Liber pantegni

The Liber pantegni (παντεχνη "[encompassing] all [medical] arts") is a medieval medical text compiled by Constantinus Africanus in ca. the 1080s, ascribed to Isaac Israeli ben Solomon (10th century). It is a compendium of Hellenistic and Islamic medicine, in large parts a translation of the kitab al-malaki "royal book" of Ali ibn al-Abbas. For the first time in a medical text, a distinction is made between theorica and practica. The work was expanded by Johannes Afflatius under the title of liber aureus, and further by Stephanus of Antiochia (1127) as regalis dispositio.

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A shorter and more practical compilation of Constantinus is the Viaticum.

Editions

• Opera omnia ysaac. Ed. Andreas Turinus. Lugduni 1515; Constantini opera. Apud Henricus Petrus. Basileae 1536/39.
• Wolfenbüttel Digital Library

Literature

• Constantine the African and Ali ibn al-Abbas al-Magusi: The Pantegni and Related Texts, The Journal of the American Oriental Society, Edited by Burnett and Jacquart, Studies in Ancient Medicine, vol. 10. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1994.
• Moritz Steinschneider: Constantinus Africanus und seine arabischen Quellen. In: Virchows Arch. 37 (1866) 351-416;
• Charles Singer: A Legend of Salerno. How Constantin the Africain Brought the Art of Medicine to the Christians. In: John Hopkins Bulletin 28 (1917) 64-69;
• Hermann Lehmann: Die Arbeitsweise des Constantinus Afrikanus und des Johannes Afflacius im Verhältnis zueinander. In: Archeion 12 (1930) 272-281;