Al-Qanun fi al-Tibb [The Canon of Medicine].
Folio (195 x 273 mm). 847 ff. Arabic manuscript on paper. Black naskh script with important words and phrases picked out in red. Contemporary brown morocco stamped in gilt.
€ 135,000.00
Almost never found complete in a single manuscript: all five volumes of Ibn Sina's greatest work, copied in the 1600s CE. For over five hundred years "al-Qanun fi al-Tibb" dominated medical science in the Muslim and Christian worlds alike, but it is difficult to locate on the market even split into individual books. One complete manuscript is known at the British Library, comparable to the present manuscript and similarly dated to the 17th century, but most examples are scattered into individual books, or as selections of the Canon.
Abu 'Ali al-Husayn Ibn Sina (also known by his Latinized name Avicenna, 980-1037 CE) was one of the most prominent intellectuals of the medieval period and of the Islamic Golden Age. His works cover an incredible span of subjects, including philosophy, medicine, astronomy, geography, psychology, Islamic theology, physics, and even poetry. However, it was the "Canon of Medicine" which most thoroughly immortalized him. The work became a standard medical text for medical students until the late 17th century; indeed, this manuscript was likely copied while it was still an active voice in medical science.
1) Christie's London, 13 April 2010, lot 126.
2) Christies, 31 Mar 2022, Art of the Islamic & Indian Worlds, lot 64.
First and last folios with areas of soiling, slightly trimmed, generally clean; quite well-preserved.
GAL I, 457. For a comparable manuscript, see: British Library, Oriental Manuscripts Or 5033 (currently accessible via the Qatar Digital Library).