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Book/Printed Material The Three Books on Alchemy by Geber, the Great Philosopher and Alchemist. Geberi philosophi ac alchimistae maximi De alchimia libri tres eiusdem liber investigationis perfecti magisterij, artis alchimicae

About this Item

Title

  • The Three Books on Alchemy by Geber, the Great Philosopher and Alchemist.

Other Title

  • Geberi philosophi ac alchimistae maximi De alchimia libri tres eiusdem liber investigationis perfecti magisterij, artis alchimicae

Summary

  • Jābir ibn Hayyan (also known by his Latinized name Geber, circa 721--815) was a contemporary of the first Abbasids, who ruled circa 750--800, and one of the principal proponents of alchemy in the early Islamic period. The earliest biography of Jābir, in al-Fihrist, was written in the tenth century by Ibn al-Nadīm, a scholar and bibliographer living in Baghdad. It contains a fair number of legendary elements, although the list of works attributed to Jābir in this work has been shown by external evidence to be generally correct. The entire body of literature attributed to Jābir, comprising works on alchemy, philosophy, astrology, mathematics, music, medicine, magic, and religion, could not, however, have been the work of a single person. Neither could it have been compiled prior to the end of the ninth century, as indicated by the fact that scientific terminology used in the Jābirean corpus was introduced by Ḥunayn ibn Isḥāq al-ʻIbādī (circa 809--73). The Islamic Gnosticism present in the works of Jābir is of the type that was common at the end of the ninth century, another indication that some of the works attributed to him probably date from this period. These works provide a window into the Islamic Gnosticism of the late ninth century and shed light on classical Greek scientific texts, many of which do not survive in the original. Jābir's alchemical works include descriptions of distillation, calcification, dissolution, crystallization, and other chemical operations that subsequently were used in the Islamic world and in Europe for centuries. Several works of the Jābirean corpus have been translated into Latin. The present work was written in three parts, covering the properties of metals, alchemical techniques, and the properties of the planets. It was printed in 1531 by Johann Grüninger, a German printer and publisher working in Strasbourg. The work starts with an esoteric poem ("Est fons in limis cuius anguis latet in imis...") that forms the incipit for an alchemical work kept in the Bavarian State Library, Codex Latinus Monacensis 2848. (The latter manuscript is purportedly a Latin translation of a work on the philosopher's stone by the Persian alchemist Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Zakarīyā Rāzī.)

Names

  • Grüninger, Johann, died 1532? Printer.
  • Jābir ibn Ḥayyān Author.

Created / Published

  • Strasbourg : Johann Grüninger, 1531.

Headings

  • -  Iran, Islamic Republic of
  • -  Iraq
  • -  721 to 1531
  • -  Alchemy
  • -  Planets
  • -  Science, Medieval

Notes

  • -  Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
  • -  Original resource extent: 60 leaves : illustrations ; 28 centimeters.
  • -  Original resource at: Qatar National Library.
  • -  Content in Latin.
  • -  Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.

Medium

  • 1 online resource.

Source Collection

  • Arabic and Islamic Science and Its Influence on the Western Scientific Tradition: Historical and Political Background

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2021666864

Online Format

  • compressed data
  • pdf
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Grüninger, Johann, Died 1532? Printer, and Jābir Ibn Ḥayyān Author. The Three Books on Alchemy by Geber, the Great Philosopher and Alchemist. Strasbourg: Johann Grüninger, 1531. Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021666864/.

APA citation style:

Grüninger, J. & Jābir Ibn Ḥayyān Author. (1531) The Three Books on Alchemy by Geber, the Great Philosopher and Alchemist. Strasbourg: Johann Grüninger. [Pdf] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021666864/.

MLA citation style:

Grüninger, Johann, Died 1532? Printer, and Jābir Ibn Ḥayyān Author. The Three Books on Alchemy by Geber, the Great Philosopher and Alchemist. Strasbourg: Johann Grüninger, 1531. Pdf. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2021666864/>.