Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 1590

-1798 Pharmacopoea Rossica. Typis Imperialis Collegii Medici 1798 286 pp. 20.4 cm.

The officially sanctioned pharmacopoeia came into existence so that there would be uniformity in the preparation of drugs and formulas related to the special resources or needs of a particular political entity. Although the term pharmacopoeia was first used early in the Christian era, it did not assume the meaning we associate with it today until the sixteenth century. Use of the term began to predominate toward the end of that century and gradually came to be understood as a term for an official book that was legally enforced. The first pharmacopoeia to be considered an official pharmacopoeia was the Florentine Nuovo receptario published in 1498. Within fifty years, other European political units prepared and published official pharmacopoeias but national pharmacopoeias did not come into wide use until the eighteenth century. Although Russia was among the first countries to compile a pharmacopoeia, it was not until 1866 that the first pharmaceutical standard, the Rossiiskaya pharmacopeya, was issued and made obligatory. In 1778 the Russian Academy of Science at St. Petersburg had published a Pharmacopoea Rossica and reissued it again in 1782. The present work, of the same title, was issued by the Imperial Medical College some seventeen years later and was reprinted again in 1803. Each entry is written chiefly in Latin but does give the Russian name of the botanical simple or preparation. Entries for botanicals include their name, geographical locale, odor, taste, therapeutic qualities, uses, doses, and preparation.

Gift of John Martin, M.D.