Facsimile of the Tacuinum Sanitatis, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, Ms. Lat 9333, Rhineland, mid-15th century.

Facsimile of the Tacuinum Sanitatis, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, Ms. Lat 9333, Rhineland, mid-15th century.
Madrid, 1984.
Copy 61/295.
Includes monographic study.
Measurements: 27.50 x 19 x 5 cm.
The Tacuinum Sanitatis was a treatise originally written in Arabic by Ububchasym de Baldach, a Christian physician from Baghdad, better known as Ibn Butlân, in the 11th century, with the original title of Taqwin al-sihha. The work would be translated into Latin in Palermo, at the court of Manfredo, king of Sicily between 1258-1266. In the following centuries, XIV and XV, it would be one of the main health treatises, well known throughout Europe. The Tacuinum proposes rules of health and hygiene, to ensure well-being through food, drink, sleep, exercise and mood. Ibn Butlân advises such currently fashionable things as living in harmony with nature, consuming nuts, especially in winter, enjoying music and pleasant conversation, etc. The copy preserved in the BnF is a very luxurious codex, with all its folios illuminated, made in the Rhineland. The coat of arms on f. Dv, somewhat later, but not too much later, than the execution of the copy, indicates that it belonged to Ludwig of Württemberg and his wife Mechthild, daughter of Ludwig of Bavaria, Count Palatine of the Rhineland. The miniatures contain beautiful pictures of medieval daily life. Thus, for example, the miniature depicting a confectionery, full of jars with sweets such as pine nuts coated with sugar and spices, stands out.