Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 19

AULUS CORNELIUS CELSUS (25 B.C.-50 A.D.) De medicina. Philippus Pincius, for Benedictus Fontana 1497 xci [3] ll., woodcut: publisher's device. 30.1 cm.

The De medicina is the oldest medical document after the Hippocratic writings. It was written about 30 A.D. After the invention of printing it was still considered important, being one of the first medical books to be set up in type. Celsus has left the best account of Roman medicine; he was the first important medical historian. The manuscript of the De medicina was lost during the Middle Ages and rediscovered in Milan in 1443 (Garrison-Morton 20). Celsus was probably not a professional physician, and his work seems to be a compilation of the work of others, echoing the Greeks and especially Hippocrates. Nevertheless, it is an extremely able and interesting history of medicine and surgery, including descriptions of symptoms and treatment of disease as well as descriptions of plastic surgery, goiter operations, tonsillectomies, treatment of fractures, and dental procedures.

Cited references: Cushing 33; GKW 6459; Goff C 367; Hain-Copinger 4838; Klebs 260.4; Osler 290; Waller 47; Wellcome 1394

Gift of John Martin, M.D.