An Interactive Annotated World Bibliography of Printed and Digital Works in the History of Medicine and the Life Sciences from Circa 2000 BCE to 2024 by Fielding H. Garrison (1870-1935), Leslie T. Morton (1907-2004), and Jeremy M. Norman (1945- ) Traditionally Known as “Garrison-Morton”

16061 entries, 14144 authors and 1947 subjects. Updated: November 17, 2024

Browse by Publication Year 1630–1639

21 entries
  • 1721

Disputatio medica de notis virginitatis.

Strassburg, Austria: Eberhard Welper, 1630.

Details the methods of previous and contemporary writers concerning the determination of virginity. Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.



Subjects: Forensic Medicine (Legal Medicine), Genito-Urinary System
  • 259

Persio tradotto.

Rome: G. Mascardi, 1630.

The first book to contain illustrations of natural objects as seen through the microscope— specifically an engraving of the exterior surface of bees. The work includes the Latin text of the Satyrae VI of Aulus Persius Flaccus together with an Italian translation and notes by Stelluti. Digital facsimile from Linda Hall Library at this link.



Subjects: Microscopy, ZOOLOGY › Arthropoda › Entomology
  • 13630

Curioso tratado de la naturaleza y calidad del chocolate, divido en quatro puntos. En el primero se trata, que sea chocolate; y que calidad tenga el cacao, y los demas ingredientes. En el segundo, se trata la calidad que result de rodos ellos. En el tercero se trata el modo de hazerlo, y de quanta maneras se toma en las Indias, y qual dellas es mas saludable. El ultimo punto trata de la quantidad, y como se ha de toma, y en que tiempo, y que personas.

Madrid: Francisco Martinez, 1631.

Digital facsimile of the 1631 edition from bdh-rd.bne.es at this link .

Translated into French in 1643 as Du chocolate discours curieux, divisé en quatre parties. Par Antoine Colmenero de Ledesma medecin & chirurgien de la ville de Ecija de l'Andalouzie. Traduit d'espagnol en françois sur l'impression faite à Madrid l'an 1631. & esclaircy de quelques annotations. Par René Moreau.... Plus est adjousté un dialogue touchant le mesme chocolate. Digital facsimile of the French translation from the Hathi Trust at this link.

Translated into English as A curious treatise of the nature and quality of chocolate. VVritten in Spanish by Antonio Colmenero, doctor in physicke and chirurgery. And put into English by Don Diego de Vades-forte. London: By I Okes, 1640. Full text of the 1640 edition from Early English Books Online at this link.



Subjects: PHARMACOLOGY › PHARMACEUTICALS › Botanic Sources of Single Component Drugs › Chocolate
  • 2273

De recondita abscessuum natura.

Naples: apud Octavium Beltranum, 1632.

The first textbook of surgical pathology. It treats of all kinds of swelling under the term “abscess” and describes neoplasms of the genital organs and sarcoma of bones. Tumors of the breast are classified into four groups, the section devoted to them being one of the most important in the book. It also contains the first description of infantile hydrocephalus. De recondita abscessuum natura was also the first book to include illustrations of lesions with the text. Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.



Subjects: NEUROLOGY › Child Neurology, NEUROSURGERY › Pediatric Neurosurgery, ONCOLOGY & CANCER, ONCOLOGY & CANCER › Sarcoma › Osteosarcoma, PATHOLOGY, SURGERY: General
  • 6795

Quaestio iatrophilologica.

Rome: G. Facciotte, 1632.

Learned bibliophile Gabriel Naudé eventually became Mazarin’s librarian and built up for his master a famous collection of books. He wrote an important medical dictionary. Four further parts of the above, with varying titles and places of publication appeared from 1634-47.



Subjects: Dictionaries, Biomedical › Lexicography, Biomedical
  • 287

Thaumatographia naturalis, in decem classes distincta, in quibus admiranda 1 Coeli. 2 Elementorum. 3 Meteororum. 4 Fossilium. 5 Plantarum. 6 Avium. 7 Quadrupedum. 8 Exanguium. 9 Piscium. 10 Hominis.

Amsterdam: Guilielmum Blaeu, 1632.

A unillustrated pocket guide, issued in duodecimo format on "admiranda" or wonders of nature organized in ten categories (heaven, earth, and topics relating to meteors, fossils or minerals, plants, birds, quadrupeds, insects and bloodless animals, fish, and humans). The work draws heavily from classical sources such as Aristotle, Pliny, and Seneca, but also from the more recent work of Aldrovandi, and the section on plants includes descriptions of the flora and fauna of the New World, as well as tobacco. Each section is headed by an index to its contents. Jonston, born in Scotland, was raised and educated in Poland, and spent most of his life on the Continent of Europe. Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.



Subjects: ANTHROPOLOGY, NATURAL HISTORY, ZOOLOGY
  • 12780

Nuoua, et vtilissima prattica di tutto quello ch'al diligète barbiero s'appartiene: E particolarmente del cauar sangue ....

Naples: Ottavio Beltrano, 1632.

An extensively llustrated manual published specifically for barber surgeons, published in the vernacular, and instructing them in the art of bloodletting and phlebotomy, embalming dead bodies, curing headaches, and various other medical skills that barbers of the time practiced. He also provides detailed illustrations of the veins and arteries that are significant for bloodletting, followed by various engravings depicting phlebotomy procedures, including a bloodletting procedure on the tongue. The Barber holds the tip of the tongue before cutting underneath it. In the concluding chapters D'Amato describes various concoctions of salves and herbal pharmaceuticals to whiten teeth, cure inflamed gums, and to generally keep the teeth clean and free of tartar. This suggests that barber surgeons also acted as dentists.

The Naples publisher, Ottavio Beltrano, must have taken a major interest in publishing for the niche market of Italian barber surgeons. Only six years earlier Beltrano published the illustrated manual by Tiberio Malfi. Because d'Amato's book was less-expensively produced, and was more narrowly focused on technique rather that "culture", it is possible that Beltrano issued it with the idea of having a less expensive alternative to the work by Malfi.



Subjects: DENTISTRY, SURGERY: General › Barber Surgeons, Manuals for, THERAPEUTICS › Bloodletting
  • 5569

Helps for suddain accidents endangering life. By which those that liue farre from physitions or chirurgions may happily preserue the life of a poore friend or neighbour, till such a man may be had to perfect the cure. Collected out of the best authours for the generall good.

London: Printed by Thomas Purfoot, for T. S[later] and are to be sold by Henry Overton in Popes-head Alley, 1633.

The first book on first-aid. Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.



Subjects: Emergency Medicine, Survival Medicine
  • 12002

The herball or generall historie of plantes. Gathered by John Gerarde of London master in chirurgerie. Very much enlarged and amended by Thomas Johnson citizen and apothecarye of London.

London: Adam Islip, 1633.

A very substantial expansion and update of Gerarde's herbal published in 1597. Besides correcting mistakes, Johnson added over 800 new species and 700 new figures, raising the number of plant descriptions in the work to about 2,850. Digital facsimile of the 1636 edition from the Internet Archive at this link.



Subjects: PHARMACOLOGY › PHARMACEUTICALS › Materia medica / Herbals / Herbal Medicines
  • 381.1

Anatomie der uuterlicke deelen van het menschelick lichaem: Dienende om te verstaen ende volkometlick wt te beelden alle beroerlicheit des selven lichaems.

The Hague: den Auteur, 1634.

The earliest of all independent works on anatomy for graphic or plastic artists. The author, a painter and etcher, drew and engraved all the images himself. Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.



Subjects: ANATOMY › 17th Century, ANATOMY › Anatomical Illustration, ANATOMY › Anatomy for Artists, ART & Medicine & Biology
  • 288

Insectorum sive minimorum animalium theatrum: Olim ab Edoardo Wottono, Conrado Gesnero, Thomaque Pennio inchoatum: Tandem Tho. Movfeti Londinâtis operâ sumptibusque maximis concinnatum, auctum, perfectum: Et ad vivum expressis iconibus suprà quingentis illustratum.

London: ex. off. typ. Thorn. Cotes, 1634.

Edited for publication, and with an introduction by Théodore de Mayerne. Moffet, or Muffet, travelled extensively in Europe and kept copious notes of his observations on insects. He "first studied silkworms while working in Italy, beginning his continued fascination with arthropods in general, particularly spiders.[4] He is most well known for editing and expanding the work Insectorum sive Minimorum Animalium Theatrum (Theatre of Insects), an illustrated guide to the classification and lives of insects.[1] Although he is popularly believed to have authored it, he merely inherited and furthered its progress toward publication, which would not occur until thirty years after his death. The book contained significant contributions by other scientists, notably the Swiss scientist Conrad Gesner (1516–65).[1] The prime reason it was published posthumously was that the English market for books on natural science was weak at the time. It appears that it was ready for the press in 1589 or 1590. The original title page (unused) is dated 1589. His negotiations with printers in The Hague failed in 1590. The original illustrations were given up as too expensive and replaced with the wood cuts that appear in the 1634 edition." (Wikipedia article on Thomas Muffet, accessed 04-2017). To date, this was the best work of its kind and it set a new standard of accuracy in the study of the invertebrates. An English translation, Theater of Insects, appeared in 1658. Digital facsimile of the 1634 edition from the Internet Archive at this link.



Subjects: ZOOLOGY › Arthropoda › Entomology, ZOOLOGY › Illustration
  • 12611

Opuscula medica senilia in quatuor libros tributa, quorum I. De dentibus. II. De rationali curandi ratione. III. De facultatibus medicamentorum, praecipud purgantium. IV. De morbo regio. Omnia nunc primum ex MS. Bibliotheca Romana in lucem data: ad singulare philiatrorum, omniumque sane philosophantium emolumentum, adiectis indicibus necessariis.

Lyon: Laurent Durand, 1634.


Subjects: DENTISTRY
  • 8953

Canadensium plantarum, aliarúmque nondum editarum historia.

Paris: Simon le Moyne, 1635.

First description of the Canadian Flora. Cornut was a French botanist and physician who never visited North America, but instead received the majority of his plant specimens from the Robins family, who supervised the gardens of Henry IV, and the garden of the Paris Faculty of Medicine, and the Morin family, who owned several Parisian commercial nurseries. He described and illustrated over thirty species from eastern North America for the first time, as well as 5 bulbous plants from southern Africa. The plates in this work have been attributed to Pierre Vallet. Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.



Subjects: BOTANY, BOTANY › Botanical Gardens, BOTANY › Botanical Illustration, COUNTRIES, CONTINENTS AND REGIONS › Canada
  • 12135

Pharmacopoea Amstelredamensis, Senatus auctoritate munita. [Edited by Nicolaes Tulp.]

Amsterdam: Apud G. & I. Blaeu, 1636.

Tulp was both a surgeon and mayor of Amsterdam. As such he was responsible for inspections of apothecary shops. Thanks to new shipping routes, pharmacists in Amsterdam had access to many exotic herbs and spices from the East,  from which they made a big business in new medicines; in Tulp's time there were 66 apothecaries in Amsterdam. Shocked at the exorbitant prices asked for useless anti-plague medicines when Amsterdam was stricken by plague in 1635, Tulp gathered his physician and pharmacist colleagues to write the first Amsterdam pharmacopeia in 1636, the Pharmacopoea Amstelredamensis. To maintain sufficiently high standards, the Amsterdam Apothecary guild required an exam based on the pharmacopeia before new pharmacists could set up shop in Amsterdam. This pharmacopoeia became a standard work, and set an example for all the other cities in Holland. Digital facsimile of "Editio altera" also published in 1636 from the Internet Archive at this link.

Facsimile of the first Amsterdam pharmacopoeia, 1636, with an introduction by D.A. Wittop Koning. [Introd. translated into English by Miss C.F.L. Los]. Nieuwkoop: B. de Graaf, 1961.



Subjects: COUNTRIES, CONTINENTS AND REGIONS › Netherlands, PHARMACOLOGY › Pharmacopeias
  • 4160.1

The pisse-prophet; or, certaine pisse-pot lectures. Wherein are newly discovered the old fallacies, deceit, and jugling of the pisse-pot science, used by all those… who pretend knowledge of diseases, by the urine….

London: E.P. for R. Thrale, 1637.

Brian attacked the “pisse-mongers” and “pisse-prognosticators” hoping to eliminate the frauds of uromancy. He warned patients against diagnosis “prescribed only by the sight of the Urine”, and argued that uroscopy should be performed by “University trained physicians”.



Subjects: UROLOGY
  • 6744

De scriptis medicis, libri duo.

Amsterdam: J. Blaeu, 1637.

Van der Linden’s book was at the time of its appearance the most complete medical bibliography yet produced. He issued corrected editions in 1651 and 1662, and G.A. Mercklin published a considerably expanded version as Lindenius renovatus in 1686.



Subjects: BIBLIOGRAPHY › Bibliographical Classics
  • 1824
PHARMACOPOEIA

Codex medicamentarius seu pharmacopoeia Parisiensis .

Paris: sumpt. Olivarii de Varennes, 1638.

First Paris pharmacopoeia.

SEE J. Bergounioux, "Les éditions du Codex Medicamentarius de l'ancienne Faculté de Médecine de Paris," Rev. d'Hist. Pharm, 54 (1927) 376-389



Subjects: PHARMACOLOGY › Pharmacopeias
  • 1760

Politia medica.

Frankfurt : C. Schleichen u. Mitvenvandten, 1638.


Subjects: Ethics, Biomedical
  • 11647

De calculo renum & vesicae liber singularis. Cum epistolis & consultationibus magnorum virorum.

Leiden: Ex officina Elzevieriorum, 1638.

The first medical book to contain an endorsement of Harvey's theory of the circulation of the blood (originally published ten years earlier in 1628). Beverwijck began his work with a treatise on urinary and renal calculi. The second part (pp. 209-305) contains letters addressed by Beverwijck to some prominent physicians along with their replies. Several consilia by Sanctorius, Spiegel, Horst, and others follow. At the end of 1637 Beverwyck wrote a letter to Harvey in which he expressed his admiration for Harvey's discovery of the circulation of the blood. He also sent Harvey a copy of the present book. The passage in which he supported Harvey is  "Harvei doctrina de circulatione sanguinus comprobata" (pp. 20-24 of the first part).

Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.



Subjects: CARDIOLOGY › CARDIOVASCULAR PHYSIOLOGY, NEPHROLOGY › Renal Disease › Renal Calculi (Kidney Stones), UROLOGY › Urinary Calculi
  • 6796

Definitionum medicinarum liber.

Paris: J. Quesnel, 1639.

A glossary of Hippocratic terms.



Subjects: Dictionaries, Biomedical › Lexicography, Biomedical
  • 11588

De flagrorum usu in re veneria et lumborum renumque officio, epistola.

Leiden, 1639.

According to Havelock Ellis, Studies in the psychology of sex (1913) this is the earliest published work on flogging in "medicine" and for sexual gratification, giving accounts of a number of examples. "David Savran declared it was the authoritative text on the subject for two hundred years. In it the author, among other things, “rejoice[s]” to know that when someone doing flogging for sexual gratification was found in Germany, they would be burned alive[2](Wikipedia article De Usu Flagrorum, accessed 2-2020). Typically the title of the first edition is incorrectly cited, and the earliest edition of which I have found a digital facsimile is the second edition (Leiden, 1639) from Google Books.

There were numerous editions in Latin. The scholarly physician Thomas Bartholin issued an edition: De usu flagrorum In re medica & veneria, lumborumque & renum officio. Frankfurt: Ex Bibliopolio Hafniensi, 1670. The work was translated into English and published by Edmund Curll as A treatise of the use of flogging in venerial affairs: also of the office of the loins and reins  by John Henry Meibomius; made English from the Latin original by a physician. To which is added A Treatise of Hermaphrodites (by Giles Jacob). London, 1718. This translation was reprinted in 1761 as A treatise of the use of flogging in venereal affairs: also of the office of the loins and reins: Written to the famous Christianus Cassius, Bishop of Lubeck, and Privy-Councellor to the Duke of Holstein. Digital facsimile of the 1761 edition from the U.S. National Library of Medicine at this link.



Subjects: SEXUALITY / Sexology › BDSM (Bondage, Discipline Sadomasochism)