certificate of good conduct) has to be obtained there. Mentions Joseph al-Baḡdādī and the judge R. Anatoli.Layout: 55 lines (recto); 54 lines + marginalia (verso)
Medical prescription from (or for) a certain Abū ʿAlī, prepared with purslane seeds, endive seeds, tamarisk, rose and pomegranate.Condition: Torn, holes, slightly fadedLayout: 9 lines (recto; verso is blank)
Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Research Center Isl. Ms. 269Origin: Lacks dated colophon, but likely mid 19th century as suggested by paper. Opening matter on fol.2b (p.4) indicates that composition of main work was finished in 1207 [1792-1793].Accompanying materials: a. envelope in blue wove paper printed in French, Ottoman Turkish, Greek and Armenian with the mark of a pharmacy in "مقری کوی" [Makrıköy, Istanbul] accompanied by inscription in ink, ruqʻah script with name, etc. "عزتلو اسمائل بك افندى ..." -- b. between fol.119-120 (p.238-239) a slip inscribed with names, etc. in black ink, Ottoman hand.Binding: Heavy pasteboards covered in red orange leather ; Type III binding (without flap) ; board linings in blue-tinted, gold-flecked paper ; flyleaves in untinted (cream to dark cream) wove paper ; upper and lower covers bear simple tooled (with s-shaped stamp) and gold-painted outer border with inner rulings of gold-painted fillets ; sewn in pink-cream thread, two stations ; finely worked chevron endbands in yellow (soiled and faded to cream) and maroon ; in fair condition with some abrasion, staining, edge wear, gashes, etc. ; endbands in excellent condition ; cover still very well-attached to textblock despite the book's heft.Support: European laid paper of at least two types [1] in opening quire, final quire, etc. vertical chain lines very evenly spaced at 25 mm. apart, any laid lines are too fine to be visible, dark cream, burnished ; watermarks include "PICARDO" with six petaled flower above, alternating with lion in scrollwork in other leaves (as in Heawood 3737, c.1825 Lisbon) and [2] in final folio, etc. chain lines vertical evenly spaced 29 mm. apart, laid lines horizontal spaced roughly 11 laid lines per cm., quite even and distinct, well-burnished, dark cream color ; watermarks include latin cross in minor scrollwork shield, initials "G B" below (final folio) ; in second to final folio "BELLANDO" ; in fourth to final folio "GRILLO" with figure on ball/pedestal (very similar to Heawood 1364-1365) above ; some burnishers marks ; pigment burn (especially blue in illuminated headpieces).Decoration: Well-executed illuminated headpiece (ʻunwān) on fol.1b (p.2) consists of narrow rectangular piece with empty gold cartouche and flanking accents in gold, blue, red, and pink surmounted by tall scalloped semi-circular (dome) approaching w-shaped piece with intricate swirling floral vegetal pattern in black, blue, pink, red, green, yellow, orange, white, and gold on fields of blue and gold ; similar illuminated headpiece appears on fol.312b (p.624) ; on fol.314b (p.628) and fol.316b (p.632) small illuminated headpieces, mainly gold resembling elongated cartouche with flanking accent pieces in white, blue, pink, yellow and red ; on fol.339a (p.677) an illuminated headpiece consisting of narrow rectangular piece carrying the basmalah surmounted by a piece giving the effect of an inverted w-shaped piece with swirling floral vegetal pattern similar to that appearing in the first headpieces ; throughout, text is surrounded by a frame consisting of a heavy gold band outlined by black fillets, an inner gold band and an outer blue fillet and then at some distance a second frame consisting of a thin gold band outlined by black fillets ; various columns and other areas of the written area are delineated by a thin gold band outlined by black fillets ; on incipit and facing page, margin filled with a swirling floral vegetal pattern in black, gold, red, and green ; text rubricated with keywords, section headings, overlining, etc. in red ; decorative tables of contents appear in main work ; a few diagrams appear in main work and several in appended works, see for example diagrams in treatise on prosody (divided concentric circles fol.318b-320a/p.636-639 and tree-like forms fol.320b/p.640) and in historical work (figure of fol.352b/p.704 showing the planets through Saturn in their orbits around the sun and figure of fol.359b/p.718 showing the circle of the Earth divided to its inhabited and uninhabited quarters).Script: Nastaʻlīq ; small, fine Persianate hand ; sans serif ; characteristic descent of words to baseline, superscript of final words/letters, letterforms, etc. ; tables of contents in the main work provided in an unpointed script (resembling siyāq / siyāqat), freely ligatured and with dramatic swooping tails.Layout: Written in roughly 27 lines per page (though varies where tables of contents, figures, diagrams, etc. appear) ; mainly large single column, often divided to four columns where poetry appears but varies to accommodate tables of contents and figures ; frame-ruled (impression of ruling board quite evident).Collation: i, 38 IV (304), III+1 (311), IV+1 (320), 4 IV (352), I (354), III (360), 5 IV (400), I (402), i ; chiefly quaternions ; a few gaps in the text on fol.349b (p.698) where rubrics appear to be lacking ; catchwords present ; pagination in pencil, Western numerals supplied during cataloguing.Explicit: "يعقوب شاه بن يوسف شاه است كه در سنه نهصد و نود و پنج برد ست اكبرى عاجز شده بهند آمد ودر سلك امرا منتظم كشت ازان باز كشمير سلاطين دهلى تعلق داشت حالا در تصرف شاه ابدالى است الحمد لله رب العالمين كه اين رساله جامع صفت اختتام يافت"Incipit: "لالى منشور سپاس و ستايش باستحقاق نثار دامن كبرياي [؟] ناظمى تواند بود كه بمحض قدرت كامله گوهر پمانند سخن و معاني در عقد الفاظ ولسان نسائي [؟] كشيد و جواهر ... اما بعد ابجد خوان دبستان يحمداني [؟] ابو طالب ابن مغفور حاجى محمد تبريزى الاصفهانى بعرض اهوش و كوش سالكان مسالك سخداني مير ساند ... "Title supplied by cataloguer from opening matter (preface) on fol.2b (p.4).Ms. codex.7. fol.402a-402b : [blank].6. fol. 339a-401b : لب السير و جهان نما.5. fol. 321b-339a : رساله در مختصر قنون طب.4. fol. 316b-321b : رساله در علم عروض و قافيه.3. fol. 314b-316a : در مصطلحات مسيقى.2. fol. 312b-314b : رساله در علم اخلاق.1. fol. 1a-312a : خلاصة الافكار.Fine copy of Abū Ṭālib Khān Tabrīzī Iṣfahānī's Khulāṣat al-afkār, a taz̲kirah with notices for Persian poets and extracts from their works, followed by his treatises on moral behavior, music, prosody, and medicine as well as his universal history, Lubb al-siyar va jahānʹnumā.
Collection of medicinal recipes possibly by a druggist, who is referred to as ‘the Damascene’ (Al-Dimašqī). A large number of simples are mentioned, including saffron, bdellium, pepper, Indian myrrh, almonds, sandalwood, cinnamon, rose-water, honey, sesame seeds, sesame oil, lemon, and vinegar. The appearance of the handwriting suggests that these were possibly notes taken by the druggist for his own use, a handbook for his practice.Condition: Torn, holes, rubbed, stainedLayout: various lines; 2 columns
Leaves from a booklet (possibly for personal use) with extracts of recipes from Al-Kindī, Kitāb kīmīyā’ al-ʿiṭr (‘The chemistry of perfume’), including preparations with cinnamon, cardamom, lichen, nard, tailed pepper, cinnamon, camphor, saffron, musk and rose-water.Condition: Torn, rubbedLayout: 15 lines (recto); 14 lines (verso) + marginalia; P2: 17.3 x 16.1; 13 lines
Bifolium from Al-Majūsī, Kāmil al-ṣināʿa, third discourse of the first part, chapters 34-36, dealing with the foetus in the womb, the anatomy of the breast, testes and seminal vessels (ed. Būlāq 1877, I: 120-122).Condition: Torn, rubbed, slightly fadedLayout: 17 lines
Opening page of the ninth discourse of the first part of Al-Majūsī, Kāmil al-Ṣināʿa, including the title and the beginning of chapter 1 on internal diseases (ed. Būlāq 1877, I: 319-320). The title and author’s name are copied on f. 1v in alternating black and red ink. F. 1r contains a note, in a different hand from the main text (and in a less bookish style), noting that the muḥtasib of the city should ask the doctor about the number, the form and the place of the bones in the human body.Condition: Slightly rubbed, slightly stainedLayout: 11-12 lines
Passage from Al-Majūsī, Kāmil al-ṣināʿa (‘The complete book on the art [of medicine]’): from the second discourse of the first part: chapter 2: anatomy of the bones in the skull, nasal bones and bones of the face (ed. Būlāq 1877, I: 50-51). Belongs with T-S Ar.42.49.Condition: Torn, slightly rubbed, slightly stainedLayout: 17 lines (recto); 16 lines (verso)
Leaves from Al-Majūsī, Kāmil al-ṣināʿat al-ṭibbiyya (‘The complete art of medicine’), from the 8th discourse of the first part, dealing with the causes and types of fevers – ephemeral, septic and phthisic (ed. Būlāq 1877, I: 294-296).Layout: 22 lines + marginalia
From a treatise on phlebotomy attributed to a certain Al-Rašīd, here dealing with the use of phlebotomy to relieve pain in various parts of the body; phlebotomy of the saphenous vein to treat diseases of the uterus and dysmenorrhea; the application of phlebotomy to children and the elderly.Condition: Torn, holes, stainedLayout: 2-23 lines
Leaf from a Judaeo-Arabic version of ʿAlī ibn ʿĪsā, Taḏkirat al-kaḥḥālīn (‘Memorandum for opticians’), second discourse, chapters 22-29 (ed. Hyderabad 1964, pp. 132-133).Layout: 11-12 lines
Page from a Judaeo-Arabic version of ʿAlī ibn ʿĪsā, Taḏkirat al-kaḥḥālīn (‘Memorandum for opticians’) third discourse, chapter 5, on long-sightedness and beginning of chapter 6 on shortsightedness (ed. Hyderabad 1964, pp. 293-295).Condition: Torn, tiny holes, slightly rubbedLayout: 15 lines (recto); 12 lines (verso) + marginalia
Recto: beginning of an Arabic translation of Nicolaus Damascenus’ synopsis of Pseudo-Aristotle (probably Nicolaus himself), De Plantis. Verso: autograph signature of Moses Maimonides who once owned the book.Condition: Torn, tiny holes, badly rubbed, badly fadedLayout: P1: 17 lines (recto); 1 line (verso); P2: 17 lines
Fihrist: Union Catalogue of Manuscripts from the Islamicate WorldRecord origin: "Manuscript description based on the Bodleian Library's public card index of Arabic manuscripts with additional enhancements by the OCIMCO project team."
Binding: Brown leather binding, repaired, gold-tooled.Collation: Quires of 8 leaves up to f. 169, after f. 169 10 leaves; catchwords at the end of the quires.Contents note: Commentaries in the margins. The name Menaḥem is pointed out on fol. 65r.Contents note: Refoliated. The references in Neubauer should be amended, as follows: for ‘fol. 28b’ read fol. 33v; ‘63’, 73; ‘70b’, 80v; ‘96b’, 106v; ‘97’, 107; ‘111’, 121; ‘112b’, 122v; ‘114b’, 124v; ‘115’, 125; ‘115b’, 125v; ‘116b’, 126v; ‘117b’, 127v; ‘119’, 129; ‘121’, 131; ‘122’, 132; ‘145b’, 155v; ‘146’, 156; ‘147b’, 157v; ‘148b’, 158v; ‘149’, 159; ‘150’, 160; ‘153’, 163; ‘153b’, 163v; ‘156b’, 166v; ‘157’, 167; ‘159’, 169; ‘160’, 170; ‘165’, 175; ‘176b’, 186v.Dimensions: 160 mm wide × 210 mm high (size of leaf).Hand: Ashkenazi square script. Menaḥem (?) copied up to fol. 124v (or perhaps up to fol. 128v, end of the quire). Fols. 129r-155r are copied by another hand, and fols. 155v-168v by several different hands (but fols. 155v-156v may be by the hand of the main copyist). Fols. 169-188 are part of another manuscript, written in Ashkenazi (French?) semi-cursive script. The marginal columns on fols. 65v-66v by a different hand.Layout: Drypoint ruling is often visible.Record origin: Manuscript description based on Catalogue of the Hebrew Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, vol. I, by Adolf Neubauer, Oxford 1886, No. 2138, Catalogue of the Hebrew manuscripts in the Bodleian Library; Supplement of Addenda and Corrigenda to Vol. I, No. 2138, and on the data of the Institute of Microfilmed Hebrew Manuscripts, National Library of Israel with additional enhancements by the cataloguer.
Binding: 18th century vellum over pasteboards; sewn onto three supports; text block edges sprinkled red; with shelfmark on the spine.Contents: Canon Avicenna, Book I, sens 1-3 (ff. 1r-57r).Contents note: Marginal heading ספר בחכמות הרפואות has been added by a later, Sefardi hand.Decoration: Simple pen-work decorations to mark the beginnings of new sections (done by the scribe).Dimensions: 205 × 160 × 16 mm (size of binding); 198 × 142 mm (size of leaf).Hand: Semi-cursive Italian-Ashkenazi script, ca. 1500.Layout: Text is written in brown ink (from dark to light brown), in one column. Some marginal glosses in Hebrew.Record origin: Description based on Neubauer and Beit-Arié.
"Contents: Collection of halakhical texts (ff. 1r-6v). Moses MaimonidesMishneh Torah (Sefer ZemanimHilkhot Sukah) (ff. 7r-15v). Beʾur deʿot ha-Rambam be-Moreh nevukhim (ff. 16r-19v). Isaac ben Jacob AlfasiHilkhot ha-Rif (SukahMegilahand Moʿed ḳatan) (ff. 20r-46v). Aḥmad Ibn al-ṢaffārTreatise on the astrolabe (ff. 47r-62(viii)r). Judah ha-LeviDiṿan R. Yehudah ha-Leṿi (ff. 63r-66r). Abraham ben Meïr Ibn EzraCommentary on the Exodus (fragment) (ff. 67r-68v). Astrological figures called 'batim' (ff. 69r-84v). Moses MaimonidesCommentary on the Mishnah (Tractate Eruvin) (ff. 85r-86v). Yūḥannā Ibn MāsawayhMedical treatise (fragment) (ff. 87r-88v). Commentary on Avicenna's Canon (Book Ifragment) (ff. 89r-90v). Moses MaimonidesThirteen principles (ff. 91r-92v). Enoch ben Solomon al-ḲusṭanṭiniMarʾot Elohim (fragment) (f. 93). Midrash collection (f. 94). Transcript of the Samaritan letter by Marḥib ben Yaʿaḳov (ff. 95r-96r)."
Binding: The volume is bound in a European restored binding incorporating older pasteboard covers. The older covers are covered with dark-red leather, having a blind, oval medallion (floral arabesques and scalloped edges), with pendants; the design on each cover is framed by two gilt fillets enclosing a gilt braid. Part of the original fore-edge flap remains on one of the covers; the envelope flap is now missing. The edges and spine are of recent dark-brown leather. The doublures are of plain brown leather with two gilt frames, and the endpapers are modern.Fihrist: Union Catalogue of Manuscripts from the Islamicate WorldContents note: There are scattered marginalia, mostly written in the same hands as annotated many of the illustrations. The fifth book (maqālah) also has a separate numbering of the individual leaves written in red ink in the upper left corner. On Folio 1a there are later pious statements and invocations written near the illuminated roundel.Decoration: Contains a depiction of Dioscorides and 289 illustrations of medicinal plants.Dimensions: 24.6 × 16.6 cm (size of leaf). 16.8 × 10.8 cm (size of written area).Hand: The text is written in a medium-large professional and consistent Naskh with occasional vocalization, with dark-brown ink and headings in red. The letters ḥāʾ and ʿayn frequently have minuscule letters underneath. Háčeks occur frequently over the letter rāʾ and occasionally over sīn; the letter ﻫ, when an attached pronoun, frequently has a minuscule letter over it.Layout: Written in one column throughout; 15 lines per page; the text area has been frame-ruled.Origin note: Copied in al-Madrasah al-Niẓāmīyah, Baghdad?; 25th Dhū al-Ḥijjah 637. AH; 17th July 1240. CERecord origin: Manuscript description based on NCAM-1 = Emilie Savage-Smith, A New Catalogue of Arabic Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, Volume I: Medicine, University of Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011.
In this manuscript, medical illustrations have been painted over the text of al-I’rab ’an qawā’id al-i’rab by Jamāl al-Dīn ibn Hishām (b. 708/1310, d. 761/1360), a Cairene grammarian. The treatise is an introduction to the study of the Arabic sentence.Medical illustration : a female figure with gravid uterus. The illustration is a 20th century over-painting over a page of grammatical text.49G: medicine, medical science