Catalogue: Astrology/Divination/Magic
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[Four Treatises on Astrology, Divination, and Magic] (MS A 87, items 13, 14, 16, and 18) - Anonymous
The National Library of Medicine has 11 anonymous treatises on aspects of astrology, divination, and magic all of which will be catalogued in this section of the catalogue. There are also elements of divinatory practices, particularly that of geomancy (‘ilm al-raml), to be found in marginalia and readers' annotations in other manuscripts in the collection. For example, a geomantic tableau has been drawn in the margin of MS P 5, fol. 348b; several geomantic tableaux and generation lines are written on the pastedowns and on a loose sheet in MS A 18.1; and there are Latin squares and four geomantic taskins in MS P 28, item 4.
One manuscript of mixed contents (MS A 87) has four anonymous treatises concerned with various aspects of astrology, magic, and divination, while another (MS P 29) has six anonymous treatises on the subject. The four items in MS A 87 will be described briefly together, with the description of the volume as a whole following the fourth item. A similar arrangement will be followed for the six items in MS P 29.
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[On medicine, magic, and divination] (MS A 87, item 13)
- Anonymous
This untitled anonymous treatise on medicine, magic, and divination, is divided into five numbered chapters (fasls): (1) on medicine (fī ‘ilm al-ṭibb), (2) on alchemy (fī ‘ilm al-kimiya), (3) on natural magic (fī ‘ilm al-simiya), (4) on calendars and almanacs (fi ‘ilm taqwim al-shams wa-al-qamar), and (5) on prognostication and divination (fi ‘ilm al-fal). It is stated that these are the best of the natural occult sciences (al-‘ulum al-ghamidah al-tabi‘iyah).
Physical Description
Arabic. 30 leaves (fols. 142b-157b, 159a-172a). Dimensions 23.2 x 15.8 (text area 17.8 x 11.5) cm; 20-2 lines per page. The titles of the chapters are given at the start of the treatise. No title or author is specified.
The copy is undated. The general appearance of the paper, ink, and script suggests a date of the 18th century.
Fasl 1 occupied fols. 142b-154b; fasl 2, fols. 154b-157b and 159a-163b; fasl 3, 163b-166a; fasl 4, fols. 166b-169b, and fasl 5, fols. 169b-172a. Folio 158 is a smaller fol. inserted later and containing material unrelated to the treatise.
The text is written is a medium-large naskh script using black ink with headings in red. It was possibly transcribed by the same unnamed copyist as copied items 2 and 13 in the volume. There are catchwords.
There are extensive marginalia, with some notes labelled with the emphatic za'.
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Tafsīr anwā‘ al-riyāḍah (MS A 87, item 16)
- (Exposition on the varieties of mathematics)
- تفسير انواع الرياضه
- Anonymous
This anonymous astrological treatise is accompanied by considerable commentary. The text includes tables of the seven symbols making up the name of God (often called the Seal of Solomon), and the attributes associated with each symbol.
Physical Description
Arabic. 7 leaves (fols. 175a-181b). Dimensions 23.2 x 15.8 (text area 16.5 x 11) cm; 22-3 lines per page. The title is given on fol. 175a, line 4.
The copy is undated. The general appearance of the paper, ink, and script suggests a date of the 18th century.
The text is written is a fairly inelegant medium-large naskh script using black ink.
The table of symbols for the name of God is on fol. 180a.
There are extensive marginalia which often incorporated magical writing.
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[On Prognostication] (MS A 87, item 14)
- Anonymous
This short anonymous untitled essay includes extracts from writings attributed to Ibn Sina (Avicenna).
Physical Description
Arabic. 3 leaves (fols. 172b-174a). Dimensions 23.2 x 15.8 (text area 16.5 x 11) cm; 19-27 lines per page. No title or author is given.
The copy is undated. The general appearance of the paper, ink, and script suggests a date of the 18th century.
The text is written is a fairly inelegant medium-large naskh script using black ink with headings in red. There are also red overlinings and red highlighting. The handwriting is slightly different from the preceding item.
There are marginalia in Turkish.
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[On the Numerical Value of Letters and the Production of Magic Squares] (MS A 87, item 18)
- Anonymous
This untitled, anonymous essay on the production of magic squares and the numerical value of letters of the alphabet is divided into three chapters. It is illustrated with 14 magic squares, the smallest being 3x3 and the largest 9x9. There are also several talismanic designs.
Physical Description
Arabic. 2 leaves (fols. 185a-186b). Dimensions 23.2 x 15.8 (text area ca.18 x 12) cm; 35 lines per page, variable. No title or author is given.
The copy is undated. The general appearance of the paper, ink, and script suggests a date of the 18th century.
The text is written is an inelegant small naskh script using black ink. It is written in a smaller hand than the previous two items.
The text appears to continue onto the back pastedowns.
This are considerable marginalia.
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Physical Description of MS A 87
The ivory paper is thick and stiff, with visible vertical laid lines and single chain lines (no evident watermarks). It is dampstained and soiled through thumbing.
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] (MS A 87, item 6). 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 here catalogued. Item 14 (fols. 172b-174a) is an anonymous tract on divination here catalogued, 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 here catalogued. 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 here catalogued.
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's notes on fol. 4a, none apparently dated.
The volume was purchased in 1941 by the Army Medical Library from A.S. Yahuda, who acquired it from a dealer in Sanaa, the Yemen (ELS 2369).
References
Schullian/Sommer, Cat. of incun. & MSS., pp. 326-7 entry A87 (none of these four items are not listed).
NLM Microfilm Reel: FILM 48-129 no. 4
