Rhazes (852-932)

Liber luminum minus et perfecti magisterii. Abridged and incomplete. Written in a small cursive gothic hand 46 lines to a page: capitals in red and black, paragrpah marks in black. Fol. 1 [Q]uoniam solem [sic for 'solertis'] indagine vniuersarum rerum artificia philosophia com/perit sedulitate... 12v [...morari in eo trib]us diebus sed omni die contere vitriolum/The verso of the last leaf is almost entirely illegible, but the end of the last line appears to read as above. This would correspond to the middle of the receipt for Oleum rubicundum fixum philosoplucum' on p. 113 of Vol. III of Zetzner's 'Theatrum Chemicum', 1659, who assigns this work to Aristotle. This would seem incorrect, and the Tract is rightly attributed to Rhazes, as in Singer's Catalogue of Alchemical MSS., No. 114.

Late 14th Century

1 volume 12 ll. 8vo. 15 x 10 cm. On vellum, modern red morocco binding. Stained and worn throughout, the last three leaves badly: margins cropped and frayed.

Purchased 1917.

Database description transcribed from S.A.J. Moorat, Catalogue of Western Manuscripts on Medicine and Science in the Wellcome Historical Medical Library (London: Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine, 1962-1973).