Tacuinum Sanitatis
Taqwīm aṣ‑Ṣiḥḥa (Arabic: تقويم الصحة, lit. 'Maintenance of Health') is originally an 11th-century Arab medical treatise by ibn Butlan of Baghdad. In the West, the work is known by the Latinized name taken by its translations: Tacuinum (sometimes Taccuinum) Sanitatis.
Ibn Butlan's Tacuinum sanitatis, Rhineland, 2nd half of 15th c. | |
| Author | Ibn Butlan |
|---|---|
| Original title | Taqwīm as‑Siḥḥa |
| Country | Baghdad under Abbasid Caliphate |
| Language | Arabic |
| Subjects | health and wellbeing |
| Genres | medical |
Publication date | 11th century |
| Text | Tacuinum Sanitatis online |
The Taccuinum Sanitatis is a medieval handbook mainly on health aimed at a cultured lay audience. The text exists in several variant Latin versions, the manuscripts of which are profusely illustrated. "Neither religious nor scientific motives could explain the incentive to create such an image; only a cultured lay audience [...] could have commissioned and then perused these delightful pages." Numerous European versions were made in increasing numbers in the 14th and 15th centuries.