Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 65

AL-MAJUSI ALIIBN AL-ABBAS (d. 994) Liber totius medicine necessaria continens quem . . . Haly filius Abbas . . . edidit, regique inscripsit, unde et Regalis dispositionis nomen assumpsit; et a Stephano . . . ex Arabica lingua in Latinam . . . reductus; necnon a . . . Michaele de Capella Typis Jacobi Myt] 1523 [8] 5-319 [1] ll. (last leaf blank). 20.4 cm.

Haly Abbas, as he was known in the Latin west, was a native of Ahwaz in southwestern Persia and, in all probability, studied medicine at nearby Jundi-Shapur. His chief instructor was Abu Mahir Musa ibn Sayyar who wrote a treatise on phlebotomy. He also served as court physician to the Buyid ruler 'Adud ad-Dawlah (d. 983) in Baghdad. His principal work was the Kamil al-sina'h also known as the Al-Kitabu'l-Maliki or the Kamil al-Sinnah al-Tibbyah which was known in Europe as Liber regius or the Royal book. A comprehensive treatise of twenty books, the first ten covered medical theory and the final ten covered medical practice. Haly Abbas prepared his treatise to occupy a position midway between Rhazes' (see No. 59 ff.) immense Liber continens and his shorter more concise Almansor. The book's clear, direct style, good organization, completeness, and systematic description of contemporary medical knowledge and thought undoubtedly contributed to its becoming the standard medical text until Avicenna's (see No. 67) Canon appeared a century later. Haly Abbas began the work with a critical review of the literature in which he covered such authors as Hippocrates, Galen, Oribasius, and Rhazes. He discussed human behavior and emphasized the importance of psychotherapy and the relationship between medicine and psychology. He recommended frequent use of phlebotomy and encouraged chemotherapy. He opposed contraception, recognized the existence of the capillary system, and subscribed to the highest ethical standards for physicians. Constantine the African (see No. 73) first introduced the nineteenth book on surgery to Europe in the eleventh century but did not attribute it to Haly Abbas. Stephen of Antioch (fl. 1100) completed the first Latin translation of all twenty books in 1127 and it was his translation that first appeared in print at Venice in 1492. The present work, based on Stephen's translation and edited by Michael de Capella (fl. 1500), is the second edition of the work.

See Related Record(s): 59 67 73

Cited references: Durling 168; Garrison-Morton 42 (1st ed., 1492); Waller 353; Wellcome 3048

Gift of John Martin, M.D.