Syrian anatomy pathology and therapeutics or “the bookd of medicines.” The Syriac text, edited from a rare manuscript, with an English translation, etc.

London, etc.: Humphrey Milford Oxford University Press, 1913. FIRST EDITION. Titles in red and black. Publisher’s red cloth, titles in gilt on spine. A fine set. First edition of this translation of a Syriac manuscript entitled the Book of Medicines. The manuscript, the date of which is unknown, was a translation itself from an early Greek manuscript of classical medicine which relied heavily on Hippocrates. Divided into three parts, the first contains lectures on human anatomy, pathology and therapeutics. A discussion of remedies includes the pharmacological treatments of various diseases. According to Budge, who translated the Syriac manuscript into English, the original author approached medicine and disease as an imbalance of bile, or humors, in the body; any excess of a humour produces either an abscess, a stoppage in the veins or arteries, or a change in the composition of a body part. Based upon the stated acceptance of dissections, more specific treatment of the functions of the heart, brain, lungs, spleen, bladder and liver are provided throughout this first section.

The second section is astrological in nature, more mythology and less scientific; an example is the use of omens and planetary forecasts to find out if a woman has conceived and the gender of the child. The third section contains some four hundred prescriptions. Some illustrate the folklore of a part of Mesopotamia and preserve popular beliefs and legends about birds, animals, magical roots, etc. Budge provides a thorough tour through the manuscript, chapter by chapter, then the actual item printed in Syriac. Volume 2 contains the translation into English.

Budge (1857-1934) worked at the British Museum and published numerous books on ancient Egyptology and the Near-East. He learned Biblical Hebrew and Syriac before he turned 15 years old.

DNB, 1931-1940, pp. 121-123.