Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 171

GIROLAMO FRACASTORO (ca. 1478-1553) Syphilis, sive Morbus Gallicus. [Stefano dei Nicolini da Sabbio] 1530 [36] ll. 20.3 cm.

Born of a patrician family in Verona, Fracastoro was the archetypical scholar of the Renaissance--astronomer, biologist, geographer, geologist, mathematician, musician, physician, poet. Written at a time when syphilis was a terrible scourge in all of Europe, this most famous of all medical poems has given the name to the disease, probably the only poem for which a disease has been named. In it, the shepherd boy, Syphilis, is afflicted with the disease as a result of insulting Apollo. Fracastoro, through the course of the poem, speculates on the origin of the disease, treats of its causes and manifestations, and suggests remedies, especially mercury. There are several references to America, mentioning the curative powers of guaiacum wood and the theory of the American origin of syphilis, which Fracastoro rejects. The first edition of Syphilis is a book of considerable rarity, and this particular copy is inscribed on the flyleaf, "Huius libri possessor est Scribonius," in a sixteenth century autograph, probably that of the philologist and poet, Cornelius Scribonius of Antwerp.

Cited references: Cushing F284; Durling 1641; Garrison-Morton 2364; Osler 4817; Waller 3173; Wellcome 2391

Gift of John Martin, M.D.