Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 81

MOSES MAIMONIDES (1135-1204) Mishnah [Hebrew transliterated]; sive legum mischnicarum liber qui inscribitur ordo puritatum. Excudunt Gerardus & Jacobus Borstius 1703 [48] 504 [12] pp., illus. (front.). 34.2 cm.

Maimonides, also known as Moses Ben Maimon, was a native of Cordova and the son of an eminent mathematician, astronomer, judge, and Talmudist. His family elected to leave Cordova in 1148 following its conquest by the Almohads, a radical sect from North Africa who forced Jews to convert to Islam or seek exile. The family lived for a time elsewhere in Spain, northern Africa, Palestine, and then went to Egypt, finally settling in Fustat, near Cairo, in 1166. Maimonides continued his studies and also wrote several theological and philosophical works throughout this migratory period. It is believed that he also studied medicine while residing in Fez. He did not actively begin practicing medicine until tragedy struck his family in the 1170s. His father died and soon thereafter his brother, a jewel trader, perished while on a trading venture in the Indian Ocean losing all of the family's assets. As a result of these misfortunes, Maimonides turned to the active practice of medicine. A man of great learning, wisdom, and skill, he soon attracted a large and lucrative practice. His reputation grew and he came to the attention of Saladin who appointed him physician to his court. Although known as a great physician, Maimonides' stature as a philosopher and religious teacher overshadowed his achievements in medicine. His chief works were a commentary on the Mishnah, his codification of the Talmudic law, and the Guide for the perplexed in which he endeavored to reconcile Greek philosophy with the religious thought of his day. Maimonides' masterful commentary on the Mishnah was written over a ten year period and first published in 1168. The Mishnah is the first part of the Jewish Talmud and is a codification of the originally oral laws which supplemented the written laws in the Pentateuch. It is divided into six parts which cover agriculture, ceremonies and holidays, marriage and divorce, civil and criminal law, the Temple, and ritual purity. This edition was published in six volumes with each volume devoted to one part of the Mishnah. Only Volume 6 is here present and it deals with ritual purifications. Here are discussed the laws governing the ritual impurity as well as purification of vessels, dwellings, foods, and persons. Of medical interest are those tracts on leprosy, menstruation, and gonorrhea. Maimonides' commentary is printed in Hebrew with the Latin translation beside it. Beneath Maimonides' reflections are the comments of his son, Abraham (b. 1186), as well as the comments of Obadiah Yareh ben Abraham Bertinoro (ca. 1450-ca. 1516), a rabbinic author whose commentary is a standard Jewish work and was published in many editions of the Mishnah. The entire volume was edited and translated by Guilielmus Surenhusius (1698-1763), the Dutch Hebraist and professor of oriental languages at Amsterdam.

Gift of John Martin, M.D.