Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts

Item

Country

Name of institution (official language of the state)

Reynolds-Finley Historical Library

Language of name of institution

eng

Contact information: postal address

1700 University Blvd, 3rd Floor, 35233 Birmingham, AL

Contact information: phone number

001 205 934 4475

Contact information: web address

https://library.uab.edu/locations/reynolds

Contact information: email

pbalch@uab.edu

Title (official language of the state)

Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts

Language of title

eng

Creator / accumulator

Lawrence Reynolds

Date note

mid-14th century/16th century

Language(s)

heb

lat

Extent

7 storage units

Type of material

Textual Material

Scope and content

This collection comprises manuscripts from the mid-14th to the 16th centuries, primarily medical and scientific tracts, with the exception of a two-volume Book of Christian Prayers in Syriac, dated 1589.
One of the highlights of this collection is a copy of the Ninth Book of the Al' Mansuri by Rhazes, expounded and commented upon by Gerard de Solo and translated from Latin into Hebrew by Tobiel ben Samuel de Leiria, a Jewish physician. Tobiel translated this work in Coimbra, in 1388, under the sponsorship of Moisés de Leiria, "rabi-mor" and physician of King João I. The title page, headings of chapters, and other parts of the manuscript are illuminated with intertwined arabesques and forms in various colours. The manuscript also contains later illuminations in an Italian hand. There are two other copies in the Jewish Theological Seminary Library and in the Dresden University Library, but this is the only one with a title page.

See more information on this manuscript here

Archival history

The seven manuscripts that compose this collection were given as part of the original donation of over 5,000 books from Lawrence Reynolds to found the library in 1958. The Hebrew translation of the Ninth Book of Al-Mansuri had been purchased by Reynolds from Henry Schuman, a New York bookseller, in 1954.

Administrative / Biographical history

Lawrence Reynolds (1889-1961) was a reputable radiologist and bibliophile. He attended the University of Alabama, from which he graduated in 1912. Later, he entered Johns Hopkins Medical School and was awarded a degree in Medicine in 1916. Then, he became a resident of the Department of Radiology of the university hospital. During World War I, he served as a captain in the Medical Corps of the United States Army, with overseas service in France. After returning to the USA, he began his teaching career by serving as an instructor in Roentgenology at Johns Hopkins and Harvard. In 1922, Reynolds went into private practice in the Harper Hospital in Detroit, where he became Chief of Staff in 1948. He also continued his teaching career at Wayne University College of Medicine. In 1930, he became editor of the American Journal of Roentgenology. Reynolds's reputation grew over the years. He was a member of some 20 professional and learned societies, President of the American College of Radiology and received many awards throughout his career.
Reynolds's love for books was awakened shortly after his return from France when he met Dr Harvey Cushing during an interview at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston. Cushing stimulated his interest in books. His first acquisition was a copy of the first edition of Vesalius's book on anatomy. After that, his book collection, particularly focused on Medicine matters, grew year after year. The result was the invaluable collection of about 5,000 volumes that he donated to his first alma mater, the University of Alabama, on February 2, 1958. This donation determined the establishment of the Reynolds Historical Library. Since then, the library collection has more than quadrupled in size.

Sources:

Reynolds-Finley Historical Library website

Schuman, Henry. 1959. “A Dream Come True: The Lawrence Reynolds Collection.” Bulletin of the Medical Library Association 47 (3): 235–52.