Syrian Anatomy Pathology and Therapeutics or "The Book of Medicines"
London: Humphrey Milford / Oxford University Press, 1913. First edition. 2 vols, 8vos, in English and the original Syriac. clxxviii, 614 (Syriac text paginated right to left), and xxv, 804pp. Title pages in 2 colors. Bound in publisher's red cloth with gilt spine titles in plain printed jackets. Near fine books in very good jackets with some wear and light staining.
First edition of Budge's important translation of the great Syriac "Book of Medicines," edited from a manuscript that was in his possession, and an English translation of the same. The work is uncredited, but was translated from Greek into Syriac by a physician who was likely a Nestorian, and perhaps attached to one of the great medical schools at Edessa, Amid, or Nisibis. The first section is a series of lectures which give detailed descriptions of human anatomy, prescriptions for and descriptions of various diseases, and is fundamentally similar to Hippocrates who is quoted in several places in the text.
The second section is astrological and includes omens, spells, divinations, and planetary forecasts. The final section contains 400 prescriptions that illustrate folklore of Mesopotamia, including legends about birds, animals, magical roots, etc., similar to a medieval Bestiary.
Price: $950.00