Dental chapters of Serefeddin Sabuncuoglu's (1385-1468?) illustrated surgical book Cerrahiyyetu'l Haniyye.

From the 7th to the 11th centuries Arabic authors translated ancient Greek and Roman medical textbooks into their own languages. In the 11th and 12th centuries, noted authors used these early translations when writing other classical texts. One of these was that of the Andalusian surgeon, Albulcasis (936-1013), whose famous work is entitled, at-Tasrif (4,6). It has been used as a reference book for centuries and was translated into Latin in the 15th century and into Turkish by me when I discovered a manuscript of it in the Manisa Library in Turkey (14). The best interpreter of it, however, was Serefeddin Sabuncuoglu (1365-1468). He used the classification of at-Tasrif, but improved on it by adding original observations and three original chapters. His book is entitled, Cerrahiyyetu'l Haniyye which means The Imperial Surgery (15).