John of Alexandria: the Manuscripts of his Commentaries on Hippocrates

John of Alexandria was a Byzantine medical writer of Alexandria (Johannes Alexandrinus, fl. 600-642).  

His commentary on Hippocrates' book about the foetus (In Hippocratis De natura pueri commentarium) is preserved only in one Greek manuscript (Florence: Codex Laurentianus 59.14) and a Latin version made at the request of king Manfred of Sicily (1258-66).

His commentary on the sixth book of Hippocrates Epidemics (In Hippocratis Epidemiarum librum VI commentarii fragmenta) is now found in an anonymous Latin translation.  However fragments of the Greek original still exist, entered in the margins of a Greek translation of an Arabic medical text (Rome: Codex Vaticanus Graecus 300).  The MS appears to have been written in Palermo in the middle of the twelfth century.

I've also found online a reference to

[I would like much more detail.  I've added DUFFY, which I found online, but I haven't seen this]

Bibliography

N. G. WILSON, Scholars of Byzantium, London: Duckworth (1983). p.49.

John M. DUFFY, John of Alexandria: Commentary of an anonymous author on Hippocrates' Epidemics VI fragments / edition, translation, and notes by John M. Duffy. John of Alexandria: Commentary on Hippocrates' On the nature of the child ; edition and translation by T.A. Bell ... [et al.]. [Etc]., Berlin : Akademie Verlag (1997). Series: Corpus medicorum Graecorum ; 11, 1, 4. ISBN: 3050031905. Not checked. (Details Cambridge University Library OPAC). Review: Byzantinische Zeitschrift XCII,1 (1999). p. 109: John of Alexandria, Commentary on Hippocrates... ed.J.M.DUFFY...bespr.von A.TOURWAIDE (Details from Internet).

C.D. PRITCHET, Iohannis Alexandrini commentaria in sextum librum Hippocratis Epidemiarum / recognovit et adnotatione critica instruxit C.D. Pritchet. Leiden : Brill, (1975). xi, 470 p. ; 25 cm. ISBN: 9004042806.

C.D. PRITCHET, Johannis Alexandrini Commentaria in librum De sectis Galeni / recognovit et adnotatione critica instruxit C.D. Pritchet. Leiden : E.J. Brill, (1982). xi, 108 p. ; 25 cm. ISBN: 9004065660. Not checked. (Details National Library of Canada OPAC).

Konrad GOEHL, Johannes Gottfried MAYER (avec la collab. de Kurt Hans STAUB), Das Darmstädter Johannes-Alexandrinus-Fragment: AGM LXXXIV (2000) p. 201-221.  Not checked. (Details from the "Bulletin of Ancient Medicine", "BTML" - Bibliographie des Textes Médicaux Latins.):

"Edition, translation and commentary of three small anonymous fragments found in the binding of MS. Darmstadt, Hessische Landes- und Hochschulbibl. cod. 1215, coming from the chartreuse of St. Barbara at Cologne.  The script of the original codex could be dated to the first part (probably the second quarter) of the 11th century, and coming from Cologne itself, the north-west of Germany, or the lower Rhine.  The structure of the work -- a passage of Galen's original text followed by its commentary -- allows a version of the commentary on De sectis related to the fragments of Karlsruhe, Badische Landesbibl. Aug. CXX (IX2 s.) to be seen, intermediate between the text of Milan, Bibl. Ambrosiana G. 108 inf. (likewise IX2 s.), edited by Westerink and his pupils, and the edition belonging to the late middle ages edited by Pritchet and attributed to John of Alexandria."

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This page has been online since 11th August 2002

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