Aromatic compounds in Jawāhir al-Ṭīb al-Mufrada: Identifying A Work on Aromatics Ascribed to Ibn Masawayh and Its Contents

There are several copies of a treatise entitled Jawāhir al-Ṭīb al-Mufrada bi Asmā’ihā wa Ṣifātihā wa Ma’ādinihā attributed to Ibn Masawayh, which have not been mentioned in the old bio-bibliographies. The resemblance between the descriptions of simple aromatics in this work and certain citations? from Ibn Masawayh indicates that since long a book on the subject had been ascribed to Ibn Masawayh, the contents of which have mainly been imported through Khoshshaki’s book of aromatics. A section of some of the manuscripts of this work contains recipes for compound aromatics. Although we have many citations available from Ibn Masawayh, especially from “Ibn Masawayh’s Book”, only one citation can be seen in one of the MSS of the Jawāher al-Ṭīb. It may well be that this section of the book has not reached us in its entirety. Some of the recipes in these MSS, have been repeated in other works, with no mention of Ibn Masawayh’s name, especially in Kindī’s book on aromatics, this being probably an indication of the use by these two from common sources.