Liber regalis dispositio
Content Description
This collection is a handwritten fragment from Liber regalis dispositio (book of royal dispositions about the practices of health for the mind and body and islamic science) written by Al-Majusi (Hali Abbas) a Persion physician and psychologist from the Islamic Golden Age. His work consists of twenty treatises on the theory and practice of medicine. This fragment comes from the first book of the Practica (translated by Stephen of Antioch in 1127) and discusses the benefits of wine in moderation, drunkenness, the regulation of health for sleep and sexual intercourse, and the retention of sweat, and crapulence.
Book, chapters 8-12. Lyon; an almost complete bifolium, double columns with the remains of 49 lines, written in a good, clear gothic script, ruled in plummet, two-line initials alternately in red and blue with contrasting penwork, marginal chapter numbers alternately in red and blue; several scribal and later medieval marginal and interlinear annotations and corrections; recovered from a binding and with approximately three lines trimmed away at head. A single leaf measures 277 x202 mm. (Italy mid 13th century).
Dates
- Creation: 1523
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research use.
Biographical / Historical
'Ali ibn al-'Abbas al-Majusi, also known as Masoudi, or Latinized as Haly Abbas, was a Persian physician and psychologist from the Islamic Golden Age, most famous for the Kitab al-Maliki or Complete Book of the Medical Art, his textbook on medicine and psychology.It was translated in part into Latin by Constantinus African in the late eleventh century and in full by Stephen of Antioch in 1127.
Haly Abbas, according to the Dictionary of Scientific Biography,
" prescribed health measures to preserve normal conditions of body and mind, such as diet, rest and work, bathing and physical exercises. He said of sleep that it helps to relax and refresh the brain and the senses, as well as assisting in digestion and normalizing humours. He emphasized the importance of psychotherapy and the relationship between psychology and medicine. Emotional reactions... he explained may cause sickness or promote good health, depending on how they are controlled."
Extent
0.03 Cubic Feet (1 letter size folder)
Language of Materials
Persian
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This collection was purchased from Bernard Quaritch Ltd. by the Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia Library on 4 February 2019.
- Title
- Liber regalis dispositio
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Ellen Welch
- Date
- 2022-09-22
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library Repository
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
P.O. Box 400110
University of Virginia
Charlottesville Virginia 22904-4110 United States