A New Catalogue of Arabic Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford: Volume I: Medicine

The Arabic manuscript collection now in the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford includes some the oldest and most important scientific and medical medieval manuscripts preserved today. Emilie Savage-Smith describes 377 medical manuscripts representing 242 different treatises. The illustrated catalogue begins with early translations of medical material into Arabic, including a rare illustrated copy made in Baghdad in 1242 of a Greek treatise on medicinal substances. Thereafter, the organisation is by topic, with the entries arranged chronologically within that heading. These include Arabic medical treatises written as early as the ninth century and as recently as the seventeenth century, and in localities as far apart as Spain and Central Asia. Eight concordances and indexes provide guides to the manuscripts through titles, authors, copyists, dates of copies, owners and donors, and shelfmarks, as well as authorities cited and miscellaneous material. The concordances also provide a short guide to the 215 non-medical items that are part of the volumes comprising the medical portion of the Bodleian collection.