Book on Alums and Salts of Pseudo-Rāzı̄: The Arabic and Hebrew Traditions

Gabriele Ferrario is Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Bologna. He works on the history of medieval sciences and on the transmission of scientific ideas across languages and cultures. His publications focus mainly on medieval Arabic, Hebrew, and Judaeo-Arabic alchemy. He held fellowships and post-docs at the Warburg Institute (London), the Chemical Heritage Foundation (now Science History Institute – Philadelphia), the Genizah Research Unit (Cambridge, UK), Clare Hall College (Cambridge, UK), and in the ERC project AlchemEast, in Bologna. Before moving to Bologna, he was a Visiting Assistant Research Professor in the History of Science Department at Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore).

• Acknowledgments SVIITransliteration systems SIXList of illustrations SXIINTRODUCTION§ 1. On Alums and Salts, a “classic of chemistry” S11.1. Preamble S11.2. Modern studies S3§ 2. On Alums and Salts and al-Raz̄ı, a problematic attribution S6 ̄§ 3. On Alums and Salts, the tradition of an Arabic alchemical handbook S113.1. A fluid title S113.2. Reconstructing the chemistry of On Alums and Salts S13§ 4. The only surviving manuscript in Arabic: MS Sprenger 1908 S164.1. The frontispiece and al-Tug̣ ̇ra’̄ı̄ S174.2. Ms Sprenger 1908, a multiple-text alchemical manuscript S194.3. Alchemical authorities, books and places mentioned in theSprenger manuscript and in the Arabic On Alums and Salts S22§ 5. The Hebrew tradition of On Alums and Salts S265.1. The Hebrew manuscript Orient. Oct. klein 514 of theBerlin Staatsbibliothek S275.2. Evidence for reading practices in MS 514 S295.3. Drawings of apparatus as “visual annotations” in MS 514 S305.4. The place of On Alums and Salts in MS 514 S355.5. The Hebrew translation of On Alums and Salts S375.6. The language of the Hebrew On Alums and Salts S395.7. Alchemical authorities and sources in the HebrewOn Alums and Salts S42EDITIONS AND TRANSLATIONSCriteria of edition and translation S49MS Sprenger 1908, Berlin Staatsbibliothek (fols. 19 recto-30 verso) S52MS Orient. Oct. 514, Berlin Staatsbibliothek (fols. 19 verso-36 recto) S100APPENDICESAppendix 1:Table of contents of MS Sprenger 1908, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin –Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Orientabteilung S166Appendix 2:Table of contents of the Hebrew MS Orient. Oct. 514, Staatsbibliothek zuBerlin – Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Orientabteilung S168Appendix 3:Comparative table of contents of the different versions of theOn Alums and Salts S173Appendix 4:Latin manuscripts of On Alums and Salts S177Appendix 5:Lexicon of alchemical terminology in the Arabic and HebrewOn Alums and Salts S181BIBLIOGRAPHY S199INDEX OF NAMES OF PERSONS, PLACES, AND TITLES OF WORKS S205