Harley MS 5680

Language: Hebrew

Medical work.

Author: Avicenna, 980-1037 (אבן סינא, אלחסין בן עבדאללה, 980-1037)

Ḳanon.

קאנון

Note: A copy of Books 3 and 5 of the Canon Medicinae by Ibn Sina, Abú 'Ali Al-Husain ibn 'Abd Allah (d. 1037), known in the West as Avicenna, in the Hebrew translation composed in 1279 from the original Arabic text by Nathan ha-Méati of Cento, an Italian Jew who lived in Rome and specialised in the translation of Greek and Arabic medical texts into Hebrew. For Nathan ha-Méati and his translation of Avicenna see M. Steinschneider, Die Hebräischen Übersetzungen des Mitttelalters und die Juden als Dolmetscher. (Berlin, 1893; facs. ed. Graz, 1956), pp. 679-681;Il 'Canon medicinae' di Avicenna nella tradizione ebraica…., ed. G. Tamani (Padova, 1988), pp. 60-61 and n. 8. The text is divided as follows: - a) Book 3, ff. 1-177; - b) Book 5, ff. 179-209. Book 3 is divided into 26 fens [i.e. parts], and its copy was dated 1479 and signed by Perahya ben Shelomoh Maimon (colophon, f. 177, followed by an erased inscription); glossed in the margins by two later hands with annotations in Hebrew (not in Italian or Latin as stated in the Harley catalogue). Book 5 is divided into 2 fens, with chapter numbers marked in the margins, and followed by a table of contents (ff. 211-212v) in the same hand. Correct titles (ff. 1v, 178v) added by a 16th-cent. Italian hand; previous incorrect title (f. 1v: 16th-cent.) 'Aforismi di Galeno…' mistakenly copied elsewhere in the MS. by later readers (f. 1: 17th-cent; f. 213v: 18th-cent. English?). Another copy in London BL Harley MS 5707 (APAC) of Nathan ha-Méati's translation of Book 3, which was printed for the first time together with his complete translation of the Canon in Naples by Azriel ben Joseph Ashkenazi Crunzenhauser on 9 Nov. 1491 [-1492?] (BL. copy at C.49.d.8, C.50.e.8, and C.49.e.15 imperfect): see H 2212; Goff Heb-4; GW 3113; ISTC ia01417300; BHB 0106305. Copies of the complete Canon in Latin in London BL Add MS 14424, London BL Royal 12 G.VI, London BL Sloane MS 1933 (ff. 184-275, imperfect), Sloane MS 2157, Sloane MS 3095; extracts from the Latin translation of Book 1 in London BL Harley MS 3407 (ff. 92-101v): see its description for details of early and modern editions of the Latin version of the text, and other bibliographical information. An Italian provenance of the MS. suggested by the 16th-cent. Italian hand of the titles (ff. 1v, 178v), that also provided a similar title on London BL Harley MS 5707 (f. 2).

Colophon: נשלם הספר השלישי מב"ס יום ד' ד' ימים לחדש מרחשון שנת יושב על כסא ר"ם ונשא (על יד פרחייא בכמר שלומו מיימון ז"ל יום ד' ניסן שנת רמ"ג). (Fol 177r)

Decoration note: Full floral border, in colours and gold. (Fol 209r)

Avicenna, Canon of Medicine, Books 3 and 5; second half of 15th cent, partly 1479 (colophon f. 177) Hebrew translation Copy A copy of Books 3 and 5 of the Canon Medicinae by Ibn Sina, Abú 'Ali Al-Husain ibn 'Abd Allah (d. 1037), known in the West as Avicenna, in the Hebrew translation composed in 1279 from the original Arabic text by Nathan ha-Méati of Cento, an Italian Jew who lived in Rome and specialised in the translation of Greek and Arabic medical texts into Hebrew. For Nathan ha-Méati and his translation of Avicenna see M. Steinschneider Die Hebräischen Übersetzungen des Mitttelalters und die Juden als Dolmetscher(Berlin, 1893; facs. ed. Graz, 1956), pp. 679-681Il 'Canon medicinae' di Avicenna nella tradizione ebraica…ed. G. Tamani (Padova, 1988), pp. 60-61 and n. 8. The text is divided as follows: - a) Book 3, ff. 1-177; - b) Book 5, ff. 179-209. Book 3 is divided into 26 fens [i.e. parts], and its copy was dated 1479 and signed by Perahya ben Shelomoh Maimon (colophon, f. 177, followed by an erased inscription); glossed in the margins by two later hands with annotations in Hebrew (not in Italian or Latin as stated in the Harley catalogue). Book 5 is divided into 2 fens, with chapter numbers marked in the margins, and followed by a table of contents (ff. 211-212v) in the same hand. Correct titles (ff. 1v, 178v) added by a 16th-cent. Italian hand; previous incorrect title (f. 1v: 16th-cent.) 'Aforismi di Galeno…' mistakenly copied elsewhere in the MS. by later readers (f. 1: 17th-cent; f. 213v: 18th-cent. English?). Another copy in Harley 5707 (APAC) of Nathan ha-Méati translation of Book 3, which was printed for the first time together with his complete translation of the Canon in Naples by Azriel ben Joseph Ashkenazi Crunzenhauser on 9 Nov. 1491 [-1492?] (BL. copy at C.49.d.8, C.50.e.8, and C.49.e.15 imperfect): see H 2212; Goff Heb-4; GW 3113; ISTC ia01417300; BHB 0106305. Copies of the complete Canon inLatinin Add. 14424, Royal 12 G.VI, Sloane 1933 (ff. 184-275)imperfect2157, 3095; extracts from theLatintranslation of Book 1 in Harley 3407 (ff. 92-101v): see its description for details of early and modern editions of theLatinversion of the text, and other bibliographical information. An Italian provenance of the MS. suggested by the 16th-cent. Italian hand of the titles (ff. 1v, 178v), that also provided a similar title on Harley 5707 (f. 2). Acquired from the Scottish bookdealer John Gibson (fl. 1720-1726) by Edward Harley (1689-1741), 2nd earl of Oxford and Mortimer, book collector and patron of the arts, on 13 Sept. 1722, as noted by his librarian, H. Wanley (1672-1726), on f. 1: see C. E. Wright and R. C. Wright The Diary of Humfrey Wanley (London, 1966), i, p. 159 n. 11, and ii, p. 512; C. E. Wright Fontes Harleiani(London, 1972), pp. 162, 460. Bequeathed with the Harleian library to Edward's widow, countess Henrietta, née Cavendish Holles (1694-1755), during her lifetime and thereafter to their daughter, Margaret Cavendish Bentinck (1715-1785), duchess of Portland. Sold with the other Harley manuscripts by the countess and the duchess in 1753 to the nation for £10,000 (a fraction of their contemporary value) under the Act of Parliament that also established the British Museum. The Harleian manuscripts became part of the collections of the British Library on its establishment in 1973. Harley shelfmark (f. 1) in ink '146.D.17/5680'; shelfmark '5680' repeated in pen on f. 213v, followed by another Harley shelfmark in pencil '2/III D'. Briefly described in A Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts in the British Museum(London, 1808-1812), iii, p. 287; G. Margoliouth Catalogue of the Hebrew and Samaritan Manuscripts in the British Museum iii (London, 1965), pp. 357-358, no. 1028. The cataloguing of the MS. was funded by the Wellcome Trust

Paper; ff. i+215+i; Margoliouth's description reports the loss of three leaves after f. 28 and of one leaf after f. 166, undetected by present cataloguer. Modern foliation in pencil '1-213' (ff. 1-215, followed here, omitting two blank leaves after f. 212; ff. 177v-178v blank; ff. 209v, 210v originally blank). 274 x 203mm. Original gathering not discernible owing to the tightness of the binding and the absence of catchwords. Ruled (with double vertical bounding lines and an extra vertical line in the outer margin) in hard point on versos for single columns (except table of contents in three columns, ff. 211-212v) of 38 lines. Text written below ruled lines. Written space 191 x 128mm. Written in grey and black ink in a small cursive Rabbinic script by two Spanish hands: - a) ff. 1-177, Perahya ben Shelomoh Maimon, 1479; - b) ff. 179-212v, unknown scribe, second half 15th cent Marginalia(ff. 1-177) include notes in Hebrew and maniculae by later hands. Rubrics (ff. 1, 179, 209) and colophon (f. 209) in red. Running titles provide the fen number on upper margin of rectos: inconsistency in the numbering at ff. 166-167 may indicate that the leaves were misbound. Full floral border (f. 209) illuminated in Italian style. Two watermarks (respectively ff. 1-178, and ff. 179-212 and following blank) representing a crowned male head, possibly variants of Briquet 15705 (Naples, 1480; Grosseto, Arezzo and Santa Flora, 1484). Harley binding of red morocco over thin wooden boards with gilt-tooled decoration attributable to Thomas Elliott: one of the rolls used for the gilt-tooled decoration of the covers corresponds to roll no. 5 reproduced in H. M. Nixon, 'Harleian Bindings' Studies in the Book Trade in Honour of Graham Pollard(Oxford, 1975; Bibliographical Society Publications, n.s., 18), pl. 14; spine replaced. This manuscript is held in the Department of Asia, Pacific + Africa Collections

Avicenna: Medicine and Surgery: Nathan ha-Méati, of Cento: Perahya ben Shelomoh Maimon, scribe: Canon of medicine, Books 3 and 5, by Avicenna, transl. by Nathan ha-Méati, copied by Perahya ben Shelomoh Maimon: circa 1479: Hebrew