Avicenna's The Canon of Medicine (Venice, 1544)

Avicenna (980-1037, full arabic name Abu Ali al-Husayn ibn 'Abdallah ibn Sina) wrote two hundred and seventy books during his lifetime. These included two vast encyclopaedias, one on science (Kitab al-Shifa) and one on medicine (Kitab al-Qanun or The Canon of Medicine).

The Canon of Medicine continued to influence medicine in Europe throughout the sixteenth century, over five hundred years after it was written. It covered the whole of medical science: the teachings of Hippocrates, Galen, Dioscorides and the late Alexandrian physicians enhanced by the ideas of Arab medicine. The philosopher-physicians whose work informed The Canon of Medicine are pictured on the front page of this edition with their names below them.