Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 211

PARACELSUS (1493-1541) Astronomica et astrologica. Getruckt bey Arnoldi Byrckmans Erben 1567 [20] 235 [3] pp., 2 ports. 19.3 cm.

For more information on this author or work, see number: 205

Few beliefs were as popular in the sixteenth century as astrology, and references to the stars are to be found throughout Paracelsus' writings. According to his thinking, astrology along with philosophy, alchemy, and virtue were the four cornerstones of medicine. Paracelsus based his astrology on the age-old theory of the interaction of man (microcosm) with the universe (macrocosm) and he considered astral influences to be one of the five causes of disease which also included poisonous and impure substances, psychological, spiritual, and divine causes. This is the first collected edition of Paracelsus' writings on astrology and astronomy and contains an extensive introduction by the editor, Balthasar Flöter (fl. 1567). A notable aspect of this work is two full-page portraits of Paracelsus.

See Related Record(s): 208 209

Cited references: Durling 3474; Sudhoff 85

Gift of John Martin, M.D.