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History of Medicine

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Decorative calligraphic page header featuring orange Arabic script for Islamic Culture and Medicine

Islamic Culture and the Medical Arts


Visual Catalog of the Illustrations (Part 3/9)


Illuminated opening of the fourth book of The Canon of Medicine (Kitab al-Qanun fi al-tibb) by Ibn Sina (d. 1037/428 H)

The Canon of Medicine (Kitab al-Qanun fi al-tibb) by Ibn Sina (d. 1037/428 H). A rare complete copy made in Iran probably at the beginning of the 15th century.
NLM MS A 53, fol. 368b, the illuminated opening of the 4th book

Alternate version

[Corresponding Text]


Folio 1b of MS A44.1 featuring illuminated heading and opening text in cloud bands.

Ibn al-Nafis's 13th-century treatise The Concise Book (Kitab Mujiz) which epitomized the Canon of Ibn Sina. The undated copy, written in a fine professional hand with an illuminated heading and opening text in cloud bands, was probably produced in Iran or India in the 17th to 18th century.
NLM MS A44.1, fol. 1b

[Corresponding Text]


Handwritten page from The Salutory Treatise on Drugs for Forgetfulness by Ishaq ibn Hunayn. NLM MS A3 (part 2), folio 1b.

The Salutory Treatise on Drugs for Forgetfulness (Risalah al-Shafiyah fi adwiyat al-nisyan) written in the 9th century by Ishaq ibn Hunayn. The copy is undated, but its script, paper and ink suggest that it was copied at the end of the 14th century.
NLM MS A 3(part 2), fol. 1b

[Corresponding Text]


Two handwritten pages of an Arabic treatise on haemorrhoids that is frame ruled.

A short Arabic treatise of 4 folios on haemorrhoids (Fi al-bawasir) by Maimonides (d. 1204/601 H). The copy, in a Maghrib (North African) script, was made in 1826 (1241 H) by a scribe named Mahmud ibn Muhammad al-Ibi al-Hanafi.
NLM MS A90, fols. 1b-2a at the beginning of the treatise

[Corresponding Text]


First handwritten page of On the Management of Diseases for the Most Part Through Common Foodstuffs and Medicine Specified for the Use of Monks of the Cloister and Whoever is Far From the City by Ibn Butlan NLM MS A37, folio 1b.

On the Management of Diseases for the Most Part Through Common Foodstuffs and Medicine Specified for the Use of Monks of the Cloister and Whoever is Far From the City, an Arabic manual by Ibn Butlan (d. 1066/460 H). Undated incomplete copy; possibly 18th century.
NLM MS A37, fol. 1b, open to start of manual

[Corresponding Text]


Handwritten page of Arabic script featuring the life of Dioscorides near the bottom.

The biographical dictionary (Ta'rikh al-Hukama') of 414 physicians and scholars written by `Ali ibn Yusuf al-Qifti (d. 1248/646 H). Copy completed 25 January 1636 (16 Sha`ban 1045 H) by scribe Muhammad ibn Shaykh ..?..ibn Shaykh `Umar al-Akhrawi.
NLM MS A72, fol. 58b.
Life of Dioscorides begins near bottom of folio.

[Corresponding Text]


Handwritten Arabic page featuring a commentary on the Mujiz or Concise Book of Ibn al-Nafis, called The Key to the Mujiz on the top half of the folio and a schematic diagram of the visual system on the bottom half of the page.

A commentary on the Mujiz or Concise Book of Ibn al-Nafis, called The Key to the Mujiz and composed in Arabic by al-Aqsara'i, who died in 1370 (771H). The copy was completed in October of 1407 (Jumada I 810 H) and is one of the earliest preserved copies.
NLM MS A67, fol. 167b showing a schematic diagram of the visual system.

[Corresponding Text]


Folios 7b and 8a of NLM MS A48, which are two handwritten pages of Arabic script in black and red ink at the beginning folios on a chapter on pannus (sabal)

The Result of Thinking about the Cure of Eye Diseases (Natijat al-fikar fi `ilaj amrad al-basar) written in Cairo by Fath al-Din al-Qaysi (d. 1259/657 H). Copy finished by unnamed scribe on 16 November 1501 (5 Jumada I 907 H).
NLM MS A 48, fols. 7b-8a, open to chapter on pannus (sabal).

[Corresponding Text]


NLM MS A27 folios 11b and 12a which are handwritten in Arabic script using black ink. The folios are a discussion of the heart and there are marginal annotations containing extracts from the commentary.

The anatomical sections of the Canon of Medicine by Ibn Sina (d. 1037/428 H) assembled by an anonymous compiler into one volume. Notes in the margins include quotations from the commentary on the anatomy of the Canon written by Ibn al-Nafis (d. 1288/687 H), who is referred to as al-Qurashi, the name by which earlier writers knew him. Copy completed by unnamed scribe on 13 July 1584 (5 Rajab 992 H).
NLM MS A 27, fols. 11b-12a. Open to discussion of the heart.

[Corresponding Text]


NLM MS P19 folio 5a which is a handwritten page with a diagram of the cranial suture (upper illustration), drawn in red and black ink, and a schematic diagram of the bones of the upper jaw (maxilla) with the positions of the teeth indicated.

Diagrams of cranial sutures (above) and the bones of the upper jaw (below). From The Anatomy of the Human Body (Tashrih-i badan-i insan) written in Persian at the end of the 14th century by Mansur ibn Ilyas. Undated copy, probably 15th century.
NLM MS P19, fol. 5a

[Corresponding Text]



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Last Reviewed: December 15, 2011