Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 155

GIOVANNI MANARDO (1462-1536) Epistolarum medicinalium libri duodeviginti. [J. Bebelius] 1535 [28] 467 pp. 31.7 cm.

Manardo, a native of Ferrara and physician to King Ladislaus of Hungary, was one of the first Italians to rebel against Galen's dogmas and was an early supporter of Paracelsus. Although the first edition of this work appeared in 1521, this edition of 1535 is essentially a new work, as the earlier edition contained only six books while the later contains eighteen. "The letters illustrate in an interesting way--and this is their value--the transition from Arabian to Greek dominion. The opinions of Avicenna, Hippocrates and Galen are quoted on every page" (Osler 3316). There are several chapters on syphilis, one mentioning that it is believed that the disease was brought by Spanish sailors "ex insula quadam antiqua incognita" ("from an island unknown to the ancients"), usually taken to refer to America.

Cited references: Durling 2914; Wellcome 4000 (1521 ed.)

Gift of John Martin, M.D.