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Catalogue: Medical Therapeutics

Asrār al-‘ilāj / Risālah Dhakhīrah wa-‘ujālah ‘azīzah (MS A 5): (The Secrets of Curing / Memorandum Book and Notable Jottings); اسرار العلاج / رساله ذخيرة وعجالة عزيزة; by Mīrzā ‘Alī (fl. 1659/1070); ميرزا على

Nothing is known about Mīrzā ‘Alī other than what can be concluded from the unique copy of his treatise that is preserved in the NLM collections. His Arabic-language general therapeutic manual was, according to a statement in it, completed in the year 1070 H [= 1659-60]. Where it was composed is not known. His name suggests that he worked in either Persia or western India.

The copy at NLM (MS A 5) was made in India in 1827/1243.

No other copy is recorded.

The treatise has not been published or translated.

Asrār al-‘ilāj / Risālah Dhakhīrah wa-‘ujālah ‘azīzah (MS A 5)

Illustrations

Folio 1b from Mīrzā ‘Alī's Asrār al-‘ilāj. The cream, semi-glossy paper is fibrous and has sagging vertical laid lines but no chain lines. The paper is slightly wormeaten. The text is written in a medium-small personal ta‘liq script with black ink. Headings are in red and there are red overlinings. The text area is frame-ruled.

MS A 5, fol. 1b

Folio 2a from Mīrzā ‘Alī's Asrār al-‘ilāj. The cream, semi-glossy paper is fibrous and has sagging vertical laid lines but no chain lines. The paper is slightly wormeaten. The text is written in a medium-small personal ta‘liq script with black ink. Headings are in red and there are red overlinings. The text area is frame-ruled.

MS A 5, fol. 2a

Sample pages from a general therapeutic manual written in 1659-60/1070 by Mīrzā ‘Alī. The copy was made in India in 1827/1243. No other copy is recorded and the author is otherwise unknown.

Physical Description

Arabic. 119 leaves (fols. 1b-75b and 77b-120b). Dimensions 23 x 15.2 (text area 17 x 10.2) cm; 15 lines per page. The title Asrar al-‘ilaj (The Secrets of Curing) appears at the end of the treatise, fol. 75a line 15, and near the beginning of the second bound portion of the treatise, fol. 78b, and is added in a later hand to fol. 1a. An alternative title Risalah Dhakhirah wa-‘ujalah ‘azizah (Memorandum Book and Notable Jottings) occurs at the beginning of the treatise, fol. 78a line 6. The two parts of the treatise have been bound in reverse order. The author's name, Mīrzā ‘Alī, is given on fol. 75a line 15. On fol. 120b, lines 3-4, it is stated that the author completed this treatise in 1070 [= 1659-60].

The copy is dated in the colophon (fol. 75b, line 1) where it is said that the unnamed copyist completed it in the year 1243 [= 1827]. The form of the numeral for 7 used in the date of completion of composition (fol. 75b line 15) is a distinctly Indian numeral form. The paper, script and ink also suggest India as the place of production.

The copy is complete. The treatise was copied in two sections which have been bound in reverse order: fols. 77b-120b should precede text on fols. 1b-75b. The text is written in a medium-small personal ta‘liq script with black ink. Headings are in red and there are red overlinings. The text area is frame-ruled. There are catchwords.

There are marginal corrections by the copyist.

The cream, semi-glossy paper is fibrous and has sagging vertical laid lines but no chain lines. The paper is slightly wormeaten.

The volume consists of 122 leaves. Fols. 76a-77a and 121a-122b are blank. Fol. 1a is blank except for a title page, added later.

Provenance

The volume was purchased in 1941 by the Army Medical Library from A. S. Yahuda, who acquired it from a dealer in Lahore (ELS No. 1670; Med. 72).

References

Schullian/Sommer, Cat. of incun. & MSS., entry A5, p. 298.

NLM Microfilm Reel: FILM 48-110 no. 5

Khāliṭah fī ṣinā‘at al‑ṭibb (MS A 31): (Miscellany on the Art of Medicine); خالطة فى صناعة الطب; by Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Salāwī (fl. 1770-1815); احمد ابن محمد السلاوى

NLM has in its collections an autograph copy of a general therapeutic manual by a North African physician named Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Salāwī. According to the treatise, he completed the treatise on 14 Muharram 1229 [= 6 January 1814] and based it upon 48 years of experience.

The treatise concerns the most common ailments encountered by the author in North Africa at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries. Al-Salāwī warns against use of many drugs approved by older authorities and occasionally advocates in some cases the methods used by European doctors.

No other copy is recorded.

The treatise has not been published in a modern translation or edition.

Khāliṭah fī ṣinā‘at al‑ṭibb (MS A 31)

Illustrations

Folio 1b from Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Salāwī's Khālitah fī sinā’at al-tibb. The glossy creamy-beige paper has vertical laid lines and single chain lines and is watermarked. There is considerable damage to the paper from damp; it is also worm-eaten. The text is written in a small to medium-small, careful North African (Maghribi) script. It is written in black ink with headings in red. In the right margin is a short anonymous treatise on toothache written in a later hand in red ink.

MS A 31, fol. 1b

The opening of an autograph copy of a treatise on the treatment of ailments encountered in North Africa written by Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Salāwī in 1814/1229 and based on 48 years of experience. No other copy is recorded.

Folio 54b featuring the colophon from Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Salāwī's Khālitah fī sinā’at al-tibb. The glossy creamy-beige paper has vertical laid lines and single chain lines and is watermarked. There is considerable damage to the paper from damp; it is also worm-eaten. The text is written using black ink in a small to medium-small, careful North African (Maghribi) script. At the bottom of folio are miscellaneous notes written in black ink.

MS A 31, fol. 54b

The colophon of an autograph copy of a treatise on the treatment of ailments encountered in North Africa written by Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Salāwī in 1814/1229 and based on 48 years of experience. No other copy is recorded.

Physical Description

Arabic. 54 leaves (fols. 1b-54b). Dimensions 20.8 x 15.2 (text area 15.5 x 9.5) cm; 25 lines per page. The title is given at the beginning of the text (fol. 1b line 2). The author's name is given in the colophon (fol. 54b, lines 14-15). This is an autograph copy by the author.

The copy is dated in the colophon (fol. 54b, lines 14-15), where it is said that it is an autograph copy made by the author for his own use and that it was completed on 14 Muharram 1229 [= 6 January 1814].

A complete copy. The text is written in a small to medium-small, careful North African (Maghribi) script. The text area is frame-ruled. It is written in black ink with headings in red, some of which are now silvered (due to corrosion). There are catchwords.

There are some penciled notes in Arabic in the margins.

The glossy creamy-beige paper has vertical laid lines and single chain lines and is watermarked. There is considerable damage to the paper from damp; it is also worm-eaten.

The volume consists of 55 leaves. Fol. 1a is a short anonymous treatise on toothache written in a later hand. At the bottom of fols. 54b and 55a-b there are miscellaneous notes in Maghribi script written by at least five different hands, none of them the author/copyist. Fol. 1a has 40 closely written lines, by yet another hand, giving therapeutic procedures.

Binding

The volume is bound in a modern library binding. There are recent endpapers and pastedowns.

References

Schullian/Sommer, Cat. of incun. & MSS, entry A31, p. 307.

NLM Microfilm Reel: FILM 48-118 no. 4

al-Dastūr al-Jalālī (MS A 9): (Jalal's Book of Rules); الدستور الجلالى; by Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad al-ṭabīb al-Iṣfahānī (fl. 1828/1244); جلال الدين محمد الطبيب الاصفهانى

On the 1st of Jumadá II, 1244 H [= 9 December 1828] Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad al-ṭabīb al-Iṣfahānī (a physician of Isfahan in Persia) completed a treatise on therapeutics, arranged in order from head to foot. NLM has a copy.

Only two other copies are recorded, one in Tehran and one in Los Angeles. The date of completion is given only in the copy in Los Angeles, University of California at Los Angeles, Biomedical Library, Coll. 1062, MS Ar. 36 (see Iskandar "UCLA", p. 41). There is a Persian treatise preserved today titled al-Dastūr al-Jalālī by the same author, presumably a translation of the original Arabic. However, a second Persian treatise on the preservation of health in the human body (Hifz-i sihhat-i badan al-insaniyah) by the same author is said to have been dedicated to the ruler Abu al-Muzaffar Abu al-Mansur Shah Sulayman al-Safawi al-Musawi Bahadur Khan, who ruled from 1666 to 1694. (See Storey PL II,2, p. 263-4 no. 450). The 17th-century date conflicts with that found in the UCLA copy of the present Arabic treatise. No further information is available on the author.

For other copies, see GAL-S, vol. 2, p. 971, no. 26; and Iskandar "UCLA", p. 41; and Storey PL II,2, p. 263 no. 450(1).

al-Dastūr al-Jalālī (MS A 9)

Illustrations

Folios 2b and 3a from Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad al-ṭabīb al-Iṣfahānī's al-Dastūr al-Jalālī. The glossy ivory paper has horizontal laid lines, single chain lines, and is watermarked (with a shield). The paper is slightly waterdamaged. The text is written in a medium-large naskh script in black ink with headings in red. The text are has been frame-ruled.

MS A 9, fols. 2b-3a

Sample pages from the Arabic therapeutic manual al-Dastūr al-Jalālī (Jalal's Book of Rules) written by Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad al-Iṣfahānī. The copy is undated, but must have been made after 1828 if, as a copy in another library suggests, the treatise was written in 1828.

Physical Description

Arabic. 119 leaves (fols. 1b-119b). Dimensions 31.2 x 21 (text area 18.7 x 12) cm; 13-16 lines per page. The title is taken from fol. 2a line 12; a later hand has written the Persian title Dastūr al-Jalālī dar tibb on fol. 1a. The author's name given on fol. 1b line 6 as Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad al-ṭabīb al-Iṣfahānī.

The copy is undated and unsigned. If, as some evidence suggests (Iskandar "UCLA", p. 41) the treatise was written in 1828/1244, then this copy could not have been made before that date.

The copy is incomplete; the text breaks off during the discussion of treatment for expectoration of blood. The text is written in a medium-large naskh script in black ink with headings in red. The text are has been frame-ruled. There are smaller black headings at the edges of the leaves which were apparently instructions for the person preparing the rubrications; many but not all of these instructions have been cut off as the edges were trimmed, but some are still intact (e.g., fol. 3a). There are catchwords.

The glossy ivory paper has horizontal laid lines, single chain lines, and is watermarked (with a shield). The paper is slightly waterdamaged.

The volume consists of 120 leaves. Fol. 120ab is blank; fol. 1a is blank except for the Persian title Dastur-i Jalali dar tibb that has been added by a later hand.

Provenance

The volume was purchased in 1941 by the Army Medical Library from A. S. Yahuda.

References

Schullian/Sommer, Cat. of incun. & MSS., entry A9, pp. 299-300.

NLM Microfilm Reel: FILM 48-113 no. 2