The Most Choice Books
In the medieval period, Arabic book culture positively dwarfed that of Western Europe; the twelfth-century scholar Bernard of Chartres was proud of the twenty-four books he owned, but, in 1258, the city of Baghdad boasted thirty-six public libraries and over a hundred book merchants. It is difficult to assess private collections, but the thriving community of scholars in the city during the last century of Arab rule (985–1085) would have doubtless owned copies of the most important texts. It would not be unreasonable to suggest that The Elements and The Almagest might well also have been on ibn Baghunish’s shelves, and that at least some of his books—or copies of them—could have still been in the city in the mid-twelfth century when Gerard was on the lookout for texts to translate.
Source: www.laphamsquarterly.org