Book on Alums and Salts of Pseudo-Rāzı̄: The Arabic and Hebrew Traditions

<p><i>On Alums and Salts</i> sometimes attributed to the Persian polymath al-Rāzī is one of the most influential treatises in the European alchemical tradition. This Arabic alchemical work produced in twelfth-century al-Andalus gained wide fame in its Latin translations and is also represented by a unique and fascinating Hebrew manuscript that includes practical commentary added by its anonymous Jewish compiler. Gabriele Ferrario’s new edition presents both the Arabic and the Hebrew texts each with a full translation into English. Together the two editions of <i>On Alums and Salts</i> tell the story of the active acquisition of chemical knowledge of lexical creativity and ingenuity and of scientific engagement that crossed chronological linguistic cultural and religious boundaries.</p>