Beschreibung:

Abu 'Ali al-Husayn ibn 'Abdallah Ibn Sina, known as 'Avicenna', Al Qanun fi al'Tibb (The Canon of Medicine), first edition, printed in Arabic [Rome, Typographia Medicea, 1593] title in Arabic with publisher's details in Latin, 6 parts in one volume, comprising the title, preface (5 folios), Book I (pp. 1-112), Book II (pp. 113-280), Book III (pp. 281-610), Book IV (pp. 1-176), Book V (pp. 177-268), the index (32 leaves) and a further Compendium of Ibn Sina (pp. 1-85), ornamental woodcut head and tail-pieces, text printed in double ruled border, overlining to headings and important phrases throughout in red by hand, a few early personal ink seals (of seemingly Persian origin), a few contemporary annotations to margins, first and last 4 leaves with margins repaired at outer edges, some of these mounted on stubs, leaves a little browned and some light water-staining throughout, overall a very good copy of this rare text [Adams A2322, Schnurrer 393] 326 by 220 mm.; nineteenth-century quarter morocco, covers in green cloth, fraying a little at outer edges, morocco spine with 5 raised bands, a little rubbed The first printed edition of the most authoritative medical text in the Islamic world Avicenna (d.1037) was a Persian physician and astronomer whose literary contributions formed much of the foundations of medicine in the Islamic Golden Age. This particular text, the Canon of Medicine, was used in Western and Islamic universities alike as the standard medical encyclopedia from the Middle Ages until the eighteenth century. This monumental printing was carried out by the Typographia Medicea, the Medici Oriental Press of Ferdinand de Medici, who were responsible for many of the earliest Arabic printed texts. They became known for their mastering of printing in foreign languages and translating Christian texts into these languages to spread Christianity across the Islamic world. Their famous Arabic translation of the Gospels precedes this work by 2 years, and the final section of this codex includes Christian anecdotes and teachings which were an addition to the standard text by the Medici press. This religious content may be the reason for the scarcity of this final part of the work, and interestingly although the present volume has been in the Middle East for a few centuries, the final section has remained. Only three copies of this scarce work, all fragmentary, have appeared at auction in the past four decades: that from the library of Camille Aboussouan (Sotheby's, 17 June 1993, lot 445), another from the Haskell F. Norman Library (Christie's, 18 March 1998, lot 26), and most recently in our rooms (28 November 2013, lot 362). None of these copies was complete, most lacking parts IV, V and the Compendium of Ibn Sina.