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his Theatrum Sanitatis or exposition of ideas about health, was written circa 1052-1063 by the Arab Ububchasym of Baldach, better known throughout medieval literature as Ellucasim Elimittar. Many of the concepts Elimittar describes are derived from earlier Greco Roman and Arabic medical treatises. Elimittar's studies are based on the premise that health depends upon six essential factors: climate, food and drink, movement and rest, sleep and wakefulness, happiness, pain and sadness. Alterations in these six elements cause illness. Following this hypothesis and in an organised, indexed format, Elimittar describes roughly 99 plants, fruits, vegetables, animal products, principles of basic hygiene and other elements that can affect a person's health. For each element and in a standard format, he describes its therapeutic properties and the ailments for which it can and cannot be applied.

The codex was illustrated in the Lombard Italian artistic tradition in the school of Giovannino de Grassi. Its composition and illustrations are highly representative of the genre of illustrated encyclopediae. Each of the 208 red-framed illustrations occupies most of the page. The name of the element is written above the frame in the form of a title and a structured paragraph describing the element is written below.

Simple scenes of daily life in fifteenth century Italy decorate the pages. They include images of city streets, seniorial gardens and palaces. The illustrations are drawn to facilitate easy comprehension of the norms of hygiene and the various plants, animal products and other elements are described in the text.

The commentary volume, written in Spanish, contains critical essays written by specialists in Philology, Art History and the History of Science.

• Historical perspective by Dr. Jose M. López Piñero, Catedrático in the Department of Medicine, University of Valencia
• Iconographic study by Dr. Felipe Jerez Moliner, Catedrático in the Department of Art History, University of Valencia
• Transcription and translation by José Miguel Garcia, Professor, University of Valencia

The volume is sized 230 x 330mm and contains 214 pages. It is hand bound in brown leather with gold engraving. Arabesques adorn the spine of the book.