Under the Knife

Medieval surgery was, by all accounts, painful for the patient. One of the newest Vatican manuscripts online contains Gerard of Cremona's Latin translation of the Arabic handbook of surgery by the famed Andalusian doctor Abulcasis or Albucasis (see Wikipedia). Consider these instruments:

I'm not going to tell you what they were used for. But anesthetic procedures were crude, so you felt the cut.

This manuscript of the 13th or 14th century is among more than 30 extant according to Monica H Green's count in 2011.

It seems the book was read by non-doctors too, as indicated by the luxury colors in this copy. She adds: "Whereas other surgical texts circulated quite widely in western Europe, up until the fifteenth century Albucasis's work was copied only in Italy and, to a lesser extent, in southern France." See too an earlier article online by David Trotter on the Latin mss.

In the past week, 112 manuscripts came online. The Vatican Library's newsletter adds some good news, indicating the digitization program remains open-ended.

The Japan-based company which is the main funder of the project, NTT Data, previously told media its support was limited to 3,000 manuscripts up to 2019, but the December newsletter says Katsuichi Sonoda, an NTT Data VP, offered November 30 to continue the collaboration with the Library “indefinitely”. Sounds great!

1. Ross.47,
2. Ross.60,
3. Ross.67 (Upgraded to HQ),
4. Ross.71,
5. Ross.83,
6. Ross.86.pt.2,
7. Ross.102 (Upgraded to HQ),
8. Ross.104,
9. Ross.132 (Upgraded to HQ),
10. Ross.133,
11. Ross.134,
12. Ross.139 (Upgraded to HQ),
13. Ross.148 (Upgraded to HQ),
14. Ross.166,
15. Ross.169,
16. Ross.200,
17. Ross.205 (Upgraded to HQ),
18. Ross.221,
19. Ross.229 (Upgraded to HQ),
20. Ross.233,
21. Ross.250 (Upgraded to HQ),
22. Ross.256,
23. Ross.267,
24. Ross.270 (Upgraded to HQ),
25. Ross.271 (Upgraded to HQ),
26. Vat.lat.2389,
27. Vat.lat.2392, eTK incipit: Gerard of Cremona translations of Arabic medical works, and the De cibariis attributed to Petrus de Musanda
28. Vat.lat.2403, eTK incipit: Desideranti tibi scribi a me mysteria lapidum omnium
29. Vat.lat.2408,
30. Vat.lat.2431,
31. Vat.lat.2440,
32. Vat.lat.2445.pt.2,
33. Vat.lat.2445.pt.3,
34. Vat.lat.2465, Jacobus de Forlivio, on the Aphorisms of Hippocrates; see Jordanus
35. Vat.lat.2478,
36. Vat.lat.3219 (Upgraded to HQ),
37. Vat.lat.3367,
38. Vat.lat.3369,
39. Vat.lat.4020,
40. Vat.lat.4021,
41. Vat.lat.4022,
42. Vat.lat.4083, eTK incipit: Interrogatio nobilis viri domini Uberti marchionis; (Gerard of Cremona)
43. Vat.lat.4098 (Upgraded to HQ),
44. Vat.lat.4112.pt.2,
45. Vat.lat.4251,
46. Vat.lat.4276,
47. Vat.lat.4347 (Upgraded to HQ),
48. Vat.lat.4368,
49. Vat.lat.4375,
50. Vat.lat.4379,
51. Vat.lat.4389 (Upgraded to HQ),
52. Vat.lat.4403,
53. Vat.lat.4404,
54. Vat.lat.4405,
55. Vat.lat.4408
56. Vat.lat.4420, eTK incipit: Non solum cum scripserunt rememoratores; 
57. Vat.lat.4421,
58. Vat.lat.4422, eTK incipit: Cum natura non minus indigeat aquis fisicalibus (14c); John of Parma
59. Vat.lat.4428, Avicenna's Terra Pura and other works; eTK incipit: Corpora mineralia in quatuor dividuntur
60. Vat.lat.4432, eTK incipits: Quia sentire quidem (early 14th century); De virtutibus naturalibus
61. Vat.lat.4434, Jacobus de Forlivio, De intentione et remissione formarum, see Jordanus
62. Vat.lat.4436,
63. Vat.lat.4441,
64. Vat.lat.4448, Antonius de Scarparia, 14th century Italian physician, on Galen's Ars Parva, with a diagram discussed by John Murdoch's Album of Science showing the continuum by latitudes from completely well (at top) to completely sick (below): 
    
65. Vat.lat.4451 (Upgraded to HQ), medical etc, Thadeus of Florence and others, eTK incipit: Impossibile est eundem incipere et finire (14th century)
66. Vat.lat.4454 (Upgraded to HQ), eTK incipit: Averroes in commento xv de animalibus sicut illa; See also Jordanus
67. Vat.lat.4455 (Upgraded to HQ), Jordanus, Arithmetic. See Jordanus database. eTK incipit: Convenerunt in hoc antiqui; by Petrus Hispanus
68. Vat.lat.4457,
69. Vat.lat.4463,
70. Vat.lat.4464, eTK incipit: Consuevit dubitari de titulo huius libri; by Dino del Garbo
71. Vat.lat.4467, Abulcasis/Albucasis (above)

    Chirurgia [opus Albucasis; translatio ex arabico], Gerhardus Cremonensis (1114 - 1187) ff. 1r-32r; De locis affectis, Galenus, ff. 33r-59v (translatio anonyma). #surgery #medicine
    
    Vat. Lat. 4467 (14th cent.) among the #LatestDigitizedManuscripts 👨‍⚕️💉🔪https://t.co/jMWdZXaiby pic.twitter.com/yoLJsN1str

    — Digita Vaticana (@DigitaVaticana) December 18, 2018
    

    What a great present for @EgoConstantinus's obit day. Sure, the al-Zahrawi/Abulcasis part of @DigitaVaticana Vat. lat. 4467 is fascinating, but check out what follows it: Constantine's translation of Galen's De interioribus!

    — (@EgoConstantinus)
72. Vat.lat.4469,
73. Vat.lat.4470,
74. Vat.lat.4471,
75. Vat.lat.4473,
76. Vat.lat.4474,
77. Vat.lat.4475 (Upgraded to HQ), eTK incipit: Sciendum est quod humores quidam sunt in capite (13c-14c); also: De limphis oculorum qui dicitur paralymenon
78. Vat.lat.4477, eTK incipit: Cum omne corpus animatum; Glossulae aphorismorum Hippocratis
79. Vat.lat.4478, eTK incipit: Celi enarrant gloriam dei triplici via aq modo mirabili celi; author Jean Ganivet
80. Vat.lat.4483,
81. Vat.lat.4485,
82. Vat.lat.4487,
83. Vat.lat.4490 (Upgraded to HQ),
84. Vat.lat.4493 (Upgraded to HQ),
85. Vat.lat.4494,
86. Vat.lat.4495,
87. Vat.lat.4496,
88. Vat.lat.4498 (Upgraded to HQ), Frontinus, Seneca and other classical authors, see Jordanus
89. Vat.lat.4502 (Upgraded to HQ),
90. Vat.lat.4503,

    So even when the phone didn't exist people used to doodle the same way we do when we're on the phone...
    
    Vat. lat. 4503 among the #LatestDigitizedManuscripts ☎✍🏻 https://t.co/Ck3OQgyYFr pic.twitter.com/sbkxS6oi1u

    — Digita Vaticana (@DigitaVaticana) December 20, 2018

91. Vat.lat.4504,
92. Vat.lat.4505,
93. Vat.lat.4506,
94. Vat.lat.4507,
95. Vat.lat.4509,
96. Vat.lat.4513,
97. Vat.lat.4514 (Upgraded to HQ),
98. Vat.lat.4515,
99. Vat.lat.4518,
100. Vat.lat.4522 (Upgraded to HQ),
101. Vat.lat.4523,
102. Vat.lat.4524,
103. Vat.lat.4526,
104. Vat.lat.4527,
105. Vat.lat.4528,
106. Vat.lat.4529,
107. Vat.lat.4530, Jamblichus, see Jordanus
108. Vat.lat.4535,
109. Vat.lat.4538,

     Richard Rufus of Cornwall's commentary on Aristotle's Metaphysics now available @DigitaVaticana and found in the list by @JBPiggin.https://t.co/AQ7uGjH7a7 pic.twitter.com/JjRTbunbK4

     — Pieter Beullens (@LatinAristotle) December 22, 2018

110. Vat.lat.4539, Bernelinus, Gerbert and others on arithmetic, see Jordanus. With this bull's eye by the Dennis the Menace of the Vatican rubber stamp:
     
111. Vat.lat.5754.pt.A,
112. Vat.lat.9055,
This is Piggin's Unofficial List number 190. Thanks to @gundormr for harvesting. If you have corrections or additions, please use the comments box below. Follow me on Twitter (@JBPiggin) for news of more additions to DigiVatLib.