Rare and almost unobtainable first edition of a digest of medical prescriptions, taken from the works of the highly-regarded Arabic physician Mesue the younger (also known as Masawaih al-Mardini), including "a kind of general manual for apothecaries and perfumers" (Duveen). All recipes are in Italian, while the main title and the headings are in Latin. The literature records only two copies world-wide, at the British Library and the University of Wisconsin, the later formerly the Duveens. In fact, the copy in the British Library is incomplete, lacking the final leaf (Copinger erroneously describes its endleaf as a final integral blank leaf).
With a contemporary owner's inscription on the title-page. With a restored tear in the final leaf (not affecting the text), some brown specks on the title-page and an insignificant water stain along the lower edge of the final gathering, but altogether in excellent condition. BM STC Italian, p. 739; Copinger 4011 (BM copy); Duveen 651 (Duveen copy); EDIT 16, CNCE 50479 (BM copy); GW M23031 (same 2 copies); ISTC im00521400 (same 2 copies); Klebs 228 note; Proctor 7427 (BM copy); USTC 842290 (same 2 copies).