Catalogue: Pharmaceutics

al-Muntaqā min al-Kitāb al-Jāmi‘ li-quwan al-adwiyah wa-al-aghdhiyah   (MS A 47)

(Selections from the Comprehensive Book on the Efficacies of Medicaments and Foodstuffs)

المنتقا من كتاب الجامع لقوى الادويه والاغذيه

by Khidr ibn ‘Isá, known as al-Khaymi (ca. late 15th century?)

خضر ابن عيسى المعروف بالخيمى

This is a selection of material from Kitāb al-Jāmi‘ (The Comprehensive Book) by Ibn al-Bayṭār (d. 1248/646)-a popular Arabic work on pharmacy and dietetics that provided an alphabetical guide to 1400 simples taken from observation as well as 150 named sources. Numerous copies exist of this treatise by Ibn al-Bayṭār.

The person making the selection of material is named as Khidr ibn ‘Isá, known as (al-ma‘ruf bi-) al-Khaymi. It is stated that he selected and wrote with his own penmanship this manuscript (intaqahu wa-katabahu bi-khattihi), suggesting that this copy is in his own handwriting. Virtually nothing is known about Khaymi.

Two other copies are recorded of selections from Ibn al-Bayṭār's treatise compiled by Khidr ibn ‘Isá known as al-Khaymi: Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, MS arabe 2977 and Gotha, Forschungsbibliothek, MS 2001.

al-Muntaqā min al-Kitāb al-Jāmi‘ li-quwan al-adwiyah wa-al-aghdhiyah   (MS A 47)

MS A 47, fol. 1a

The title page al-Muntaqā min al-Kitāb al-Jāmi‘ li-quwan al-adwiyah wa-al-aghdhiyah (Selections from the Comprehensive Book on the Efficacies of Medicaments and Foodstuffs) by al-Khaymi (ca. late 15th century ? ). It states that this is the first fascicle (juz') of the treatise. The lower five lines records the fact that Khidr ibn ‘Isá, known as (al-ma‘ruf bi-) al-Khaymi selected and wrote with his own penmanship this book. In the upper left corner, part of the name of an owner can be detected (Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Sa‘d [?]).

MS A 47, fol. 1b

The beginning of al-Muntaqā min al-Kitāb al-Jāmi‘ li-quwan al-adwiyah wa-al-aghdhiyah (Selections from the Comprehensive Book on the Efficacies of Medicaments and Foodstuffs) by al-Khaymi (ca. late 15th century ? ). This is a selection of material taken from the pharmacopoeia titled al-Jami‘ by Ibn al-Bayṭār (d. 1248/646). Red shading of some letters in larger headings can be seen, as well as red overlinings and red-dot text stops.

Arabic. 194 leaves (fols. 1a-194b). Dimensions 20.5 x 14 (15.8 x 10.5) cm; 19 lines per page. The title is given on the title page (fol. 1a). On title page the author of the work being extracted is given as Diya’ al-Dīn Abī [sic] Muḥammad ibn ‘Abd Allāh ibn Aḥmad al-Malaqī, the botanist (al-‘ashab), known as (al-ma‘ruf bi-) Ibn al-Bayṭār. The title page (fol. 1a lines 6-8 illus) also states that Khidr ibn ‘Isá, known as (al-ma‘ruf bi-) al-Khaymi, selected and wrote with his own penmanship (intaqahu wa-katabahu bi-khattihi) this treatise.

The manuscript is undated; appearance of paper, handwriting, and ink suggest a dating of late 15th cent. It must have been completed before 1745 (1158 H) when an owner's note of purchase was placed in it.

This copy contains the first part only of al-Khaymi's selections from Ibn al-Bayṭār's treatise, covering only the first six letters of the alphabet, ending with the entry for kharbaq aswad (black hellebore). The following appears at the head of the title page: al-juz' al-awwal min ('the first fascicle of').

A medium-small to medium-large naskh script, in brown-black ink, with headings in red or in larger script in black ink. There are red overlinings, red shading of some letters, and red-dot text stops. There are no catchwords. Several quires of 10 folios are numbered.

There is some marginalia emending text with some later notes, some in Persian. Some marginalia have been obliterated. Recent notes on contents occur on prelim. fol. [1a] and recipes on prelim. fol. [2b].

The bulk of the volume is composed of biscuit, semi-glossy, fairly thick paper with rather irregular laid lines visible and no chain lines. The paper of the two preliminary folios is different from the rest of the volume, lighter in colour, thinner, and with laid lines and single chain lines visible. There is considerable water damage and spotting, and it is slightly wormeaten. Some folios have been repaired. The pages have been trimmed from their original size.

The volume consists of 194 leaves and two preliminary leaves. Preliminary fol. [1]b is blank. Preliminary fol. [1]a has an Arabic title written by a much later hand (juz' awal mufradat Ibn al-Bayṭār Tibb). Preliminary fol. [2]a has a more carefully written note giving the same title in correct Arabic, along with the statement that the unnamed person purchased the volume on 16 Muharram 1158 (= 18 February 1745); the name may have been defaced. Preliminary fol. [2]b has a therapeutic note regarding the treatment of children, written in a yet different hand.

The volume is bound in a red-leather modern library binding with envelope flap. There are modern paper pastedowns and endpapers.

An owner's note on preliminary fol. [2b] states that he purchased the manuscript. on 6 Muharram 1158 (=18 February 1745). In the left corner of the title page (fol. 1a) part of the name of an owner can be detected (Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Sa‘d [?]).

The volume was purchased in 1941 by the Army Medical Library from A. S. Yahuda who acquired it in Damascus (ELS 1730 Med. 67).

Schullian/Sommer, Cat. of incun. & MSS., entry A 47, pp. 312-3.

NLM Microfilm Reel: FILM 48-121 no. 4

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