ABULCASIS

AN ILLUSTRATED BOOK OF SURGERY

The surgical handbook of Abulcasis was published in Basel in 1541. The title begins with the words: "Methodus Medendi certa, clara et brevis...", i.e., "safe, compreensible and brief treatment method".

Latin translations of the originally Arabic manuscript have previously been published in 1497and 1500 by Locatellus in Venice and later by Schott in Strasbourg in 1532. Heinrich Petri printed the work with woodcuts for the first time in 1541.

The title page proudly states that the book contains illustrations of instruments for the treatment of almost all surgical indications. Already in the first translation from Arabic into Latin, Gerhard von Cremona added illustrations to the handwritten text. They appear not only in further editions, but also in several subsequent surgical works.

REQUIREMENTS FOR SURGEONS

With his work, Abulcasis wants to improve the level of knowledge as well as the reputation of surgery. He writes: "I have described all the important operations in brief, and all necessary instruments, and I show them in illustrations - thus I have done everything possible to shed light on the profession of the surgeon. " He calls for every surgeon to familiarise himself with human anatomy and criticises Galen, who was content dissecting animals. Only a surgeon who knows the cause and diagnosis of the suffering and has developed a therapeutic approach should perform procedures.

The book is based on a thirty-part medical encyclopaedia entitled at-Tarif (Collection). The extensive last part corresponds to the surgical manual. In terms of content, the first chapter covers cauterisation, i.e. treatments with the hot iron. A further chapter deals with stone operations, amputations, eye and ear surgery, obstetrics, dental procedures, wound treatment and cupping. A third part contains instructions for the treatment of broken bones and dislocations.

PERSONAL PHYSICIAN TO THE WESTERN CALIPH

Abulcasis is wrongly referred to as Albucasis in this Latin translation of his manuscript. The name Abulcasis is the latinised form of Abu al-Qasim az-Zahrawi. The Spanish-Arab physician and surgeon was born around 936 in Andalusia and probably died shortly after 1009. Several decades before his birth, a second, Western Caliphate was established in Cordova - as opposed to the Eastern Arab Caliphate city of Baghdad.

There are hardly any sources that provide information on the life of Abulcasis. It is known that he was the personal physician of the young Western Caliph Hakam Il, and that he moved with him into the new residence city al-Zahra outside of Cordova. The founding of this city is the reason for Abulcasis surname, al-Zahrawi. For twenty years the caliph ruled in az-Zahra. Problems with the water supply forced the court - including Abulcasis - to return to Cordoba. Al-Hakam Il wanted to counter the opposition within the Arab world and sent scholars and ambassadors to Baghdad, who brought back copies of manuscripts from their diplomatic journeys. Abulcasis had access to the caliph's magnificent and extensive library.

SURGERY AS AN ACADEMIC SPECIALITY

Arabic medicine is seen as both an art and a science. Long before universities were established in Europe, there were medical schools in the Arab world, which included hospitals and libraries. In the 11th and 12th centuries, translation schools were established in Salerno and Toledo, which translated numerous Arabic texts, including Abulcasis' Surgery, into Latin.

This brought medical knowledge to Europe, and also to Montpellier, where a medical school was founded in 1220.

In contrast to most European universities, surgery was taught there as an academic subject. Abulcasis played a central role in this: the papal personal physician Guy de Chauliac quoted him around 200 times in his Chirurgia Magna (1363), which remained one of the most important surgical compendia up into the 17th century.