Al Tasrif (Book of practice) by Abulcasis (Abdul Qasim al-Zahrawi). Manuscript (facsimile) from Spain or Provence, mid 15^th century.

Abulcasis (936-1013) was the major Muslim writer on surgery and greatly influenced the Christian West.

This was a medical encyclopedia of 30 treatises, deriving mainly from Greek sources, to which he added his 50 years long experience as a practitioner.

Shemtov Ben Isaac of Tortosa, a Sepharadi physician that lived in Marseilles, translated this work in 1258 into Hebrew. It included obstetrics, pharmacology, dietetics, pediatrics, surgery and even psychology. The last script was devoted surgical instruments (scissors, scalpels, forceps, lancets etc.) describing and illustrating their uses (small, limited procedures), structural details and also manufacturing. The drawings are typical of early Arabic, Latin and Hebrew manuscripts.

Bibliotheque National de France, Paris