An Interactive Annotated World Bibliography of Printed and Digital Works in the History of Medicine and the Life Sciences from Circa 2000 BCE to 2022 by Fielding H. Garrison (1870-1935), Leslie T. Morton (1907-2004), and Jeremy M. Norman (1945- ) Traditionally Known as “Garrison-Morton”

16031 entries, 14098 authors and 1944 subjects. Updated: October 9, 2024

Browse by Publication Year 1530–1539

55 entries
  • 1803

Herbarum vivae eicones ad naturae imitationem, summa cum diligentia & artificio effigiatae, una cum effectibus earundem, in gratiam veteris illius, & jamjam renascentis herbariae medicinae ... Quibus adjecta ad calcem, appendix isagogica de usu & administratione simplicium. 3 vols.

Strasbourg, France: apud I. Schottum, 15301536.

Brunfels published the first two volumes of Herbarum vivae eicones ad nature imitationem, sum[m]a cum diligentia et artificio effigiatae. . .. in 1530 and 1532; the third volume was edited by Michael Heer and published in 1536, two years after Brunfels's death. Unlike earlier herbals, which were lllustrated with conventional stylized figures, copied and recopied over the centuries from one manuscript to another, Brunfels's Herbarum was illustrated with detailed, accurate renderings of plants taken directly from nature, most of them showing all portions of the plant (root, stem, leaves, flowers and fruit), and some even going so far as to depict wilted leaves and insect damage. The artist responsible for the illustrations was Hans Weiditz; his contributions were credited in a poem appearing on leaf A4r, making him the first botanical illustrator to be recognized for his work. Comparison of Weiditz's woodcuts with the woodcuts in Leonhard Fuchs's De historia stirpium (1542) show that the artists who worked with Fuchs were strongly influenced by Weiditz's work. In contrast to its revolutionary images, the text of the Herbarum was an uncritical compendium of quotations from older authorities, primarily concerned with the therapeutic virtues of each plant. Brunfels made no attempt to classify the plants he discussed, but related species often appear in close proximity to one another. He restricted himself to plants indigenous to Strassburg and described over forty new species. At the end of the second volume is a collection of twelve tracts edited by Brunfels, entitled De vera herbarum cognitione appendix. This includes the first published writings of both Hieronymus Bock and Leonhard Fuchs.  

Digital facsimile of a hand-colored copy of the 1530 volume from Google Books at this link; of the 1532 volume from the Biodiversity Heritage Library at this link.

 



Subjects: BOTANY, BOTANY › Botanical Illustration, PHARMACOLOGY › PHARMACEUTICALS › Materia medica / Herbals / Herbal Medicines
  • 2364

Syphilis sive morbus gallicus.

Verona: [S. Nicolini da Sabbio], 1530.

The most famous of all medical poems. It epitomized contemporary knowledge of syphilis, gave to it its present name, and recognized a venereal cause. Fracastorius refers to mercury as a remedy. First complete English translation by Nahum Tate (Later Poet Laureate) was published in 1686; translation by W. van Wyck (1934). L. Baumgartner and J. F. Fulton published a handlist of editions of the poem in 1933 and a bibliography of the poem in 1935. Digital facsimile of the 1530 edition from the Hathi Trust at this link.



Subjects: INFECTIOUS DISEASE › SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES, INFECTIOUS DISEASE › SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES › Syphilis, LITERATURE / Philosophy & Medicine & Biology
  • 3667

Artzney Buchlein, wider allerlei Kranckeyten und Gebrachen der Tzeen: Getzogen auss dem Galeno, Auicenna, Mesue, Cornelio Celso vnd andern mehr der Artzney Doctorn seher nützlich zu lesen.

Leipzig: Michael Blum, 1530.

The first book on dentistry, probably intended for the general public. The unidentified writer confined himself to extracts from the works of ancient and recent writers on the subject. The woodcut on the title page was the first known printed representation of a tooth extraction taking place in a dentist's office. The book underwent 11 editions in 45 years. Reproduced in facsimile, Berlin, Meusser, 1921.



Subjects: DENTISTRY
  • 6960

Catalogus illustrium medicorum sive de primis medicinae scriptoribus.

Strasbourg, France: apud J. Scottu, 1530.

The first separately published medical bibliography, containing 750 entries listing over 300 authors and their works in chronological order. Opens with an alphabetical index of authors, and ends with a subject index. Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.



Subjects: BIBLIOGRAPHY › Bibliographical Classics
  • 7197

Veterinariae medicina libri II Johanne Ruellio Suessionensi interprete. [Hippiatrika].

Paris: Simon de Colines, 1530.

Ruel, a native of Soissons, was physician to François I. This book, commissioned by the king, was a Latin translation of a collection of excerpts from Greek veterinary writers on equine disease, compiled circa 900 CE: a Byzantine encyclopedia of horse medicine known as Hippiatrika. Nothing is known of many of the authors mentioned—Apsyrtus, Theomnestus, Eumelus, Hierocles, etc.— apart from these extracts. Digital facsimile from BnF Gallica at this link.

The collection was first published in Greek by Joannis Volderus of Basel, edited by Simon Grynaeus, in 1537.



Subjects: BYZANTINE MEDICINE › Byzantine Veterinary Medicine, Encyclopedias, VETERINARY MEDICINE
  • 11083

De compositione medicamentorum... lib VII per Ioannem Guinterium Andernacum imprimum latinitate donati. Eiusdem De ponderibus & mensuris liber, D. Andrea Alciato interprete.

Basel : Andreas Cratander, 1530.

First separate edition in Latin of Galen's De compositione medicamentorum, On the Composition of medicines, translated by Johann Winter of Andernach, to which was added Galen's treatise on weights and measures translated by humanist Andrea Alciato. 

Durling cites another edition of Guinter's translation published in Paris by Simon de Colines, also in 1530.



Subjects: ANCIENT MEDICINE › Roman Empire, BOTANY › Medical Botany, PHARMACOLOGY › PHARMACEUTICALS
  • 12774

Lentretenement de vie, summairement compose par maistre Jehan Goeurot docteur en medicine... Contenant les remedes de medicine & cyrurgie, contre toutes maladies survenantes quotidiannement es corps humains. Lesquelles il a approuvees, & en ce petit livre inserees a la requeste de madame, pour la sante utilite & proffit de tout le monde...Item une régime singulier contre peste approuve sur plusieurs. Item une table pour plus facilement trouver le contenu dudict livre.

Lyon: Claude Veycellier, 1530.

Concerns medical and surgical treatment of the diseases of the head, ears, eyes, chest, heart, liver, and intestines, and plague.  Also includes treatments for tooth aches, bad breath, and how to whiten teeth. The Lyon printer Veycellier produced three editions in 1530.



Subjects: DENTISTRY, SURGERY: General
  • 359

De anatomicis administrationibus libri novem.

Paris: apud Simonem Colinaeum, 1531.

First separate printed edition in Latin, translated by Johann Guinter von Andernach, of Galen's dissection manual, in which Galen both described his dissection techniques and described anatomical details that were previously unknown. Guinter was able to translate the first eight and one-half books, which survived in Greek, of Galen's original text which was written in 15 books. For the remaining portions of this work, which survived in Arabic, and were unknown in the 16th century, see Simon's edition, No. 360. Some authorities date Colines's edition as 1532. Guinter's translation also appeared in Basel from the press of Andreas Cratander in 1531 with Guinter's translations of 3 other works by Galen as Claudii Galeni Pergameni De anatomicis administrationibus libri novem ; De constitutione artis medicae liber ; De Theriaca, ad Pisonem commentariolus ; De pulsibus, ad medicinae candidatos liber. Digital facsimile of the Cratander edition from Google Books at this link.

Galen’s anatomical writings are a repository of all contemporary knowledge, together with some of his own views and discoveries. He had a good knowledge of osteology and myology, some knowledge of angiology and less of zoology. Although not to be regarded as the founder of the science of anatomy, he is nevertheless its first important witness. English translation: On anatomical procedures. De anatomicis administrationibus. Translation of the surviving books with introduction and notes by Charles Singer (1956). See also De anatomicis administrationibus, libri i-ix. In Galen's Opera omnia ed. cur. C. G. KÜHN, 2 (1821) 215-731.



Subjects: ANATOMY › 16th Century, ANATOMY › Ancient Anatomy (BCE to 5th Century CE), ANCIENT MEDICINE › Roman Empire, COMPARATIVE ANATOMY
  • 5521

De peste Brittanica commentariolus vere aureus.

Basel: H. Petrus, 1531.

Schyller’s book on sweating sickness deals with the German epidemic of 1528-30.



Subjects: EPIDEMIOLOGY, INFECTIOUS DISEASE › Sweating Sickness
  • 7148

Shishan yian (Stone Mountain medical case histories) (The Shishan medical records) 石山醫案.

Qimen, Anhui Province, China: Chen Jiao, 1531.

This work, in three juan with a supplement and in three volumes, was written by Wang Ji (1463–1539), physician and member of a Ming dynasty medical family, and originally published in manuscript in 1520. The manuscript was edited  by his disciple, Chen Jiao, and printed by Chen Jiao in the tenth year of the Jiajing reign (1531). "The preface was written by Cheng Zeng and is also dated 1531. Included are two portraits of the author, inscriptions by Li Fan, Cheng Wenjie, and Chen Jiao, and the author’s recommendation. Wang Ji (style name Shi shan ju shi), a native of Qimen, Huizhou, Anhui Province, studied Confucian teachings in his early years and, after unsuccessful civil examinations, devoted himself to medicine. He was the author of 13 works, among them this collection of his cases. Wang Ji basically followed the teachings of the famed Yuan dynasty physician Zhu Zhenheng (circa 1281–1358), as is known from one of his other books, Tui qiu shi yi (Ascertain the master’s meanings). Ancient Chinese medical cases record the process and result of treatments. Such medical records could be found as early as in the Western Han (206 BC–8 AD), the earliest being a collection of 25 cases of Chun Yuyi (205–150 BC). Such records could be brief or lengthy. Each record contained the name, sex, age, social status, shape of the body, cause of the disease, symptoms, diagnoses, prescription, prognosis, and so forth. These records also reflect the physician–patient relationships. Early medical cases were issued mostly as appendices to other works. From the mid- and late-Ming dynasty, physicians began to publish them as individual works, thus creating a new form of medical writing to be examined, referenced, and used for education....This work records not only clinical experience; it also provides information on various diseases, especially those suffered by the male population, such as syphilis, which was seen as a health crisis in the region south of the Yangtze River, where flourishing trade and commerce helped to spread the disease" (http://www.wdl.org/en/item/7114/, accessed 8-9-2015). Digital facsimile of the 1531 edition from the World Digital Library at this link.



Subjects: Chinese Medicine
  • 7627

Tacuini sanitatis Elluchasem Elimithar Medici de Baldath, de sex rebus non naturalibus, earum naturis, operationibus, & rectificationibus, publico omnium usui, conseruandae sanitatis, recens exarati. Albengnefit De uirtutibus medicinarum, & ciborum. Iac. Alkindus De rerum gradibus.

Strasbourg, France: apud Ioannem Schottum librarium, 1531.

A Christian physician of Baghdad, Ibn Butlān traveled widely, eventually settling in Antioch. His treatise on hygiene and dietetics, Taqwām al-sihhah (The Almanac of Health) presented a guide to medical regimen in tabular form. It was probably the best-known of his treatises. The first edition in print includes 40 large woodcut borders by Hans Weiditz illustrating plants, animals, fruits, humors, diseases and cookery at the foot of page openings. Albengnefit (Ibn al-Wafid) was a pharmacist and physician of Toledo, where at one time he served as Vizier. He was noted for his rational methods of treatment, preferring to treat by diet, or, when necessary, by simple botanical remedies. This is one of his best known works, dealing with the properties of medicines and beverages. Al-Kindi’s work is on the preparation and dosage of medicines. In it he attempted to apply mathematics to pharmacology by quantifying the strength of drugs. Prioreschi called this the first attempt at serious quantification in medicine.[2] Al-Kindi also developed a system, based on the phases of the moon, that would allow a doctor to determine in advance the most critical days of a patient's illness.[3] De Gradibus was translated into Latin by Gerard of Cremona in the 12th century.

Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.



Subjects: COMPUTING/MATHEMATICS in Medicine & Biology, Hygiene, ISLAMIC OR ARAB MEDICINE, Illustration, Medical, MEDIEVAL MEDICINE , MEDIEVAL MEDICINE › Medieval Islamic or Arab Medicine, NUTRITION / DIET, PHARMACOLOGY, PHARMACOLOGY › PHARMACEUTICALS
  • 8967

Garioponti Vetusti admodum medici ad totius corporis aegritudines remediorum praxeōn libri V. Eiusdem de febribus, atque earum symptomatis libri ii. Recens typis commissi, & multis in locis suae integritati restituti.

Basel: Henricus Petrus, 1531.

Digital facsimile from Bayerische StaatsBibliothek at this link.



Subjects: MEDIEVAL MEDICINE › Italy, MEDIEVAL MEDICINE › Italy › Schola Medica Salernitana
  • 12807

Pharmaca simplicia, Othone Brunfelsio interprete. Idem De ratione victus Guilelmo Copo Basilensi interprete.

Strasbourg, France: Excudebat Georgius Ulricher Andlandus, 1531.

First edition in Latin of Paul of Aegina's treatise on pharmacological simples, the ingredients for preparing medicines. This describes the properties of about 750 plants and minerals, listing them in alphabetical order. The translation of the second work, De ratione victus, was prepared by Wilhelm Kopp from Basel, who moved to Paris in 1512 and became personal physician to Louis XII. That work describes about 100 medicines.

Digital facsimile from Biodiversity Heritage Library at this link.



Subjects: BYZANTINE MEDICINE, PHARMACOLOGY › PHARMACEUTICALS › Materia medica / Herbals / Herbal Medicines › History of Materia Medica
  • 368.1

De indiciis et praecognitionibus, opus apprime utile medicis. Eiusdem in anatomicen introductio luculenta et brevis.

London: R. Redmanus, 1532.

The first anatomical text by an Englishman, but only a very brief account of 15 pages. The only known copy of the original edition is in the British Library. Edwardes made the first recorded dissection in England (1531). See David Edwardes introduction to anatomy 1532. A facsimile reproduction with English translation and an Introductory essay on anatomical studies in tudor England by C.D. O'Malley and K.F. Russell (London: Oxford Univ. Press, 1961).  See also biographical note by A. Rook and M. Newbold, Med. Hist., 1975, 19, 389.



Subjects: ANATOMY › 16th Century, COUNTRIES, CONTINENTS AND REGIONS › England (United Kingdom)
  • 9011

Octavii Horatiani reum medicarum Lib. Quatuor. I. Logicus, De curationibus omnium ferme morborum corporis humani, ad Euporistum. II. De acutis & chronicis passionibus, ad eundem. III. Gynecia, De mulierum accidentibus, & curis eorundem, ad Victoriam. IIII. De physica scientia, experimentorum liber, ad Eusebium filium. Albucasis. chirurgicorum omium primarii, lib. tres. I. De cauterio cum igne, & medicins acutis per singula corporis humani membra. Cum instrumentorum delimatione. II. De sectione & perforatione, phlebotomia, & ventosis. De vulternibus, & extractione sagittaru, & certeris similibus. Cum formis instrumentorum. III. De restuartione & curatione, dislocationis membrorum. Cum typis item instrumentorum.

Strassburg, Austria: apud Joannem Schottum, 1532.

In this, the first printed edition of Rerum medicarum libri quatuor by the late antique Byzantine physician Theodorus Priscianus, his work was misattributed to Octavianus Horatianus. Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link. It may be somewhat ironic that Priscianus's work, of relatively limited value from a period in which there was little or no medical advance, was published together with Albucasis' surgery, a work of the greatest practical value.

"Priscianus was a pupil of the physician Vindicianus, fixing the period of his life in the fourth century. He is said to have lived at the court of Constantinople, and to have obtained the dignity of Archiater. He belonged to the medical sect of the Empirici, but not without a certain mixture of the doctrines of the Methodici, and even of the Dogmatici[1][2]" (Wikipedia).



Subjects: ANCIENT MEDICINE › Late Antiquity, BYZANTINE MEDICINE, MEDIEVAL MEDICINE › Medieval Islamic or Arab Medicine, SURGERY: General
  • 11176

Nicolai Leoniceni ....Opuscula: quorum catalogum versa pagina indicabit. Per. D. Andream Leennium medicum, à multis quibus scatebant vitiis, repurgata atque annotatiunculis illustrata.

Basel: And. Cratandrum et Jo. Bebelium, 1532.

First edition of Leoniceno's collected works edited by Andreas Leennius, about whom little is known. Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.



Subjects: Collected Works: Opera Omnia
  • 12764

De partu hominis, et quae circa ipsum accidunt.

Frankfurt am Main: Christian Egenolff, 1532.

Eucharius Rösslin the Younger translated his father's Der schwangeren Frauwen und Hebammen Rosengarten (1513) into Latin, from which it is was translated into French, Dutch, and English, and was frequently reprinted.  Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.



Subjects: OBSTETRICS & GYNECOLOGY › OBSTETRICS › Obstetrics
  • 2366

Morbi gallici novum ac utilissimum opusculum quo vera et omnimoda ejus cura percipi potest.

Bologna: imp. haered. Hieronymi de Benedictis, 1533.

Mattioli considered mercury a specific in the treatment of syphilis. He was probably the first to work extensively on syphilis of the newborn. He is better known for his commentary on Dioscorides.



Subjects: INFECTIOUS DISEASE › SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES › Syphilis, PEDIATRICS
  • 6974

Aetii Amideni quem alii Antiochenum vocant medici clarissimi libri XVI. tomos divisi : quorum primus & ultimus Ioan. Baptista Montano Veronensi medico, secundus Iano Cornario Zuiccauiensi, & ipso medicinae professore, interpretibus latinitate donati sunt. In quo opere cuncta quae ad curandi artem pertinent congesta sunt, ex omnibus qui usq[ue] ad eius tempora scripserant, diligentissime excerpta. Additus est index in omneis tomos copiosissimus. 3 vols.

Basel: In Officicina Frobeniana, 15331534.

J. B. Montanus and Janus Cornarius prepared the first edition of Aetius's collected works in Latin translation. That edition was the first to include Aetius's writings on obstetrics, which epitomized all previous knowledge of the subject. J. V. Ricci prepared an annotated translation of Aetius's obstetrical writings from the improved Latin edition of Basel, 1542, and published it in Philadelphia, 1950. 



Subjects: ANCIENT MEDICINE › Late Antiquity, BYZANTINE MEDICINE, Collected Works: Opera Omnia, OBSTETRICS & GYNECOLOGY › OBSTETRICS
  • 7793

Tou sophōtatou Philē, Stichoi iambikoi peri zōōn idiotētos.

Venice: Stefano dei Nicolini da Sabbio , 1533.

The Greek text edited by Aristoboulos Apostolis (1465-1536), who became Arsenios, Archbishop of Monemvasia in 1514.  Philes' Greek text was reedited by Joachim Camerarius with Latin translation by G. Bermann and first published in Leizpig by Andreas Schneider in 1575.  Digital facsimile of the 1575 edition from Google Books at this link.



Subjects: Byzantine Zoology, NATURAL HISTORY
  • 8952

Ex Aeliani historia per Petrum Gyllium latini facti, itemque ex Porphyrio, Heliodoro, Oppiano: Tum eodem Gyllio luculentis accessionibus aucti libri XVI. De ui & natura animalium. Eiusdem Gyllij liber unus, de gallicis & latinis nominibus piscium.

Lyon: Sébastien Gryphe, 1533.

Editio princeps of Aelianus's late antique work on natural history. Along with Aelianus's text Gyllius included his own “Liber summarius de Gallicis et Latinis nominibus piscium Massiliensium” [Book on the French and Latin names of the fish of Marseilles], along with his translations of natural history texts by Heliodorus, Oppian and Porphyrius. Digital facsimile from the Hathi Trust at this link.



Subjects: NATURAL HISTORY › Late Antiquity, ZOOLOGY › Ichthyology, ZOOLOGY › Mammalogy, Zoology, Natural History, Ancient Greek / Roman / Egyptian
  • 9366

Caelii Aureliani methodici Sicensis liber celerum vel acutarum passionum, qua licuit diligentia recognitus, atque nunc primum in lucem aeditus.

Paris: Simon de Colines, 1533.

Caelius's / Soranus's Treatise on acute diseases, edited by Johannes Guinter von Andernach. From a clinical point of view, the two works of Caelius Aurelianus, which were translated into Latin from Greek originals by Soranus of Ephesus that were later lost, represent the high-point of Graeco-Roman medical achievement. Soranus (fl. circa 150 CE), was the chief representative of the methodic school of medicine. Besides his writings on gynecology and obstetrics that survived, Soranus left works on chronic and acute maladies—Tardae or Chronicae passiones, in five books, and Celeres or Acutae passiones in three books, which were preserved through Caelius's translations. The Latin translations show that Soranus possessed considerable practical skill in the diagnosis of both ordinary and exceptional diseases. The translations are also important for their references to the methods of earlier medical authorities. Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.



Subjects: ANCIENT MEDICINE › Greece, ANCIENT MEDICINE › Roman Empire
  • 9863

En nyttelig laegebog for fattige og rige, unge og gamle.

Malmø, Sweden, 1533.

Pedersen, a Danish canon, humanist scholar, writer, printer and publisher, wrote and published the earliest medical book issued in Scandanavia by a Scandanavian writer. Translated as "A useful doctor book for poor and rich, young and old," Pedersen's book would be characterized as folk or popular medicine, inspired by Dioscorides. When he published this book Malmø was a Danish city.



Subjects: BOTANY › Ethnobotany, COUNTRIES, CONTINENTS AND REGIONS › Denmark, COUNTRIES, CONTINENTS AND REGIONS › Sweden, PHARMACOLOGY › PHARMACEUTICALS › Materia medica / Herbals / Herbal Medicines, TRADITIONAL, Folk or Indigenous Medicine
  • 12591

De pulsuum scientia libellus utilis & necessarius. Theophili ... de exacta retrimentorum vesicae cognitione, commentariolus, Albano Torino interprete.

Basel: Henricus Petrus, 1533.

First separate, and perhaps the first complete printed edition of the Byzantine physician's De pulsibus, edited by Alban Thorer. This text, in the Galenic tradition "largely mediated through the pseudo-Galenic tract "On pulses, for Antonius" was included in the Articella from the 11th century onward. Perhaps because of that physicians of the Western Middle Ages and Renaissance derived their theory of the pulses from Philaretos's work.

Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.



Subjects: BYZANTINE MEDICINE, CARDIOLOGY › CARDIOVASCULAR PHYSIOLOGY
  • 12763

Kreutterbuch von allem Erdtgewächs. Anfenglich von Doctor Johan Cuba zusamen bracht/ Jietz widerum(m) new Corrigirt/ und auß den bestberümptsten Artzten/ auch täglicher erfarnuß/ gemehrt. Mit warer Abconterfeiung aller Kreuter. Distillirbuch Hieronymi Braunschwig/ von aller kreuter außgebren(n)ten Wassern/ hiemit füglich ingeleibt.

Frankfurt am Main: Christian Egenolff, 1533.

An illustrated and enhanced version of the Gart der Gesundheit (1485) and the Kleinen Destillierbuchs of Hieronymus Brunschwig (1500). Contents include animals, including imaginery animals, a bit of human anatomy, minerals as well as plants, including materia medica.  Digital facsimile from Bayerische Staatsbibliothek at this link.



Subjects: Chemistry, PHARMACOLOGY › PHARMACEUTICALS › Materia medica / Herbals / Herbal Medicines
  • 33
  • 5814
  • 6137

Bιβλίων ὶαтριкω̂ν тομος ά. Librorum medicinalium tomus primus, primi scilicet libri octo nunc primum in lucem editi.

Venice: in aedibus haeredum Aldi Manutii et Andreae Asulani, 1534.

First printed edition in the original Greek of the first half of the Tetrabiblion,  issued in Venice by the heirs of Aldus Manutius. In the Tetrabiblion Aetius collected together works of other men which might have been forgotten but for him. Among them are Rufus of Ephesus, Antyllus, Leonides, Soranus, and Philumenus. This work also includes Aetius’s own original work on the treatment of aneurysm by ligation of the brachial artery above the sac. Aetius also left an exhaustive treatise on diseases of the eye. Although he did not describe cataract, he was familiar with 61 different affections of the eye. Most of his work consists of compilations of earlier writers, but he recorded his own observations on ophthalmic therapeutics. Julius Hirschberg translated the section of Aëtius's text on ophthalmology into German, Berlin, 1899. This was translated into English by Richey L. Waugh as The ophthalmology of Aëtius of Amida. Digital facsimile of the 1534 edition from BIUSanté, Paris at this link. The standard Greek edition of books 1-8 is A. Olivieri, Corpus Medicorum Graecorum VIII, 1-2, Berlin, 1935-50. 

 

 



Subjects: ANCIENT MEDICINE › Late Antiquity, BYZANTINE MEDICINE, OPHTHALMOLOGY › Diseases of the Eye, VASCULAR SURGERY
  • 4484.1

Ob das Podagra möglich zu generen oder nit. Nutzlich zu wissen allen denen, die damit behafft.

Strassburg, Austria: Mathias Apiarius, 1534.

Abridged English translation by W. S. C. Copeman and M. Winder in Med. Hist., 1969, 13, 288-93, who write: "This small treatise contains a surprising amount of sound advice regarding the prevention and cure of the disease. The author is an early advocate of prophylaxis by the exercise of moderation in food, drink, anger and lechery: he recommends moderate regular exercise as well as avoidance of unnecessary purgation, and 'great sadness or anxiety'. Burgauer, about whom little is known, was evidently an admirer of Rhazes and Avicenna and quotes freely from their works. It is interesting to note, however, that he was evidently also an early follower of Paracelsus as, in addition to his recommendations regarding galenic preparations of herbs, seeds and roots, he attributes therapeutic virtue to metals and precious stones and strongly advocates a compound of metallic gold."



Subjects: RHEUMATOLOGY › Gout (Podagra)
  • 9864

Om UrteVand.

Malmø, Sweden, 1534.

Petersen issued a second book, "On herbal extracts" in 1534. According to Stokker, Remedies and rituals: Folk medicine in Norway and the new land (2007) p. 111, Pedersen's two works together contained "250 medical herbs, 140 of them domestic."



Subjects: BOTANY › Ethnobotany, COUNTRIES, CONTINENTS AND REGIONS › Denmark, COUNTRIES, CONTINENTS AND REGIONS › Sweden, PHARMACOLOGY › PHARMACEUTICALS › Materia medica / Herbals / Herbal Medicines, TRADITIONAL, Folk or Indigenous Medicine
  • 11870

Botanologicon. Heus medice vis uariat aliter quam doctuses hactenus herbas scrire, nouus multas iste libellus habet. Ut retinax primum sibi testa referuet odorem, sex nisi quadrantes & brevis hora perit. Quae si quam nostris lusorum perdere chartis malis, tunc aliquid doctius aede tuum.

Cologne: Johannes Gymnicus, 1534.

"generally considered to be the first attempt at a scientific systemization of plants" (D.S.B., 3, 412-13.) Digital facsimile from Biodiversity Heritage Library at this link.



Subjects: BOTANY › Classification / Systemization of Plants
  • 12223

The castel of helth gathered and made by Syr Thomas Elyot knyghte, out of the chiefe authors of physyke, wherby euery manne may knowe the state of his owne body, the preseruatio[n] of helthe, and how to instructe welle his physytion in syckenes that he be not deceyued.

[London]: [In ædibus Thomæ Bertheleti typis impress], 1534.

A few copies are dated 1534, but by internal evidence they cannot be dated before 1536. The next printing was in 1539. Digital text from Old English Books Online at this link.













Subjects: Household or Self-Help Medicine, Self-Help Guides
  • 369

Anatomica methodus, seu de sectione humani corporis contemplatio.

Paris: apud Ludovicum Cyaneum, 1535.

Includes the first description of the ileo-caecal valve. Laguna, a Spanish anatomist, travelled much in Europe and became physician to Charles V. English translation in No. 461.3. Digital facsimile of the 1535 edition from the Internet Archive at this link.



Subjects: ANATOMY › 16th Century
  • 4278

De lapide renum curiosum opusculum nuperrime in lucem aeditum. Eiusdem De lapide vesicae per incisionem extrahendo sequitur aureus libellus.

Venice: per Petrum de Nicolinis de Sabio, 1535.

Marianus Sanctus Barolitanus popularized the operation of lithotomy introduced by the father of Giovanni Vigo of Rapallo. This method passed on to Giovanni di Romani and from him to Marianus. It became known as the “Marian operation” and was the forerunner of the more modern lateral lithotomy. Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.



Subjects: UROLOGY › Urinary Calculi
  • 370

Anatomia capitis humani.

Marburg: E. Cervicorni, 1536.

The first work on the anatomy of the head. Elegantly illustrated with 11 woodcuts. English translation in No. 461.3.



Subjects: ANATOMY › 16th Century, ANATOMY › Anatomical Illustration, ANATOMY › Neuroanatomy
  • 1804

Examen omnium simplicium medicamentorum, quorum in officinis usus est.

Rome: Antonio Blado de Asula, 1536.

Brasavola introduced some new drugs into the formulary. The book is written in the form of a dialogue. Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.



Subjects: PHARMACOLOGY › Pharmacopeias › Dispensatories or Formularies
  • 1536

Liber introductorius anatomiae sive dissectionis corporis humani; in quo quam plurima membra, operationes, & utilitates tam ab antiquis, quam a modernis praetermissa manifestantur.

Venice: Francesco Bindoni & Maffeo Pasini, 1536.

A practical manual for dissection, showing how to carry out an anatomy from the first incision onwards. Massa based his work on his experience gained from numerous dissections that he had undertaken in the hospital of SS. Petro et Paolo in the monastery of SS. Giovanni e Paolo. In the full title of the book Masso

"promised to reveal parts, functions, and uses of the body overlooked by others, ancient and modern. In his biography of Vesalius, C. D. O'Malley found the book 'somewhat overated, making certain contributions and correcting some errors, but remaining too much under the shadow of Galen.' Later he gave a more favourable appreciation, noting Massa's introduction of the term panniculous carnosis and praising other aspects of his work - his account of the abdominal wall, intestinal canal, and appendix, his observation that the size of spleen varied in those suffering from certain ailments, the discovery of the prostate gland, his denial of the seven-celled uterus, his reference to the malleus and incus, and his statement that interventricular septum was a 'dense and hard substance without a cavity', perhaps a denial of Galen's interventircular pores and a hint towards the pulmonary circulation of the blood. At the same time, O'Malley commented unfavourably on the 'cryptic brevity' of so many of Massa's descriptions. This is a justifiable comment, but Massa's brevity was perhaps inevitable in what was, after all, a short book on how to perform an anatomy, not an account of the fabric of the body in the manner of Vesalius....For Massa, anatomy remained an adjunct to medicine. It was the groundwork for surgery, showing the correct sites for incisions and areas where especial care was needed. He noted the extreme consequences of surgical mistakes; ignorance of anatomy could cause the death of patients. it is no surprise that he digressed into surgery, dealing amongst other things, with wounds of the peritoneum and demonstrating his own method of sewing up intestines. Anatomy was also the guide to morbific processes, and many of his patients ended their courses of treatment on his anatomy table, sometimes at the request of relatives.

"The Liber introductorius is best judged in its own terms as a practical manual. It is full of hints such as the use of probes to examine cavities, and pipes, syringes, and bellows to flate organs such as the bladder, kidneys, stomach, and somb to show their capacity and explore their function. it also contains useful suggestions such as boiling the liver as a preliminary to studying its veins. The treatise amply justifies L. R. Lind's assessemtn of it as a 'remarkably clear account of the human body by a skilled dissector who was proud of his ability" (Richard Palmer, "Nicolò Massa, his family and his fortune," Med. Hist., 25 (1981) 385-410).

"It is clearly evident, that Massa anticipated the modern anatomists, describing the presence of fluid intracranially. [Massa's Chapter XXXVIII on page 84]. Because this work was original, the evidence accurate and based on autopsy observations and what is more other scientists cited his work, thus we have to recognize Massa's scientific priority for this discovery.8-9' This great anatomical discovery is widely recognized as a milestone in the development of neuroanatomy and neurophysiology" (Leszek Herbowski, "Massa versus Haller: Priority of the Cerebrospinal Fluid Discovery," Neurol. Med. Chir. (Tokyo), 58 (2018), 225-227).

Full text translated into English by L. R. Lind, Studies in pre-Vesalian anatomy...(1975).



Subjects: ANATOMY › 16th Century, NEUROSCIENCE › NERVOUS SYSTEM › Brain, including Medulla: Cerebrospinal Fluid, OTOLOGY › Physiology of Hearing, UROLOGY › Prostate
  • 5561

Grosse Wund Artzney von allen Wunden, Stich, Schüssz, Bränd, Bissz, Beynbrüch, und alles was die Wundartzney begreifft.

Ulm: Hans Varnier, 1536.

Paracelsus was a doctor, chemist, lecturer, and reformer. His novel doctrines gained him many followers. He expressed novel ideas for the treatment of wounds, disbelieving in the use of boiling oil for the purification of gunshot wounds. His "Chirurgia magna" went through many editions and translations. The first edition cited here was unauthorized by Paracelsus and was criticized by him.



Subjects: SURGERY: General , SURGERY: General › Wound Healing
  • 5370

De malo recentiorum medicorum medendi usu libellus.

Venice: apud O. Scotum, 1536.

Includes (cap. XXXVI) an early account of typhus, morbus pulicaris. English translation in Major, Classic descriptions of disease, 3rd ed., Springfield: Charles C Thomas, 1945, p. 163.



Subjects: INFECTIOUS DISEASE › VECTOR-BORNE DISEASES › Lice-Borne Diseases, INFECTIOUS DISEASE › VECTOR-BORNE DISEASES › Lice-Borne Diseases › Typhus
  • 46

Omnia opera Ysaac in hoc volumini contenta: cum quibusdam alijs opusculis: Liber de definitionibus. Liber de elementis. Liber dietaru[m] vniversalium: cum co[m]me[n]to Petri Hispani. Liber dietarum particularium ... Liber de vrinis cum commento eiusdem. Liber de febribus. Pantechni decem libri theorices: et decem practices: cum tractatu de gradibus medicinarum Constantini. Viaticum Ysaac quod constantinus sibi attribuit. Liber de oculis Constantini. Liber des stomacho Constantini. Liber virtutum de simplici medicina Constantini. Compendium megatechni Galeni a Constantino compositum ; Cum tabula [et] repertorio omnium operum et questionum in co[m]mentis contentarum. Edited by Andreas Turinus.

Basel: H. Petrus, 1536.

Constantine was a Muslim from North Africa who converted to Christianity. His writings were first published with those of Isaac Judaeus in the above edition which includes many separate texts. Many of the writings of Constantine were translations into Latin of Greek, Arabic and Jewish writers. Through his translations he placed Muslim thought and culture at the disposal of European medicine from the 12th to 17th centuries. For a time he taught at the School of Salerno. Digital facsimile of the Lyon 1515 edition from the Herzog August Bibliothek at this link. Digital facsimile of the Basel, 1536 edition of Constantine's works from Google Books at this link



Subjects: Collected Works: Opera Omnia, Education, Biomedical, & Biomedical Profession, Jews and Medicine, MEDIEVAL MEDICINE , MEDIEVAL MEDICINE › Italy, MEDIEVAL MEDICINE › Italy › Schola Medica Salernitana, MEDIEVAL MEDICINE › Medieval Jewish Medicine, Medicine: General Works
  • 7204

Institutiones anatomicae secundum Galeni sententiam.

Paris: Simon de Colines, 1536.

A handbook presenting the principles of Galenic anatomy in a form that was easily accessible to medical students. It epitomized the revolution in the teaching of anatomy, and the new emphasis on dissection, that occurred in Paris after the publication of the Greek texts of Galen's anatomical works in the Aldine edition of 1525 (See No. 27). Guinter had previously translated Galen's manual of anatomical procedures from the Greek as De anatomicis administrationibus libri novem (1531). (See No. 359). Regarding the impact of the availability of Galen's writings in Greek see Vivian Nutton, John Caius and the manuscripts of Galen, Cambridge: Cambridge Philological Society,1987, and Nutton, “André Vésale et l’anatomie parisienne,” Cahiers de l’Association Internationale des Études Françaises 55 (2003) 239–249. In 1538 Vesalius issued a substantially revised version of Guinter's manual, without Guinter's permission, in a pocket (16mo) format entitled Institutionum anatomicarum secundum Galeni sententiam ad candidatos medicinae....(Venice: D. Bernardinus, 1538.) 



Subjects: ANATOMY › 16th Century
  • 10961

De medicamentis empiricis physicis ac rationalibus liber.... Edited by Janus Cornarius. Item Claudii Galeni libri novem nunc primum Latini facti.... Jani Cornarii.

Basel: Hieronymus Froben, 1536.

The Gallo-Roman physician Marcellus was born in Bordeaux. He may have served as magister officiorum under Theodosius I, or may have been royal physician. Sarton (Introduction to the history of science I, 391) considered his work "an extrordinary mixture of traditional knowledge, popular (Celtic) medicine, and rank superstition. Interesting also for the historian of botany because of the great number of plants mentioned."

For this edition "Cornarius worked from a manuscript written in the mid-9th century that was superior to the one used for the Teubner edition of 1889 but which was thought to have been lost; it was rediscovered in 1913 and used for the 1916 edition of Marcellus published in Teubner's Corpus Medicorum Latinorum series. Referred to as the Codex Parisinus, it contains Cornarius's corrections and marginal notes" (Wikipedia article on Janus Cornarius).

The writings by Galen in this edition are: De causis respirationis liber 1, De utilitate respirationis, liber 1, De difficultate respirations libri III, De uteri dissectione liber 1, De foetus formatione liber 1, De semine libri II.

Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.



Subjects: ANCIENT MEDICINE › Late Antiquity, ANCIENT MEDICINE › Roman Empire, EMBRYOLOGY, Magic & Superstition in Medicine, PHARMACOLOGY › PHARMACEUTICALS › Materia medica / Herbals / Herbal Medicines, RESPIRATION
  • 11748

De palpitationes, tremore, rigore, convulsione. Intreprete Nicolao Lauachio, medico Florentino.

Florence: Aurelius Pincius, 1536.

First separately published printed edition of Galen's writings on neuropathology. Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.



Subjects: ANCIENT MEDICINE › Roman Empire, NEUROLOGY › Diseases of the Nervous System
  • 12765

Reformation der Apotecken, welche inhaltet vil guter stück, die eynem yeglichen fast nützlich sein [.]. Von edlen steynen, wie die zuken[n]en [.] Wie man Syrupen, Latwergen, und Confect machen soll, verteütscht auß dem Latein durch D. Hansen Eles.

Strasbourg, France: Wendelin Rihel d. Ä., 1536.

A manual for equiping and operating a pharmacy and making drugs and syrups. Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.



Subjects: PHARMACOLOGY › PHARMACY
  • 371

Anatomiae, hoc est, corporis humani dissectionis pars prior.

Marburg: apud E. Cervicornum, 1537.

Dryander was among the first to make illustrations after his own dissections. His unfinished guide to dissection entitled Anatomiae, expanded from the Anatomia published the previous year, is one of the most important of the pre-Vesalian anatomies. Choulant ascribes the woodcuts to the school of Hans Brosamer (Frankfurt) while Herrlinger suggests that they may come from the Basel school. This book includes the first printing of two other short works on dissection: Gabriele Zerbi's Anatomia infantis and Copho’s Anatomia porci.



Subjects: ANATOMY › 16th Century, ANATOMY › Anatomical Illustration, ANATOMY › Neuroanatomy, COMPARATIVE ANATOMY
  • 7145

De corporis humani fabrica libri quinque a Junio Paulo Crasso Patavino in latinam orationem conversi. [Cum] Hippocratis praeterea Coi de purgatoriis medicamentis libellus perutilis, ac desideratus ab eodem Jun. Paulo Cras. Latinitate donatus.

Venice: Ottaviano Scotto, 1537.

A Byzantine anatomical and physiological treatise almost entirely abridged from Galen's "De usu partium corporis humani," from which Theophilus now and then differed, and which he sometimes appears to have misunderstood. "In the fifth book he has inserted large extracts from Hippocrates' 'De Genitura,' and 'De Natura Pueri."'He recommends in several places the dissection of animals, but he does not appear ever to have examined a human body: in one passage he advises the student to dissect an ape, or else a bear, or, if neither of these animals can be procured, to take whatever he can get, 'but by all means,' he adds, 'let him dissect something' " (Wikipedia article on Theophilus Protospatharius). This is apparently the only surviving medical treatise by Theophilus. Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.



Subjects: ANATOMY › Ancient Anatomy (BCE to 5th Century CE), ANCIENT MEDICINE › Late Antiquity, BYZANTINE MEDICINE, PHYSIOLOGY
  • 372

Tabulae anatomicae sex.

Venice: sumpt. J. S. Calcarensis, 1538.

Vesalius’ first anatomical publication, consisting of six oversized anatomical charts, resembling fugitive sheets. The three skeletal woodcuts are signed by the artist, Jan Stephan van Calcar, who also acted as the publisher. This is the only publication by Vesalius in which Calcar is specifically credited with authorship of images in Vesalius's works. The other woodcuts were engraved after drawings by Vesalius. Only two complete sets of the original edition exist–one in the Bibliotheca Nazionale Marciana, Venice, and the other in the Hunterian Collection at the University of Glasgow Library, donated by Sir William Stirling-Maxwell, who published a limited edition facsimile of his copy for private distribution (London, 1874). Singer and Rabin, A prelude to modern science, Cambridge, 1946, reproduces the sheets half-size with commentary. A full-size facsimile appears in Vesalius, Tabulae Anatomicae, Munich: Bremer Press, 1934. The woodcuts also appear with commentary in Saunders and O’Malley, The illustrations from the works of Andreas Vesalius, Cleveland: World Publishing, 1950.



Subjects: ANATOMY › 16th Century, ANATOMY › Anatomical Illustration, ART & Medicine & Biology
  • 1805

Libellus de re herbaria novus.

London: apud Ioannem Byddellum, 1538.

An alphabetical catalogue of plants and medicines made from them. Turner, the “Father of English Botany”, treated plants as simples, and did not attempt to show their relationships. He was a much travelled man and a friend of Conrad Gessner. He introduced Lucerne or alfalfa (Medicago sativa) into England. Reproduced in facsimile, London, 1877, and London, Ray Society, 1965. See Nos.1810.2 & 1811.



Subjects: BOTANY, PHARMACOLOGY › PHARMACEUTICALS › Materia medica / Herbals / Herbal Medicines
  • 4963.2

De anima et vita libri tres.

Basel: Robert Winter, 1538.

Vives anticipated Bacon and Descartes in developing an empirical psychology in which the mind was to be studied both through introspection and observation of others. From his exhaustive analysis of memory he developed a theory of association of ideas, which recognized the emotional origin of certain associations, as well as the link between associations, emotions and memory. He was also the first to describe the physiological effects of fear.



Subjects: NEUROSCIENCE › Neuropsychology › Memory, PSYCHOLOGY, PSYCHOLOGY › Cognitive Disorders
  • 6932

Ein newes hochnutzlichs Büchlin von erkantnus der Kranckheyten der Augen....

Strassburg, Austria: Heinrich Vogtherr, 1538.

The first separate publication on diseases of the eye after Grassi (1474). This very rare anonymous work was intended, according to its title, to provide highly useful knowledge of the anatomy of the eye, and eye diseases and their various remedies. After two pages on anatomy, discussion of affections of the eye begin, with references to cataract, affections of the cornea, conjunctiva, pruritus, clearing the sight, etc. 



Subjects: OPHTHALMOLOGY , OPHTHALMOLOGY › Anatomy of the Eye & Orbit, OPHTHALMOLOGY › Diseases of the Eye, OPHTHALMOLOGY › Ocular Surgery & Procedures › Cataract
  • 6969

Simeonis Sethi, magistri Antiochiae, Syntagma per literarum ordinem de cibariorum facultate, Lilio Gregorio Gyraldo,... interprete.

Basel: Michael Isingrinus, 1538.

First printed edition of Seth's Byzantine encyclopedia of foods, nutrition, and diatetics from plants and animals, with Greek text and Latin translation by scholar and poet Giglio Gregorio Giraldi. Simeon Seth was an 11th-century Jewish Byzantine doctor and scholar originally from Antioch, who became grand Chamberlain (protovestiarius) under Michael VII Doukas. "Simeon Seth was the great Orientalist of Byzantine medicine... [he] selected the best, not only from the Greek materia medica but also from Persian, Arabic, and Indian sources" (Owsei Temkin, "Byzantine Medicine: Tradition and Empiricism", Dumbarton Oaks Papers 16 [1962] 95-115). Seth was a contemporary of the monk, philosopher, politician and historian Michael Psellos. His work has been called a revision of Psellos's Syntagma de alimentorum facultatibus or De cibarium facultate, "On the Properties of Foods"), which criticizes Galen and emphasizes eastern medical traditions. Psellos wrote the work for the emperor Constantine IX Monomachos, and Seth revised it for Michael VII Doukas, adding a brief introduction (the proem.), some corrections to the text, and omitting some chapters. The work considers some two hundred and twenty-eight plants and animals. Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.



Subjects: BOTANY, BYZANTINE MEDICINE, Byzantine Zoology, Encyclopedias, NUTRITION / DIET, ZOOLOGY
  • 9091

Guenter von Andernach: Institutionum anatomicarum secundum Galeni sententiam ad candidatos medicinae libri quatuor per Joannem Guinterium Andernacum medicum ab Andrea Vesalio Bruxellensi auctiores & emendatiores redditi.

Venice: D. Bernardinus, 1538.

Shortly after the publication of Tabulae anatomicae sex, Vesalius completed this revision of Institutiones anatomicae, a Galenic anatomical text by his teacher Johann Guinter first published in 1536. Vesalius justified his new edition by citing the numerous typographical errors in the original; however, he also incorporated much new material detailing the minutiae of dissection and offering several independent anatomical judgments. These included the anti-Galenic observation that the cardiac systole is synchronous with the arterial pulse, an observation he would discuss again in his venesection epistle.

This work was edited with an English translation, and notes from Vesalius's own copy, by Vivian Nutton, in 2017. See No. 9092.



Subjects: ANATOMY › 16th Century
  • 1806

New Kreütter Buch.

Strassburg, Austria: W. Rihel, 1539.

Bock was the first to describe the local flora of Germany, discovering many new species. His work gave a fresh impetus to plant description, With Brunfels and Fuchs he was one of the three “German fathers of botany”. See B. Hoppe, Das Kräuterbuch des Hieronymus Bock, Stuttgart, A. Hiersemann, 1969.



Subjects: BOTANY, BOTANY › Botanical Illustration, COUNTRIES, CONTINENTS AND REGIONS › Germany, PHARMACOLOGY › PHARMACEUTICALS › Materia medica / Herbals / Herbal Medicines
  • 2367

Tractado cótra el mal serpentino.

Seville: D. de Robertis, 1539.

Diaz de Isla, a Barcelonese surgeon, wrote of a disease “previously unknown, unseen and undescribed”, which appeared in Barcelona in 1493 and which was obviously syphilis. This is probably the earliest reference to the West Indian origin of syphilis (the writer believed that the disease originated in Haiti) and the book is the chief source of the opinions of those who believe in the American origin of syphilis. Text reproduced with German translation in Janus, 1901, 6, 653-55; 1902, 7, 31-40. Extensively discussed in No. 2430.

Digital facsimile from Bayerische StaatsBibliothek at this link.



Subjects: COUNTRIES, CONTINENTS AND REGIONS › Haiti, INFECTIOUS DISEASE › SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES › Syphilis
  • 6933

Alle Kranckheyt der Augen ... allen augen artzten hochnöttig zuwissen ....

Strassburg, Austria: Heinrich Vogtherr, 1539.

The first work on ophthalmology after Grassi (1474) written by a known physician. At the end of the anonymous Büchlin issued by the same publisher in 1538 (No. 6932) the writer promises a bigger and better work on eye diseases in the near future. This was Fuchs's treatise, which has 32 pages, as opposed to the 24 pages of the 1538 Büchlin, and which details many more diseases, using a more learned Latin terminology. Like the anonymous 1538 pamphlet, Fuchs's work is very rare.



Subjects: OPHTHALMOLOGY , OPHTHALMOLOGY › Diseases of the Eye
  • 9016

Actuarius de medicamentorum compositione. Ruellio interprete.

Paris: Conradus Neobarius, 1539.

The 5th and 6th books of Actuarius's De methodo medendi, concerning materia medica. Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.



Subjects: BYZANTINE MEDICINE, PHARMACOLOGY › PHARMACEUTICALS › Materia medica / Herbals / Herbal Medicines
  • 10165

Epistola docens venam axillarem dextri cubiti in dolore laterali secandam: & melancholium succum ex venae portae ramis ad sedem pertinentibus, purgari.

Basel: Robert Winter, 1539.

In this early study, written in the form of a letter to his friend and mentor Imperial Physician, Nicolaus Florenas, who had encouraged him to study medicine, Vesalius reported his study of the venous system of the human body, motivated by the need to determine where to bleed in the treatment of disease. At this time venesection was, of course, a mainstream therapy. Translated into English by John B. de C. M. Saunders and Charles Donald O'Malley as The bloodletting letter of 1539. An annotated translation and study of the evolution of Vesalius's scientific development (New York: H. Schuman, [1947]). Digital facsimile of the 1539 edition from Google Books at this link, of the English translation from the Hathi Trust at this link.



Subjects: Renaissance Medicine, THERAPEUTICS, THERAPEUTICS › Bloodletting