Catalogue: Dietetics and Regimen
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Tadbīr al-aṭfāl min Kitāb al-Bayān (MS A 87, item 6) - (The Management of Infants, taken from the "Book of Explanation")
- تدبير الاطفال من كتاب البيان
- anonymous, probably from Abū ‘Alī Yaḥyá ibn ‘Īsá Ibn Jazlah (d. 1100/493)
- ابو على يحيى ابن عيسى ابن جزله
An essay on regimen for infants (Tadbīr al-aṭfāl) that was extracted from a book called Kitāb al-Bayān ("The Book of Explanation") is preserved in NLM MS A 87 item 6. Neither the compiler's name nor that of the original book is given, but the procedures are presumably taken from the popular treatise Minhaj al-bayān ("The Way of Explanation") written by Ibn Jazlah, who died in 1100/493. For NLM copies of Ibn Jazlah's Minhaj al-bayān and other abridgements and extracts from it, see the section on general pharmaceutics.
It is also possible that the name of the treatise from which this regimen for infants was extracted, Kitāb al-Bayān, might refer not to Ibn Jazlah's treatise Minhaj al-bayān but rather to a 13th-century Egyptian physician Ibn Abi al-Bayān (d. 1240/638) who composed an important dispensary or list of compound remedies specifically for use in hospitals (Dustur al-bimaristani). For Ibn Abi al-Bayān, see Ullmann, Medizin, p. 309. However, since the manuscript at NLM that preserves this essay also has a lengthy abridgement of a treatise called al-Bayān and Ibn Jazlah is specified as its author, then it is likely that the present short essay, placed later in the volume, also refers to this same treatise -- that is, to Ibn Jazlah's Minhaj al-bayān.
No other copies of this essay have been identified.
It has not been published in a modern translation or edition.
Tadbīr al-aṭfāl min Kitāb al-Bayān (MS A 87 item 6)
Illustrations
The beginning (at the 9th line) of an essay on the management of infants (Tadbīr al-aṭfāl) that was extracted from Kitāb al-Bayān ("The Book of Explanation"). Neither the compiler's name nor that of the original book is given, but the procedures are presumably taken from the popular treatise Minhaj al-bayān ("The Way of Explanation") written by Ibn Jazlah, who died in 1100/493. The copy is undated, probably 18th century.
Physical Description
Arabic. 2 leaves (fols. 74a line 9-75b). Dimensions 23.2 x 15.8 (text area 19.5 x 13.5) cm; 27-32 lines per page.
The copy is undated. The general appearance of the paper, ink, and script suggests a date of the 18th century.
The text begins at the 9th line of fol. 74a and is written is a medium-large, fairly compact naskh script (in Turkish hand ?) by the same hand as transcribed the previous item in the volume (MS A 87, item 5). It is written in black ink, with no rubrications nor overlinings nor catchwords. The text area is not frame-ruled.
The ivory paper is thick and stiff, with visible laid lines and single chain lines (no evident watermarks).
The volume consists of 186 leaves. It is a mixed volume with 18 different items in it, copied by at least two different copyists. Item 1 (fols. 1a-3b) is an anonymous alchemical fragment (MS A 87, item 1), item 2 (fols. 4a-54a) is the abridgement of a treatise called al-Bayān by Ibn Jazlah (MS A 87, item 2), and item 3 (fols. 54b-64b) extracts from al-Bayān [by Ibn Jazlah] (MS A 87, item 3). Item 4 (fols. 65b-68a) is an anonymous, untitled essay on stones (MS A 87, item 4), item 5 (fols. 68b-74a) an anonymous collection of therapeutic procedures (MS A 87, item 5), and item 6 (fols. 74a-75b) on regimen for infants, extracted from Kitāb al-Bayān [? Ibn Jazlah] here catalogued. Item 7 (fols. 76a-96b) is the anonymous treatise on materia medica (MS A 87, item 7); item 8 (fols. 97a-100a) an anonymous tract on medicinal oils (MS A 87, item 8), and item 9 (fols. 100b-121a) a magical-medical treatise by Ibn Tūmart al-Maghribī (MS A 87, item 9). Item 10 (fols. 121b-125a) is an anonymous alphabetical list of medicaments (MS A 87, item 10), and item 11 (fols. 125b-140b) is the commentary on an identified "poem on the principles of the art of medicine" (MS A 87, item 11). Item 12 (fols. 140b-142a) contains selections from Kitāb al-Ḥāwī fī ‘ilm al-tadāwī by Najm al-Din al-Shirazi (MS A 87, item 12), and item 13 (fols. 142b-157b, 159a-172a) is an untitled anonymous treatise in five chapters on medicine, magic, and divination (MS A 87, item 13). Item 14 (fols. 172b-174a) is an anonymous tract on divination (MS A 87, item 14), item 15 (fols. 174b-175a) untitled extracts from medical writings (MS A 87, item 15), and item 16 (fols. 175a-181b) is an anonymous astrological treatise (MS A 87, item 16). Item 17 (fols. 182a-184b) is an anonymous treatise titled Dā'ir muḥibb fī ‘ilm al-ṭibb , on magical medicine (MS A 87, item 17), while the final item, item 18 (fols. 185a-186b), is an anonymous essay on the numerical values of letters and magic squares (MS A 87, item 18).
Binding
The volume is bound in pasteboards covered with brown leather, over which light-brown paper has been placed on the covers. There is a recent brown leather spine. The paper pastedowns are contemporary with the manuscript and are covered with miscellaneous notes.
Provenance
There is an owner's signature dated 1268 [= 1851-2] on fol. 3b of the volume, and there are several owners' notes on fol. 4a.
The volume was purchased in 1941 by the Army Medical Library from A.S. Yahuda, who acquired it fram a dealer in Sanaa, the Yemen (ELS 2369).
References
Schullian/Sommer, Cat. of incun. & MSS., pp. 326-7 entry A87 (this item not described).
NLM Microfilm Reel: FILM 48-129 no. 4
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Nuzhat al-adhhān fī aṣlāḥ al-abdān (MS A 92, item 5)
- (The Delight of the Minds Concerning the Improvement of Bodies)
- نزهة الاذهان فى اصلاح الابدان
- by Dā’ūd ibn ‘Umar al-Anṭākī (d. 1599/1008)
- داود ابن عمر الانطاكي
This extensive treatise on regimen and dietetics written at the end of the 16th century by the Egyptian physician Dā’ūd ibn ‘Umar al-Anṭākī is preserved today in several copies.
The copy at NLM was made in 1741/1154 by a physician active in the Syrian coastal town of Laodicea.
For other copies, see GAL vol. 2 p. 364 (478) no. 3, and GAL-S, vol. 2, pp. 492-3 no. 3; and Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, editor, Fihris al-makhtutat al-tibb al-Islami bi-al-lughat al-‘arabiyah wa-al-turkiyah wa-al-farisiyah fi maktabat turkiya; Catalogue of Islamic Medical Manuscripts (in Arabic, Turkish, and Persian) in the Libraries of Turkey. Prepared by Ramazan Sesen, Cemil Akpinar, and Cevad Izgi (Istanbul: Research Centre of Islamic History, Art and Culture, 1984), p. 230.
The treatise has not been published in a modern translation or edition.
Nuzhat al-adhhān fī aṣlāḥ al-abdān (MS A 92 item 5)
Illustrations
The opening of the treatise on regimen, Nuzhat al-adhhān fī aṣlāḥ al-abdān ("The Delight of the Minds Concerning the Improvement of Bodies") by Dā’ūd ibn ‘Umar al-Anṭākī (d. 1599/1008). The copy was completed on 2 Rajab 1154 [= 13 September 1741] by Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad Maḥmūd, known as al-ḥakīm al-Lādhaqī, that is, the physician of Laodicea, a coastal town of Syria.
Physical Description
Arabic. 103 pages (pp. 117-219 [old 115-217]). Dimensions 21.0 x 15.0 (text area 15.1 x 9.2) cm; 15 lines per page. The author's name is given on p. 219 [old 217] line 13 as Da'ud al-tabib [the physician]. The title is given on p. 117 [old 115].
The copy is dated in the colophon (p. 219 [old 217] line 14), where it is said that the copyist Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad Maḥmūd, known as (al-shahīr bi-) al-ḥakīm al-Lādhaqī ["the physician of Laodicea", a coastal town of Syria] completed the copy on 2 Rajab 1154 [= 13 September 1741].
A complete copy. The volume has been paginated rather than foliated, and the most recent pagination replaces an older one in Arabic numerals still visible on the leaves. The text is written in a medium-small naskh script using black ink with headings in red. There are catchwords.
There are some marginalia, mostly recipes.
The cream paper has laid lines and single chain lines. The same paper appears to have been used throughout the volume, although the copyists change and the paper appears to be glossier in the second half of the volume. There is extensive water damage and some folios are worm-eaten; some folios are repaired.
The volume consists of 220 pages and two preliminary pages. The volume has a recent pagination that replaces an older one using Arabic numerals. Page 220 [old 218] is blank. Item 1 (preliminary page 2, and pp 1-67 [old pp. 1-65]) is the Ṭibb al-fuqarā’ wa-al-masākīn by Ibn al-Jazzār (MS A 92, item 1). Item 2 (pp. 68-76 [old 66-74]) is an anonymous collection of recipes (MS A 92, item 2); item 3 (pp. 77-105 [old 75-103]) is Zād al-masīr fī ‘ilāj al-bawāsīr by al-Qawṣūnī (MS A 92, item 3); item 4 (pp. 106-116 [old 104-114]) is an anonymous collection of mujarrabat recipes and procedures (MS A 92, item 4); and item 5 (pp. 117-219 [old 115-217]) is the item here catalogued. Preliminary page 1 has talismanic miscellaneous notes and recipes written in later hands.
Binding
The volume is bound in a tan leather modern library binding. There are modern pastedowns and endpapers.
Provenance
In the collection of the Army Medical Library since 1946; provenance unknown.
References
Schullian/Sommer, Cat. of incun. & MSS., entry A92, p. 329.
NLM Microfilm Reel: FILM 48-130 no 2.
NLM has a short Arabic essay on methods of washing that is without both title and author.
No other copy has been identified.
It has not been published in a translation or edition.
Physical Description
Arabic. 5 leaves (fols. 167a-171a). Dimensions 20.7 x 14.5 (text area 14.5 x 8.5) cm; 21 lines per page. No title or author are given.
The copy appears to have been made by the same copyist as transcribed the first item in the volume, which was made in 1097 [= 1685-6] by Aḥmad ibn Ṣafar "the physician in Üsküdar" (al-tabib bi-dar Üsküdar), according to the colophon for the first item on fol. 166b (MS A 83/I, item 1). Üsküdar is a suburb of Istanbul.
The text is written in a medium-small naskh hand typical of Turkish products, in black ink with headings in red. The text area has been frame-ruled. There are catchwords.
The volume was very heavily used and there are extensive marginal notes and recipes, many recorded by the copyist.
The thin biscuit paper has a nearly matte-finish; it is watermarked and has visible laid lines and single chain lines. The paper is water damaged and heavily soiled. The edges are damaged and some have been repaired.
The volume consists of 185 leaves and one preliminary folio. Fols. 2b-4a contain a table of contents for the volume bound together with this manuscript (see MS A 83/II). Preliminary fol. [1] and fols. 1a-2a and 4b contain miscellaneous recipes and notes, mostly in Turkish, in a number of different hands. Fols. 5a-166b are numbered with Arabic numerals 1-162. Fols. 5a-166b (item 1) is Kitāb al-Asbāb wa-al-‘alāmāt by Najīb al-Dīn al-Samarqandī (MS A 83/I, item 1). Throughout item one (fols. 5-166), one or more small loose sheets of paper are tipped in between nearly every folio; between fols. 42 and 43 there is a large sheet nearly the size of the volume itself. These extra sheets are unnumbered and contain miscellaneous notes and recipes, in a variety of hands, mostly in Turkish. Fols. 167a-171a contain the item here catalogued. Fols. 171b-179a, and fols. 180a (bottom half) to 185b, contain miscellaneous notes in different hands, mostly in Turkish, on compound remedies (MS A 83/I, item 3). Fols. 179b-180a contain a table of contents for the treatise by al-Īlāqī which is found in the manuscript with which this volume is bound together (see MS A 83/II); this table of contents was written after the two manuscripts were bound into one volume. The front endpaper has very recent recipes and contents notes in Turkish; there is also a penciled note in English on the contents.
Binding
The volume is bound in soft dark-brown leather covers. Macrophotographs of the binding, examined by the University of Cincinnati Leather Industries Research Laboratory, identified the leather as water buffalo or sheep or goat or calf. The binding is not original with the manuscript. There are paper pastedowns and endpapers. Manuscript A 83/I is bound together with a treatise by al-Īlāqī (see MS A 83/II).
Provenance
There is an undated owner's stamp on the title page (fol. 5a).
The volume was purchased in 1941 by the Army Medical Library from A.S. Yahuda, who acquired it in Cairo (ELS 2368 Med., former no. 141).
References
Schullian/Sommer, Cat. of incun. & MSS., p. 325 entry A83.
NLM Microfilm Reel: FILM 48-148 no. 1
