NORTH AFRICA, 16TH CENTURY

The first treatise of this manuscript is a work by the renowned Andalusian scholar Abu Marwan ‘Abd al-Malik bin Abu Bakr bin Muhammad bin Marwan bin Zuhr (1094-1162 AD), known by his Latinized name of “Avenzoar” . Avenzoar was a physician and surgeon who was influenced by Galen. He was a contemporary of Averroes and Maimonides . His major work al-Taysir fi al-mudawat wa al-tadbir (Book of Simplification Concerning Therapeutics and Diet) was translated to into Latin and Hebrew. The present work, titled Hifz al-sihha (a treatise on the preservation of health) is not listed in any of the major reference books so it is likely that this copy is an abridgment or selected extracts from his major work. See Brockelmann, GAL, G I, 486; Suppl., I, 890.

The present copy also holds five other medical treatises on the diseases of the eye, baby’s food and the benefits of honey, together with Avenzoar's treatise Hifz al-sihha.