A treatise on the small-pox and measles / by Abú Becr Mohammed ibn Zacaríyá ar-Rází (commonly called Rhazes). Translated from the original Arabic by William Alexander Greenhill.

  • Rāzī, Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Zakarīyā, 865?-925?
Date:
1848
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A treatise on the small-pox and measles / by Abú Becr Mohammed ibn Zacaríyá ar-Rází (commonly called Rhazes). Translated from the original Arabic by William Alexander Greenhill. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.

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    (as Fabricius conjectures,1) ConstantineDukas, who reigned from a.d. 1059 to 1067. It was from this Greek translation, (which appears to have been executed either very carelessly, or from an imperfect MS.,) and from Latin versions made from it, that the work was first known in Europe, the earliest Latin translation made directly from the oi'iginal Arabic being that which was published by Mead in 1747. The Arabic text was published for the first time by Channing in 1766, together with a new Latin version by himself, which has continued to be the best up to the present time. Of the Greek translation there are several MSS. in Europe.3 Of the Arabic text the Translator is only aware of the existence of two MSS. in any European library, one at Ley den,4 forming part of the collection bequeathed to the University by Levinus Warner about the beginning of the eighteenth century, and which is the basis of both Mead's and Channing's translations ; and the other among the Codices Naniani at Venice,6 which has never hitherto been made use of. It is probable that the Arabic text of Channing's edition may be greatly improved, not only by collating the MS. at Venice, but also by a more careful examination of that at Leyden, which Channing himself never had an opportunity of inspecting. The Translator en- joyed this advantage for a short time; which, however, was sufficient to show him that several words and passages had been omitted and copied erroneously by Channing's transcriber. The following list of the editions and translations of the 1 Biblioth. Graeea, vol. xii. p. 692. ed. vet. 2 If, however, Joannes Actnarius was the translator, the emperor alluded to will more probably be Andronicus II. Palaeologus, who reigned from a.d. 1281 to 1328. a See the Catalogues of the Libraries at Paris, vol. ii. pp. 461, 465. §§ 2200,2201, 2202, 2228 ; and at Florence, vol. iii. p. 97, § 18. 4 See the Catalogue, p. 441. § 761. It is the fourth treatise in the volume, and fills twenty-nine small folio pages. It is written on oriental paper, and by an oriental scribe in the neschi character, and belongs probably to the fourteenth or fifteenth century. It is altogether tolerably legible, though the diacritical points are frequently- wanting. In several places some words that have been omitted in the text are written in the margin, and in a few instances part of these words have been cut off by the bookbinder. 5 See Sim. Assemani, Catal. de' Cod. MSS. Orient, delta Biblint. Nan., vol. ii. p. 239. It is in a volume containing several other works by Rbazes, but no description or history of the MS. is given in the Catalogue.