Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 401.2

PIETER PAAW (1564-1617) A. Cornelii Celsi de re medica liber octavus : ejus priora quatuor capita commentarijs illustrata. Apud Iodocum à Colster 1616 [2], 128 p., [1] leaf of plates : ill. 20 cm (4to)

For more information on this author or work, see number: 410

[Text is in Latin with Greek references.] Paaw’s commentary on Aulus Cornelius Celsus’ fragmentary De re medicina is the only surviving section of the ancient Roman’s encyclopedia, which deals with chemical medicine, nutrition, surgery, and provides numerous engraved illustrations of the teeth, joints, and vertebrae in eight brief books. Peter Paaw took his degree at Rostock in 1587 and was the appointed Professor of Medicine at the University of Leiden, where he founded the first anatomical theatre in the Netherlands in 1597. Paaw’s dissections were so famous that beyond his students they attracted paying members of the public. When not operating, Paaw ran the theater as a museum of medical curiosities which displayed such oddities as Isaac Casaubon’s malformed bladder, the cause of the famous scholar’s death. Paaw was also an avid botanist, and founded the first botanical garden in Leiden. Simon Paulli (1603-1680), probably the first owner, also received his medical training at Rostock and became physician to the royal families of Scandinavia. Following in Paaw’s footsteps, Paulli created the first Danish herbarium at his patron’s request. More notably, he frequently traveled between Leiden and the Northern countries and was an important link to advances in medicine in both. In 1640, after the example of Paaw’s theatre in Leiden, Paulli set up an anatomical theatre (the ‘Doums anatomica’) in Copenhagen, complete with the doctor’s own invention: a rotating table both for keeping his surgical instruments in reach, as well as turning the body toward well-lit areas depending on the time of day.

See Related Record(s): 294 401 401.1 512 19 791 839

Cited references: Waller 1852; Cushing P163; NLM 17th c. # 8699; NLM 17th c. # 2336; Choulant- Frank p. 6, 181, 292

John Martin M.D. Endowment