Man's Quest to Understand the Mysteries of the Body
From mystery and magic to microscopes and MRI's, mankind's basis for medical knowledge has come far in the last 1000 years." UAB's Reynolds Historical Library has a treasure trove of medical texts that have survived the ages, including the rare Rhazes "Ninth Book of the Al'-Mansuri."
"Rhazes, who died in 930 AD, was the leading medical figure of his time," says Faye Harkins, curatorial assistant for the Reynolds Library. "For centuries, from the close of the first millennium until long after the Renaissance, the 'Ninth Book of the Al'-Mansuri' was the world's leading source of therapeutic knowledge."
The Reynolds Library holds one of only three known Hebrew copies of the work, translated in the mid-14th century by Tobiel ben Samuel De Leiria of Portugal. The Reynold's Library copy is currenlty being restored. The library has other fascinating works, including the first practical battlefield surgical manual, which was written in Germany in 1517, a textbook on human anatomy written in 1543 and a collection of highly detailed, carved ivory mannequins for teaching anatomy that date from the 17th and 18th centuries.
Call Bob Shepard, Media Relations, 205-934-8934, [email protected].
RSS