IBN MĀSAWAYH AL-MARDINI, Yūhannā [i.e., Mesuë].

£5,950 · Offered by Sokol Books

A fine copy of a charmingly illustrated Giunta edition of Mesuë’s influential work, inspired by Arabic medicine – ‘the most influential in the development of European pharmacy’ (De Vos, p.668). ‘Masawayh al-Mardini (known in the West as Mesuë the Younger) is supposed to have been a Jacobite Christian who lived in the 10th century. Since none of his writings has been found in its original language and no Arabian historian or bibliographer seems to know him, it is now believed that a Latin author (perhaps an Italian) of the early thirteenth century assumed the name of Mesuë, hoping thereby to gain ready recognition for his works under the guise of the ninth century Syrian physician who wrote in Arabic. At any rate, his writings were accepted as genuinely Arabian and held such a place of importance that they went through more than a dozen editions between their first printing in 1471 and 1500’ (Heirs of Hippocrates). His ‘Opera’ includes three works by him. The first, ‘Canones universales’, followed by J. Costaeus’ commentary, consists of ‘a set of general rules that explained how to select purgatives and prepare them for application to the body in the way that would have the most beneficial effect’ (De Vos, p.669). The second, ‘De simplicibus’, discusses the properties of 49 purgative herbs, some handsomely illustrated. They include aloe, rhubarb, tamarind, manna, turbith, and many others. The third, ‘Compendium secretorum medicamentorum’ (‘aqrābadhīn’, known as ‘Grabadin’) is

• Printing: first
• Binding: Hardcover

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