Oxford Patristics Conference – Wednesday

This morning I drove to Oxford, and parked at a house in the suburbs using www.parkatmyhouse.com.  That went well — there was someone there and they even gave me a lift into Oxford.  So far, so good.  The sun is shining but it is not incredibly hot, and the various accidents on the M25 this morning — three! — did not cause me any delays.  I leave at 9:30 and arrive around lunchtime, in fact.

I was dropped off in the High Street.  The next step was to locate Queens College.  No sign outside, and a locked-looking door up a set of steps!  Lucky for me that I had a good idea where it was!  The stone buildings are magnificent, but within the arrangements are rather amateurish.

I find that the porter is friendly enough, but for some reason all visitor information has to be given verbally!  Where to go, and how to get there, for instance.  Also I discover that there is only breakfast on offer — which rather defeats the purpose of my booking a room here.

But off I go to the Queens Annex, room 46, to discover that I have a room which is (a) over the gate (b) on the stair, (c) facing an area of Queens Lane where the local loungers hang around and talk, a few feet from my window and worst of all (d) in direct line of sight, and a few feet, from a bus stop.  Oxford is overrun with buses, and every few seconds the roar of a diesel engine interrupts my thought.  I did attempt to change rooms, but there was no other to be had.  The poor girl who looks after the conference bookings is even worse off than I am, in a room where the windows have to be closed because of the buses, and the heat is intense.  At least my room does not get the sun, or so it seems.  For it is very hot in Oxford today. 

The conference organisation itself is rather shambolic.  I get a welcome pack, but later I discover that it is missing both the synoptic timetable and the blue book listing the conference events.  I have quite a fight with the woman on the desk to get a copy, too.  I wonder what else I am missing.  Later I discover that it is also missing the shoulder strap. 

I’ve been told that I can set up on tables under the posters in the marquee.  But there is no table, and no chair next to it.  Fortunately these are easy to obtain, and I set up the inspection copies, and lug the box of 20 copies across there as well.  Thank heavens that I did not order 40! 

Next step is to decide when I will be there to man the desk.  The sessions are mostly in the morning, and the main morning break is 10:20-11:20 (as I discover, with some difficulty).  I leave a note there indicating that I will be there at that time.  After all, I would like to go to the sessions too!

I go back to the college and ask about internet access.  As ever, they give verbal instructions (which don’t work) but they do have cables for sale at £5 each — well done, whoever thought of that! — which can just plug into the wall and work.  And this DOES work.  As you can tell.

Rather frazzled after that, but relieved to find my room may be noisy, but it is cool.  Still not entirely recovered from the illness earlier in the week, so I shall now lie down and attempt to work out what, if anything, I need to do this afternoon.

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A thousand page English translation of Ibn Abi Usaibia at the US NLM

A little while back I discovered that an English translation of the dictionary of medical writers by Ibn Abi Usaibia might exist at the US National Library of Medicine, and I sent an enquiry.  The enquiry was ignored; but my second enquiry got a response!

Firstly, apparently I can’t have a copy.  The thing is typewritten, about 1,000 pages, and dates from 1971.  So it might be in copyright, and that means that I am allowed to see if — if I travel across continents! — but am not allowed to have a copy.  This is a novelty to me, as one used to getting copies of PhD theses, but the library staff are very insistent that not letting me have a copy is not equivalent to denying access.  They’re not sure who is the copyright holder, either.

But I’ve now found out a bit more about the manuscript.  It was on the online page all the time, but hidden under the “finding aids” menu at the top:

Finding Aid to the English translations of History of Physicians (4 v.) and The Book of Medicine of Asaph the Physician (2 v.) originally written by Ahmad ibn al-Q asim ibn Ab i Usaybi’ah, 1971
Archives and Modern Manuscripts Program, History of Medicine Division
Processed by HMD Staff
Processing Completed 2005
Encoded by Jim Labosier

Summary Information
Title: English translations of History of Physicians (4 v.) and The Book of Medicine of Asaph the Physician (2 v.) originally written by Ahmad ibn al-Q asim ibn Ab i Usaybi’ah
Creator: Ibn Ab i Usaybi’ah, Ahmad ibn al-Q asim, d. 1269 or 70
Dates:      1971
Extent:     0.84 linear feet (2 boxes)
Abstract:  English translations of two 13th century Arabic medical treatises.

Call number: MS C 294
Language: Collection materials primarily in English.

Access Restrictions:   Collection is not restricted. Contact the Reference Staff for information regarding access.
Copyright:                   NLM does not possess copyright to the collection. Contact the Reference Staff for details regarding rights.
Preferred Citation:     Ibn Ab i Usaybi’ah, Ahmad ibn al-Q asim. English translations of History of Physicians (4 v.) and The Book of Medicine of Asaph the Physician (2 v.) originally written by Ahmad ibn al-Q asim ibn Ab i Usaybi’ah. 1971.
Located in: Modern Manuscripts Collection, History of Medicine Division, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD; MS C 294.
Provenance: Unknown.

Collection Scope and Content Note

Contains English translations of Ibn Abi Asaybi Ah’s “History of Physicians” by Dr. L. Kopf and of “The Book of Medicine of Asaph the Physician” by Sussman Muntner and Fred Rosner.

Contents List
Box | Folder Title
 Series I: English Translations, 1971 [series]: 

1.1″History of Physicians” – pp. 1-195, 1971
1.2″History of Physicians” – pp. 196 – 455, 1971
1.3″History of Physicians” – pp. 456 – 599, 1971
1.4″History of Physicians” – pp. 600 – 946, 1971
2.1″The Book of Medicine of Asaph the Physician” – vol. 1, 1971
2.2″The Book of Medicine of Asaph the Physician” – vol. 2, 1971

Now this is all very useful.  My idea, faced with a refusal of access on copyright grounds, is to locate the copyright holder and get permission.  The question is who this “Dr. L. Kopf” might be.  I’ve enquired.

The authors of the other item appear in a Google search, as authors of articles in the Annals of Internal Medicine.  Rosner appears “From the Division of Hematology, Department of Medicine, Maimonides Medical Center, Brooklyn, N. Y.; and the History of Medicine Section, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel.”  Sussman Munter is also given as Suessman Munter, visiting professor of the History of Medicine at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in the Encyclopedia Judaica.

Googling, I find references to “Dr. L. Kopf” such as “When this article was already in print, I received the July, 1959 issue of Veins Testamentum (IX/3) in which Dr. L. Kopf has an article entitled “Arabische…” and “Dr. L. Kopf, Hebrew University Library, was so kind as to explain to me that the term sudd’ is the usual word for headache….”  He was the author of “Studies in Arabic and Hebrew Lexicography”

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Oxford Patristics Conference: I shall be late!

I’ve gone down with a virus.  Here I am, surrounded by all the stuff necessary to go, and it’s a beautiful morning.  But I spent all of yesterday in bed, unable to move, and awoke with a temperature/headache again this morning.  Fortunately rather better today, but rather frustrated.

Maybe I shall be fit tomorrow, or maybe Wednesday.

The best laid plans of mice and men … 

Of course, if I could just drive to the college, park outside, and get a porter to help with my bags, then it would be much easier to take a chance on it and just go.  But with the “war on the private motorist” in Oxford, it’s quite another thing for someone not entirely well to drive there, park outside the centre, struggle with luggage, try to get a taxi to the college, etc etc.  

UPDATE: Feeling very bored.  There is a limit to the number of novels I can read, and I think I exceeded that yesterday.

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From my diary

Volume 2 of Vermaseren’s Corpus of Mithraic inscriptions and monuments has arrived.  It doesn’t contain literary texts, as I thought it might (and probably should have done).  Instead it’s more archaeology.  As with the first volume, the further east you go the less there is, although this might also reflect the political problems of the 50’s, and what could be accessed.

Preparing for the conference today.  Still adding the software I need to the new laptop.  Curiously Finereader 9 is refusing to activate, claiming I’ve used up all my licenses.  Well it’s possible; this will be the fourth machine I have installed it on.  But there is no way to deactivate the product, and two of those old machines are not used any more.  I’ve emailed them anyway.

Last week I learned of something interesting.  If your office has a corporate deal for Microsoft Office, there might well be a “home use programme” option available, that allows you to buy Office for your home PC very cheaply.  What it is, of course, is a bit of sanity by Microsoft.  People who use the stuff at work will bootleg corporate copies if you force them to; so why not charge them a bit?  The link is here.

You have to supply a programme code (which your work will know) and your work email address, so I think it’s something the company has to do.  But if you do, you get Office Pro with all the trimmings for less than 10 GBP ($15).  You can also order the language packs for the same very cheaply — spell checkers etc –, which is well worth it. 

It arrived this morning, just in time to be installed on the new laptop.  Serendipity can be marvellous, when it works!

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From my diary

Out after work this evening, and bought a new, disposable laptop which I can take to Oxford and lose without heartburn.  Now setting this up.  At the moment it is creating recovery disk(s), and taking ages to do so.  Next I shall have to remove all the crapware and install the stuff I want to take.  That’ll be a while!

I’ve been obtaining copies of the Mueller edition of Ibn Abi Usaibia’s dictionary of medical writers.  The interesting bit of this is Galen.

I’ve also heard back from the US library that has an English translation (unpublished) of at least part of this (in 4 vols) that they can’t possibly supply me with a copy because they don’t control the copyright.  I’ve replied with a query as to who DOES own the copyright, then.  Librarians can be so stuffy sometimes.  But the fault, of course, lies with those who don’t ensure that they are properly directed.

Volume 2 of Vermaseren’s Corpus of inscriptions and monuments about Mithras has arrived at my local library, for collection tomorrow. 

I’ve also read through Walzer’s monograph, Galen on Jews and Christians.  I need to decide what to do with this.  The Arabic quotes all come from Ibn Abi Usaibia’s chapter on Galen, it turns out, although other Arabic writers also have some of them.

I’ve also sold my first copy of the Eusebius book direct — i.e. through Chieftain Publishing, rather than through Amazon — for a kind reader in Australia.  Interestingly postage from the UK is cheaper than from the US.  It will be interesting to see how long it takes to get down under!

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From my diary

Managed to find somewhere to park at Oxford for 30 GBP — via www.parkatmyhouse.com! — which was a relief.  I’d intended to park at the park-and-ride car parks, but found out to my horror that they only allow you a max of 72 hours.  For one awful moment I feared that I would have to travel by train to Oxford — not a welcome prospect while carrying a box of books and a laptop.

I don’t fancy taking my main laptop to Oxford, so I’m considering buying a cheap one, where it wouldn’t matter too much if it was stolen or got lost.

I’m now well into that uneasy period before you go away, when you regret that you ever volunteered for all this hassle!  Mind you, in this case, the hassle and worry is mainly down to whichever individuals decided to make it impossible for ordinary people to travel to Oxford independently, and to force the use of public transport, Soviet-style.  And I don’t even know the names of the oppressors!  At least the medieval robber baron was known to his victims.  The modern oppressor hides behind organisational anonymity.

Our children will gasp with amazement at the idea that a major world university tried to abolish the personal freedom that came with the motorcar and force everyone to be subservient to the state in this way.  In the meantime, we must endure.

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Still searching for Ibn Abi Usaibia

I’ve spent some more time today hunting for the great dictionary of medical writers by Ibn Abi Usaibia.  In the process I find that I have done this before!  But yesterday I discovered that all the Arabic quotations of Galen on the Christians are in the entry on Galen in this work.

Thanks to a web correspondent, I now have the two volume edition from 1882 by August Mueller in PDF form.  It’s quite crude, but also entirely in Arabic.  I have yet to locate the supposed German translation.

The Greenhill papers that I’ve blogged on this week contain English translations of portions of Ibn Abi Usaibia, and, who knows, maybe the Galen biography will be one of them.

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From my diary – translation projects and other things

The July sales figures (through Amazon) for Eusebius’ book on differences between the gospels (and how to resolve them) have arrived and are encouraging.  I still haven’t launched an online marketing campaign, yet we sold more in July than in June.  Interestingly most of these seem to have been hardbacks.  The purchasers certainly got a good deal — those hardbacks are impressive! — but I wouldn’t have expected that.

I’ve had another attempt at my project to translate Cyril of Alexandria’s Apologeticus ad imperatorem.  A sample couple of pages have arrived from the translator, and I passed them to Andrew Eastbourne for comment.  His verdict was decidely negative, unfortunately, which is a great pity.  But I need to read his review in detail, which I won’t do this evening.

The postman brought me a large parcel containing two volumes which together make up Brockelmann’s Supplement 1 to his history of Arabic literature.  I created these for personal use from a rather poor PDF, making sure they had wide margins, and the results are more than satisfactory.

While looking at the Greenhill papers on Galen — mentioned in yesterday’s post — I noticed that in several cases the books had been (re)bound, interleaved with blank pages, so that notes might be made on them.  Perhaps I should try doing the same with some of these PDFs!

This practice of interleaving is something that you never see today; yet I remember talking to an academic who told me that the late L.D.Reynolds, editor of Texts and Transmissions, had a copy of his own book made for him with interleaved blank pages by Oxford University Press so that he could scribble notes in it.  Clearly it is still possible.

The Royal College of Physicians library wrote back to me today about those Greenhill papers, containing stuff on Galen’s works in Arabic.  They don’t allow photocopying of material more than a century old — and who can blame them? — but they do allow the use of digital cameras.  Good for them!  They’re closed until 15th August, but I must look at getting down there and browsing the material.

I’ve also been reading Walzer’s book Galen on Jews and Christians.  It’s a curious performance, but I am learning some interesting things from it.  A post will doubtless be forthcoming in due course.  The most interesting thing that I have seen so far is that all the passages are extant in Arabic translation, but two of them are only extant in Arabic.  Walzer seems to think that no question of authenticity arises, which seems surprising given the tendency of Arabic authors to elaborate, but doubtless he will explain why.

Last night I did some more work on my version of Brockelmann’s remarks on early Arabic writers about Mohammed (and, when it’s 25C in your bedroom and very humid, you’re not going to be sleeping, so why not use the time?).  I also started searching for web versions, and found some.  I will include links to these in the final version.  I did discover that the Digital Library of India held copies of the journal Islamic Culture, which in 1927 and 1928 has some important articles on this subject.  I just wish their site was quicker and easier to use!  For Arabic culture, the publications in India in the 19th century are important, and I suspect few of us have ever visited the DLI site or downloaded its curious download tool.

Today I was able to discover that Guillaume’s English translation of ibn Ishak is online in page images.  This evening I hope to download it.  The book is a reconstruction of this lost early biography, based on quotations in Ibn Hisham and al-Tabari.

Finally, and on a lighter note, I have just checked my inbox, and received a job advert for a contract IT support engineer role in Afghanistan, paying about average UK rates.  Length of contract is 20 months. 

Evidently I need to be nicer to recruitment agents when they phone.  Who knew that one of them was trying to get me shot!

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Arabic sources for Mohammed – from 1854

Brockelmann’s History of Arabic literature does list English translations known in 1940.  One of these was by Alfred von Kramer, from 1854, and was a translation of al-Wakidi’s biography of Mohammed.  It was published in British India at Calcutta as the History of Muhammad’s Campaigns by Aboo Abd Ollah Mohammad bin Omar al Wakidy, by the Baptist Mission Press. 

Copies are uncommon.  I was wondering how on earth I would get hold of one, when I luckily stumbled across a copy on Google books here.  Some of the introductory remarks seemed well worth bringing into the light.  From p.2:

Three works on the biography of Mohammad, from which the whole stock of information regarding the establishment and development of the Islam may be derived, have come down to our days, and are existing in different libraries.

I. The first is Ibn Hishâm’s biography of Mohammad known commonly by the title of “Syrat-Ibn-Hishâm.” Its author died A. H. 213 (A. D. 828) or according to others A. H. 218 (A. D. 833) and his work is an extract from the chronicle of Ibn Ishâk who died about A. H. 151 (A. D. 768). Thus, through Ibn Hishâm’s médium, we get access to Ibn Ishâk’s work, though in some instances Ibn Hishâm seems to have made some pious alterations tending to cover up many of the prophet’s weaknesses and deficiencies *. A complete copy of Ibn Hishâm’s work is in the imperial library at Paris. An abridgment of Ibn Hishâm’s book was made at Damascus A. H. 707 (A. D. 1307,) by Ahmad Ibn Ibrahym, Ibn Abd-ar-Rahman-al-Wâsity, of which a copy is preserved in the Asiatic Society’s Library at Calcutta.

II. The second work is Mohammad Ibn Sa’d’s work, commonly called Tabakât or annals. Some volumes of “the Tabakât are in the ducal library of Gotha;” Mr. Wüstenfeld has given a notice of their contents in the fourth and seventh volumes of the Journal of the German Asiatic Society. Another volume of the Tabakât containing the biography of Mohammad is in Dr. Sprenger’s hands, whose indefatigable researches were recompensed by the discovery of this volume in a library belonging to Mozaffar Khân at Cawnpoor, and who has recently discovered some other volumes in Damascus.

* Consult on this question the excellent dissertation on “the original sources for the biography of Mohammad” inserted in the Calcutta Review No. XXXVII. for March, 1853.

Ibn Sa’d, who was Wâkidy’s secretary, acquired great knowledge of historical and traditional matters from his master, after whose death he condensed in his “Tabakât-al-Kabyr,” a work consisting of fifteen volumes, the results of Wâkidy’s historical researches, which were scattered through this author’s numerous works. Such at least is Ibn Khillikân’s opinion, and it seems that Ibn Sa’d, without much trouble of his own, gathered the fruits of his master’s untiring studies.

III. The third standard-work is Tabary’s history. Aboo Ja’far Ibn Jaryr-al-Tabary was born A, H. 224 (A. D. 838-9) at Amool in Tabaristân and died at Baghdad A. H. 310 (A. D, 923). He was considered by his contemporaries, as the greatest authority in historical and traditional matters. His great work on the history of the Islam, some volumes of which exist in several libraries, seems to justify the high consideration in which he is held by all subsequent Arabic historians. His work is written with great conscientiousness, he always indicates the names of the persons, on whose testimony a fact is narrated, and a cursory perusal of his book will convince every reader, that Tabary wrote with the sincere intention of composing a true and impartial history.

Though these three chief works reflect, however troubled this mirror’s surface may be, the great outlines of the early history of the Islam, yet they are far from enabling us to get a clear view and to form a just idea of those remote ages. Not one of these authors ever thought of submitting to a critical inquiry the authenticity of the traditions, which had been collected by his predecessors, not one of them dared to question the veracity of the most extravagant stories told about their prophet’s miracles, and Ibn Hishâm, as has been observed already, did not hesitate to commit some pious alterations in Ibn Ishâk’s text tending to cover some of Mohammad’s errors.* Ibn Sa’d, whose works are mere extracts from the writings of his master, must be considered as a second-hand writer, and probably would lose every authority, if his master’s works had not perished.

* Consult on Ibn Hishâm Dr. Sprenger’s Life of Mohammad, p. 70.

Tabary is doubtless a scholar superior in knowledge and trust, worthiness to both Ibn Hishâm and Ibn Sa’d, but unfortunately he lived at an epoch too remote from the foundation of the Islam. At his time the fertile imagination of the Arabs had veiled the origin of their religion and their prophet’s rising in such a cloud of poetical legends, that it was utterly impossible for any Mohammadan writer to discern the true from the false.

These remarks are sufficient to show how desirable it is for the historian to get access to the works of Wâkidy who being coeval with Ibn Ishâk, whose works have been lost, and anterior to Ibn Hishâm, and Ibn Sa’d, who were mere compilers, certainly deserves the title of “Father of Arabic history.”

Aboo Abd Allah Mohammad Ibn O’mar Ibn Wâkid-al-Wâkidy was born at Madynah A. H. 130 (777) ; he was a manumitted of the Banoo Hâshim and professed the Shy’ah doctrines, From Madynah he migrated to Baghdad, where at first he obtained the post of Kadhy in the eastern suburb, afterwards the Kalyfe Mamoon conferred upon him the same dignity in O’skaral-Mahdy another suburb of Baghdad, which at Ibn Khillikân’s time was commonly called Rossâfah. Mamoon held him in the greatest esteem. At his death he left a library of six hundred chests full of books, which were sold for two thousand dynârs. Wâkidy always kept two slaves, who were continually busy in copying manuscripts for his library. He is author of thirty-two works ; it suffices to indicate here only those, which appear to be the most important.* (1) The campaigns of Mohammad (Kitâb al-Maghazy). (2) The history of the apostates, having for its subject the history of those, who after the death of Mohammad, apostatized from the Islam and relapsed into idolatry. (3) History of the wars of Mohammad’s companions against Tobayhat Ibn Khowaylid-al-Azdy, Aswad-al-A’nsy and Mosaylamat-al Kaddâb. (4) History of Makkah. (5) History of the Conquest of Syria. (6) History of the Conquest of I’râk. (7) On the battle of the Camel. (8) On the battle of Siffyn. (9) On the battles of the Banoo Aws and Khazraj. (10) On the death of Mohammad. (11) Biography of Aboo-Bakr.* This séries of works is quite sufficient to prove the high literary character of our author. Wâkidy died at the age of seventy-seven years in Baghdad.

* See Hammer-Purgstall’s Literaturgeschichte III. p. 403.

It is the first named work of this eminent scholar which is contained in this volume: viz. the Kitab-al-Maghâzy, or History of the military campaigns of the prophet.

The original manuscript was discovered by the editor at Damascus in 1851, and as no other copy of this work is known to exist in any library, it is presumed to be the only one of Wâkidy’s works, which has escaped the all-destroying tooth of time.

That is quite a nice English-language summary.  After struggling with Brockelmann, it is pleasant to see something outlined so clearly!  Brockelmann states, however, that this translation is only partial.

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An unpublished English translation of Abd al-Latif?

It’s always worth doing a Google trawl.  You never know what you may find.

This evening I was idly looking to see what I could find in English by Galen.  I kept hitting “next page”.  Much of it was dross.  But then… I struck gold.

I found myself looking at a page at the British National Archives.  It turned out to be a catalogue of papers held at the Royal College of Physicians in London, once belonging to a certain Dr Greenhill.  Greenhill, whoever he was, was interested in Galen and in the Arabic material about him.

There are translations of extracts from the great biographical dictionary of medical writers by Ibn Abi Usaibia.  These are probably good themselves, tho brief.

But then I stumbled across this:

Translation of Account of Egypt by Abd Al Latíf Ibn Yúsuf  MS-GREEW/264/153  n.d

These documents are held at Royal College of Physicians of London

In two Folders; 1st Folder 120pp; 2nd Folder pp. 131 – 140; Unbound

Now as far as I know there is no published English translation of this work, although of course I am no Arabist and I might be quite mistaken.  But here is 140 pages of translation in manuscript!  This, surely, needs to be copied and placed online?

I’ve enquired about the possibilities here.

But I also see various standard works in German on the subject, bound interleaved with blank paper on which the good doctor has written notes.  These too might be very interesting!

Mind you, a thought has struck me.  Given the notorious badness of the handwriting of members of the medical profession, will we be able to read any of what he wrote?

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