Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 258

LEVINUS LEMNIUS (1505-1568) Della complessione del corpo humano libri due. Appresso Domenico Nicolino 1564 [4] 124 (misnumbered 132) pp. 14.9 cm.

Lemnius, a physician of Zierikzee in the Netherlands, first published the present work in Latin at Antwerp in 1561 under the title De habitu et constitutione corporis. It was translated into English by Thomas Newton (fl. 1630) at London in 1633 as The touchstone of complexions. The tenets of humoral pathology held that all natural objects were composed of four elements--earth, air, fire, and water--and that they had four qualities--hot, cold, dry, and moist. These elements and qualities were present as four humors in the human body--blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile. It was thought that good health was maintained by a proper mixture of the elements, qualities, and humors which were often referred to collectively as the complexion. It was the composition of the individual's complexion that determined their physical and mental temperament, the diseases to which they might be subject, and the rules to which they should adhere in order to preserve their health.

Cited references: Durling 2769

Gift of John Martin, M.D.