Abstract: This volume contains a Latin commentary on the first part of Avicenna’s Al-Qānūn fī al-ṭibb (The canon of medicine) by the Italian physician and philosopher Giovanni Battista da Mónte (known as Montano, 1498–1551), published in Venice in 1557. Montano was born in Verona. After first working in Brescia, he taught medicine at the University of Padua. He translated various works from Greek into Latin and wrote numerous commentaries on treatises by Hippocrates, Galen, and Avicenna, most of which were published posthumously by his followers. He is considered to be the founder of clinical medicine in Padua, where he used to lecture at the bedside of the sick. Avicenna was the Latinized name of the Persian polymath Abū Alī al-Ḥusayn Ibn Sīnā (980–1037), whose canon was translated into Latin and remained part of the standard curriculum for medical students in Europe for centuries. Avicenna was born in Afshana, a village near Bukhara (present-day Uzbekistan). His family moved to Balkh several years after his birth, which enabled him to receive an excellent education in this culturally and intellectually important capital city. By the time he was 18, he was thoroughly schooled in the Greek sciences. His professional life as a physician began at that time, when he was summoned to the Sāmānid court to treat Nūḥ b. Manṣūr (ruled 976–97), launching him on a career that involved the practice of medicine in different courts for the rest of his life. A prolific author, Ibn Sīnā wrote on topics as varied as metaphysics, theology, medicine, psychology, earth sciences, physics, astronomy, astrology, and chemistry. The second work in this volume, De membris capite (Chapter on the limbs), is by Giano Matteo Durastante, a physician and professor of medicine from Monte San Giusto in eastern Italy, who flourished in the second half of the 16th century.Physical description: 688 pages ; 17 centimeters
Abstract: This work is a commentary in Latin by Italian professor and physician Giovanni Arcolani (died 1484, also known as Ioannis Arculani) on the ninth book of Kitāb al-ṭibb al-Manṣūrī (The book of medicine dedicated to Mansur) by the renowned Persian polymath Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Zakarīyā Rāzī (circa 865–circa 925). Known in the Latin West as Rhazes or Rasis, Rāzī was born in Rayy, just south of Tehran. He is generally considered one of the towering figures in medicine in the medieval period. His influence on the development of medicine in the Islamic world and in Europe was surpassed only by that of his fellow Persian scientist, Ibn Sinā (Avicenna in the Latin West). Rāzī studied alchemy, music, and philosophy early in life, before turning to medicine. He became the head of the hospital in Rayy and subsequently held the same post in Baghdad. Rāzī’s considerable clinical experience and the care with which he made and recorded clinical observations helped make him the preeminent clinical physician in the Islamic world. As one of the most important figures in medieval alchemy, he also gave detailed descriptions of many chemical processes such as distillation, calcination, and filtration. The scientist and scholar Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad Bīrūnī (973–circa 1048), a collector of Rāzī’s works, listed 184 works by Rāzī, 56 of which are devoted to medicine and related subjects. Rāzī’s most important medical work is the immense encyclopaedia Kitāb al-Hāwī, which achieved great renown in the Latin West under the title Continens. In 25 volumes, the work is rich with observational and experimental information. It was translated into Latin by the Jewish physician Fara̲j̲ ibn Sālim (known as Farraguth in the Latin West) for King Charles of Anjou in 1274. It was first printed in Brescia, Italy in 1486 and repeatedly thereafter. The Kitāb al-ṭibb al-Manṣūrī is a shorter work that lists the diseases afflicting the body in order, from head to foot. This book was dedicated to Manṣūr ibn Isḥāq, the Sāmānid governor of Rayy (whence its title). It also was translated into Latin in the 13th century. The ninth part of the work, on therapeutics, was often issued on its own. This commentary was published in 1542 in Venice by the shop of Luca-Antonio Giunta (1457–1538) and has some engravings of the surgical instruments mentioned by Rāzī.Physical description: 522 pages : illustrations ; 32 centimeters
Abstract: Comprises a general purpose base map with overprints in red, blue and black. Sheet trimmed around the neatline and mounted on paper. Relates to the Treaty of Sèvres (1920).The base map portrays hydrology, relief by spot heights and gradient tints, roads, railways, settlements and place names. Railway information current to early 1890s.The red overprint portrays suggested post-war boundaries of Turkey, the Zone of the High Commissioner (Zone of the Straits) and lands to be ceded to Greece and Italy. The blue overprint depicts territory in which the Greeks form fifty per cent or more of the total population. The black overprint annotates land to be ceded to Greece together with a legend and explanatory note. The overprints are dated approximately 1920 and bear the imprint '1056-1'. A small pencil annotation occurs within the area ceded to Greece.Physical description: Materials: Printed in colour, with manuscript additions in pencilDimensions: 240 x 188mm, on sheet 340 x 218mm
Abstract: Dominicus Germanus de Silesia (1588–1670) was a German priest and missionary. Born in Schurgast (present-day Skorogoszcz, Poland), he entered the Franciscan order in 1624 and devoted himself to learning Arabic, Persian, and Turkish. In 1630 he went to Palestine as a pastor, where he continued with his language studies. In 1635 he returned to Rome where he joined the Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda de Fide (Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith). In 1636 he became a teacher at the Mission of San Pietro in Montorio, Rome, and published his grammar of Arabic and Italian, Fabrica overo dittionario della lingua volgare arabica, et italiana (Fabrica, or dictionary of vernacular Arabic and Italian language). Shown here is the rare first edition of his Fabrica, printed by the press of the Propagande de Fide. Dominicus was also the editor of the famous Arabic–Latin dictionary printed at the same press in 1639, and the author of a polemical work, Antitheses Fidei, published in 1638. In 1645 he was sent to Persia on a political mission by King Wladyslaw IV of Poland. Although his destination was Samarkand, he appears to have reached no further than Isfahan, where he remained, studying Persian and Turkish, before returning to Rome in 1651. In 1652 he went to Spain to the court of Philip IV as teacher and translator. A number of his translations survive at the Escorial Palace. In Madrid he completed a translation of the Bible into Arabic, which the Vatican published in 1671. His translation of the Qur’an appears to have been incomplete at his death in 1670, in Madrid.Physical description: 112 pages
Abstract: Philippo Guadagnoli (1596–1656) was a Franciscan priest and Italian orientalist. A native of Magliano in the province of Tuscany, he joined the Franciscan order in 1612 and devoted himself to studying Arabic and other languages of the Middle East. He served as professor of Arabic and Aramaic at Università “La Sapienza” in Rome. His writings include an Arabic translation of the Bible (said to have taken him 27 years to complete) and a polemical work entitled Apologia pro Religione Christiana (In defense of the Christian religion), published in Rome in 1649. Breves Arabicae Linguae Institutiones (Brief principles of the Arabic language) is a study of Arabic grammar. Guadagnoli mentions the didactic poem al-Qasīdah al-Khazrajī by Ḍiyāʾ al-Dīn Abū Muḥammad al-Khazraj̲ī, which contains the author’s encapsulation of the principles of Arabic metrics, thus introducing this important work to Western audiences. Guadagnoli dedicated this work to Cardinal Antonio Barberini (1607–71), a patron of the arts and a member of the prominent Barberini family. It was apparently submitted for publication in 1640, at the church of San Lorenzo, in Lucina, Rome, but it was not published until 1642.Physical description: 362 pages ; 32 centimeters
Abstract: This item contains seven documents relating to the French Revolutionary Wars in the Levant and Italy:1. A copy of a letter from Sir William Sidney Smith, Commander of the British naval squadron in the Levant, to Captain Wilson, Agent of the East India Company in Judda [Jeddah], sent from HMS
Tigreat Jaffa and dated 30 May 1799. The letter describes the retreat towards Egypt of French forces led by General Napoleon Bonaparte from Accre [Acre] after an unsuccessful siege. It also reports French defeats in Europe.2. An extract of a letter from John Keith, Secretary of Sidney Smith, to John Barker, Proconsul in Aleppo, sent from sea off Barutti [Beirut] and dated 16 June 1799. The letter describes the retreat of French forces from Accre and the role of the naval squadron led by Smith in resisting the siege.3. A copy of a French letter from Sidney Smith to the Grand Vizier [Yūsuf Ẓīa al-Dīn Pāshā, Grand Vizier to the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire], sent from Jaffa and dated 30 May 1799. The letter describes the defeat of the French forces besieging Accre; commends the Prince of the Mountain Emir Beshir Shab [Bashīr Shihāb II, Amīr of Mount Lebanon], Beshir Giumblat [Bashīr Jumblāṭṭ], and other Christian and Druze cheikhs [shaikhs] for their support in repelling the French attacks; presses the Vizier to crack down on the abuses of subordinate officials and extend protection to Christians in the area to ensure ‘tranquillity’; and reports Smith’s entry into Jaffa and capture of French artillery.4. A copy of a French letter from Sidney Smith to the Grand Vizier, sent from Barutti and dated 20 June 1799. The letter reports a meeting with Emir Beshir Shab, Beshir Giumblat, and other Christian and Druze sheikhs [shaikhs], stating that they are ready to march against the retreating French forces at the Vizier’s command. Smith also states that he is planning to blockade Rosetta [Rashid] and Damietta [Damiat] in preparation for driving the French occupation forces out of Alexandria.5. An extract of an official bulletin in French published in Vienna on 6 May 1799, describing battles between French and Second Coalition forces in Italy in April 1799.6. An Italian proclamation to French soldiers, criticising the French Revolutionary leadership and calling on soldiers to revolt.7. Extracts from two Italian letters from Constantinople [Istanbul] dated 7 June and 19 May 1799 (authors unknown), describing battles between French and Second Coalition forces in Italy.These documents were copied by Harford Jones, Resident in Bagdad [Baghdad].Physical description: 1 item (8 folios)
Abstract: This volume comprises: correspondence; deciphered telegrams; India Office Political Department Minute and Draft papers containing draft letters, draft telegrams and internal notes; covering letters of the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to the Under-Secretary of State for India (with enclosures); and India Office Political Department registry forms with subject and notes.The papers relate to the visit of the Shah of Persia [Aḥmad Shāh Qājār, Shāh of Iran] to Europe, chiefly the arrangements for his journey from Tehran [also spelled Teheran in this volume], departing in August 1919 and his return there, arriving in June 1920, and the defrayment of the costs thereof. The papers notably cover:The role of Sir Percy Cox, HM Minister in Tehran, in promoting and facilitating the trip, and of various British diplomats in arranging hosts, visits and accommodationPolitical considerations incumbent upon and generated by the visit, particularly with regard to Anglo-Persian relations and the Anglo-Persian Agreement of August 1919The progress of the Shah and his party on their journey: from Tehran, via Baku and the Caucasus, to Batoum [Batumi]; by sea, on HMS
Ceres,to Constantinople [Istanbul] and Taranto; and through Italy by railway to Switzerland, where the Shah planned to take a ‘rest of cure’ [rest cure] (f 246) before travelling to Paris and BiarritzDetails of the persons making up the royal party (see ff 230 and 239)The movements in Europe of Nusret-ed-Dowleh [Prince Fīrūz Mīrzā Nuṣrat-al-Dawlah III], the Persian [Iranian] Foreign Minister, including: his meeting in Geneva with the Swiss Ambassador, Sir Horace Rumbold; a visit to London in mid-September; and his stay in ParisThe practical and financial arrangements for the accompaniment of the Shah by a British officer on his outward and return journeysDomestic tensions and the perceived increasing Bolshevik influence in Persia [Iran], which contributed to the Shah's decision in April 1920 to hasten his return homeProgress of the Shah and his party on their return journey including their: departure from Marseille on 1 May on the P & O ship SS
Narkunda; reception in Port Said on 7 May by Field-Marshall Lord Allenby, High Commissioner for Egypt and Sudan; departure from Aden on 12 MayProgress of the Shah and his party up the Persian Gulf to Basra on the Royal Indian Marine Service steamer
Lawrence, including the Shah’s: visit to Bushire [Bushehr], 17-18 May (ff 62-65); meeting with the Civil Commissioner, Bagdad [also spelled Baghdad in this volume], at Basra; visit to Mohammerah [Khorramshahr] and meeting with the Sheik [Shaikh] and representatives of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, 20 May (ff 85, 71-72, 49-50)The cost and security considerations of the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad, regarding the Shah’s journey through Mesopotamia [Iraq], by railway, from Basra to Baghdad and visit to the holy sites of Kerbela [Karbala] and Nejef [Najaf], 23-24 MayReport by Cox on the public reception of the Shah on his return to Tehran on 3 JuneA dispute between the India Office and the Foreign Office over liability for expenses incurred by the
Lawrencein May 1920 for conveyance of the Shah from Aden to Basra, including summaries of costs submitted by the Government of India Marine Department (ff 41-42, 34, 15-16).The primary correspondents are: the Foreign Office; the India Office; the Admiralty; the Treasury; HM Minister at Tehran; and the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad. There is also correspondence (chiefly of the Foreign Office) with commissioners, ambassadors, and other senior British Government overseas officials who were involved in the arrangements for portions of the Shah’s journey to and from Europe, notably: the Ambassador to France; the Assistant High Commissioner at Constantinople; the High Commissioner for Egypt and Sudan; the Ambassador to Berne; the Ambassador to Italy; and the Consul-General at Marseilles.The volume includes a divider which gives the subject number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references by year. This is placed at the end of the correspondence (front of the volume).Physical description: The foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 264; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.