4. Timur’s Apocryphal Memoirs, 
- By H. Breveriper 
Timur was long treated as if he were another Prester 
John. People knowing little or nothing about him, but eager 
to give news, invented all sorts of stories and palmed them off 
on the public. Qne of the first romancers was a Messire Jean 
du Bec, an Abbé of Mortemere. His book was published at 
Rouen in 1594. It was followed by a book of a similar 
character written or professing to be written, by a certain 
Sieur de Saynleon whose book was published at Paris in 1677. 
Both these writers asserted that they had travelled in the 
East or at least in the Levant ; and both, apparently, claimed 
to have got their information from a book written by a learned 
astronomer named Alhacan or Alhusain. Apparently, the 
Frenchmen gave this name to their source because there was a 
celebrated Arab astronomer and philosopher of this name who 
was a native of Bussorah and who died at Cairo in 1038. See 
words as translated into English are ‘‘Tamarlane had a com- 
panion and familiar of his conquests, named Alhacan, an 
Arabian by birth. He was a great and worthy person learned 
as well in natural philosophy, as in astrology. This author 
then having fallen into my s, on my voyage into the 
East country, I caused the same to be interpreted unto me by 
an Arabian who did speak Franck (Frankish) (as they term it) 
that is to say Italian.” Jean then goes on to spe of his 
wounds. Similiarly the Sieur de Saynleon based his narrative 
on Alhacan. But his book seems to have had little success : 
Probably, it appeared too late, for it was not published ti 
1677. Jean du Bec’s work, however, had a great success. 
There was an early translation into English by some one who 
surely a waste of time and money to repu 
book which tells of Timur ‘ being the son of Og, and of the 
name Tamarlane’ signifying the Grace of God! It is small 
blame to Purchas that he printed the rubbish, but the recent 
editors might have done better. , ‘ : 
‘As J. Golius says with justice in his Latin preface, to 
