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Book/Printed Material The New Chemical Medicine Invented by Paracelsus.

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Title

  • The New Chemical Medicine Invented by Paracelsus.

Summary

  • Al-Ṭibb al-jadīd al-kīmiyāʼī alladhī ikhtaraʻahu Barākalsūs (The new chemical medicine invented by Paracelsus) is an Arabic compendium of alchemical works from early modern Europe by Salih ibn Nasrallah al-Halabi ibn Sallum (died 1671). Ibn Sallum was a noted physician in Aleppo and subsequently chief physician in the Ottoman capital of Istanbul. Ibn Sallum's work is on iatrochemistry and consists of translations of Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, known as Paracelsus (1493-1541), an alchemist, physician, and medical reformer, and of alchemist and physician Oswald Crollius (circa 1563--1609). The first part of Ibn Sallum's work is an Arabic translation of Paracelsus, which includes an introduction and four chapters (each of which are divided further into sections). The introduction, an overview of the history of alchemy, describes the invention of alchemy by "Hermes Trismegistus the Egyptian" (a legendary "thrice-great Hermes" to whom a large corpus of writing was attributed) and the subsequent transfer of alchemical knowledge to the Hellenistic and Islamic worlds. The book also discusses Paracelsus and his transformation of alchemy into a field of medicine, with a dual focus on the perfection and purification of metals and on preserving the health of the human body. Chapter one is entitled al-Juz' al-naẓarī min ashyā' gharība wa huwa al-ṭibb al-kīmīyā'ī fī al-umūr al-ṭabī'īya (On the speculative part of paranormal objects, i.e., alchemical medicine regarding the affairs of nature). This chapter includes a discussion of such topics as al-Hayūlā al-ūlā wa al-sirr al-akbar (prime matter and the great secret). The second chapter is entitled Asās ṭibb al-kīmīyā (On the principles of alchemical medicine). Presented in this chapter are sections onasbāb al-amrāḍ (the causes of illness), al-nabḍ (the pulse), and al-ʻalāj al-kullī (general treatments). The third chapter, Bayān kayfīyat tadbīr al-adwīya (On an explication of the manner of managing medicines), discusses chemical procedures involving metals and minerals. The fourth chapter, Fī al-ʻamaliyāt (On operations), discusses such procedures as the distillation of water. The second part of this compendium is an Arabic rendition of Basilica Chymica, by Crollius, who was influenced by Paracelsus. The first edition of Crollius's work was probably printed in 1609 in Frankfurt, with a French translation appearing in 1622. The Arabic version of this work, which takes up roughly the second half of the manuscript, deals with the general treatment of diseases as well as the treatment of ailments that are specific to various organs. In the present manuscript, spaces for some of the section headings originally were left blank and subsequently filled; this was done in apparent haste as can be seen from the occasional scribal error. The majority of the second part of the work is written by a different hand (the scribe identifies himself in the colophon as Sayyid Shir Shah), is unrubricated, and appears to have had a different binding. The manuscript is undated. The scribe's name and the nasta'liq script used throughout the work identify the likely provenance of the manuscript as Iran, Afghanistan, or India.

Names

  • Croll, Oswald, approximately 1560-1609 Contributor.
  • Ḥalabī, Ṣāliḥ Naṣr Allāh ibn Sallūm Author.
  • Hermes, Trismegistus Author of Introduction, etc..
  • Paracelsus, 1493-1541 Author.
  • Shāh, Sayyid Shīr Scribe.

Created / Published

  • [place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified], [1800 to 1905]

Headings

  • -  1500 to 1541
  • -  Alchemy
  • -  Arabic manuscripts
  • -  Medicine
  • -  Paracelsus, 1493-1541
  • -  Pharmacology

Notes

  • -  Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
  • -  "Shelfmark: WMS Or. 6a"--Note extracted from World Digital Library.
  • -  Original resource extent: 93 folios ; 350 x 220 millimeters.
  • -  Reference extracted from World Digital Library: A.Z. Iskandar, A Catalogue of Arabic Manuscripts on Medicine and Science in the Wellcome Historical Medical Library (London: Wellcome Historical Medical Library, 1967).|Manfred Ullmann, Die Medizin im Islam (Leiden: Brill, 1970).
  • -  Original resource at: Wellcome Library.
  • -  Content in Arabic.
  • -  Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.

Medium

  • 1 online resource.

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2021667317

Online Format

  • compressed data
  • pdf
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

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Credit Line: [Original Source citation], World Digital Library

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Croll, Oswald, Approximately Contributor, Ṣāliḥ Naṣr Allāh Ibn Sallūm Author Ḥalabī, Trismegistus Author Of Introduction Hermes, Author Paracelsus, and Sayyid Shīr Scribe Shāh. The New Chemical Medicine Invented by Paracelsus. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified, to 1905, 1800] Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667317/.

APA citation style:

Croll, O., Ḥalabī, Ṣ. N. A. I. S. A., Hermes, T. A. O. I., Paracelsus, A. & Shāh, S. S. S. (1800) The New Chemical Medicine Invented by Paracelsus. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified, to 1905] [Pdf] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667317/.

MLA citation style:

Croll, Oswald, Approximately Contributor, et al. The New Chemical Medicine Invented by Paracelsus. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified, to 1905, 1800] Pdf. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2021667317/>.