Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 84

MICHAEL SCOT (1175?-1234?) Liber phisionomiae. Jacobus de Fivisano, Lunensis] 1477 [78] ll. 19.4 cm.

Scot was one of the thirteenth century's major scholars and an important translator of Arabian medical works. He spent his early years studying in Toledo and later was well known for his activities as scientific adviser to Frederick II in Sicily. Not only did he help introduce Averroism to the scientific community of his day but his translating work spread the knowledge of Aristotelian natural science and Arabic medicine in the Middle Ages. The present work was an extremely popular book and many editions were published until well into the seventeenth century. It is believed that the work was written in the first decade of the 1200s and is based partly on the writings of Rhazes and Aristotle as well as the Secreta secretorum. Scot divided his work into three major parts, each with an introduction. Generation, conception, and the process of birth are discussed in the first part. The second part focuses on the signs of the complexions, and physiognomy is the subject of part three. In this last part, Scot shows how the character can be deduced by observing and comparing different parts of the body. The University of Iowa copy was bound by the well-known London craftsmen Sangorski and Sutcliffe. Only the first half of the text has been rubricated in red ink.

Cited references: Cushing, Incunabula 154 (1484 ed.); Durling 4161 (1505? ed.); Goff M 551; Hain-Copinger 14550; Klebs 899.1; Osler 7490; Waller 100; Wellcome 5882

Gift of John Martin, M.D.