Milestones of Science Books

GALENUS, Claudius.

Sammelband with three early and rare pharmacological and anatomical works: I. Opus medicum practicum, varium, vere aureum, et postremae lectionis : Claudii Galeni ... De compositione pharmacorum localium, siue secundum locos, libri decem / II. De anatomicis administrationibus libri novem. De constitutione artis medicae liber. De theriaca, ad Pisonem commentariolus. De pulsibus, ad medicinae candidatos liber / III. Medicorum principis, De compositione medicamentorum [kata gene?] lib. VII.

Basel: Froben & Episcopius / Andreas Cratander, 1530.

1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. Item #003218

I. Opus medicum practicum, varium, vere aureum, et postremae lectionis : Claudii Galeni ... De compositione pharmacorum localium, siue secundum locos, libri decem. Basel: Froben & Episcopius, 1537. [28], 549, [3] pp., 1 illustration in text, woodcut initials. Signatures: a⁴ *¹⁰ b-y⁶ z⁸ A-Z⁶ &⁴. Colophon on &3r, printer's device on title and &4r. Cornarius' commentary has separate title page. II. De anatomicis administrationibus libri novem. De constitutione artis medicae liber. De theriaca, ad Pisonem commentariolus. De pulsibus, ad medicinae candidatos liber. Basel: Andreas Cratander, 1531. [4], 87 (i. e. 86) leaves, title and final leaf recto with printer's device, fine pictorial woodcut border after Hans Holbein the younger on p.1, woodcut initials. Signatures: [alpha]⁴ a-n⁶ o⁸. III. Medicorum principis, De compositione medicamentorum [kata gene?] lib. VII. Basel: Andreas Cratander, 1530. [4], 99, [3] leaves, title and final leaf recto with printer's device, fine pictorial woodcut border after Hans Holbein the younger on p.1, woodcut initials. Signatures: a⁴ A-R⁶. Folio (306 x 210 mm). Bound in contemporary pigskin over wooden boards, expertly restored with most of original leather preserved and laid down, new brass clasps and catches, new endpapers (original flyleaf loosely inserted), contemporary hand-lettering to fore-edge. Little even browning of text, minor worming throughout, stronger to work III, which however doesn't affect legibility of the text. Final 16 leaves of work III with paper repairs to blank fore-margin and lower corner, with the 6 final leaves additionally cleaned and silked. A few near contemporary ink marginalia throughout. A well preserved copy in its original binding of three rare and important works by Galen. ----

I. NLM/Durling 1863. FIRST COMPLETE EDITION of Galen's pharmacological work in the translation by Janus Cornarius to which is added a commentary by him. A first Latin translation of the complete 10 books by Johannes Guinterius of Andernach was printed in Paris by Simon Colines already in 1535 after a first part of 7 books dealing with the composition of drugs was published in 1530 by the same printer and reprinted by Cratander the same year in Basel (see III). At the time of publication, Cornarius did not know of the Guinterius' translation printed two year before by Colines in Paris and assumed his was the first, revealed by his dedication of the commentary to the Landgraf Philipp von Hessen in Nordhausen (see Griechischer Geist aus Basler Pressen, Universitätsbibliothek Basel, GG 336). "Three major works on materia medica by Galen still survive: On the Nature and Powers of Simple Medications, On the Composition of Medications according to Places, and On the Composition of Medications according to Kind ... From the theoretical standpoint, On the Nature and Powers of Simple Medications is of particular relevance ... Galen's concept of drug action rests ultimately on the same theoretical foundation as does his theory of the structure of the body - the four elements/elemental qualities as the fundamental components of matter. A medication (or drug) acts on the krasis of the body or body part of the patient being treated according to the allopathic principle articulated by Hippocrates - opposites cure opposites. Each medication has specific properties and powers (dunameis), and in Galen's scheme, four degrees of intensity. In treatment, attention must be given to the issue of matching the intensity of the medication with the severity of the dyskrasia. With compound as opposed to simple medications, it is more difficult to determine what the overall effect will be, inasmuch as mixture itself may alter the powers of the individual components. Galen also makes a distinction between the basic and the derivative properties of a drug, the latter being its effect on the body. The science of pharmacology is then about the investigation of the basic and derivative properties of simple and compound drugs so that they can be applied to the diagnosed disorder in a systematic and rational manner." (Johnston, Ian: Galen, On the Constitution of the Art of Medicine. The Art of Medicine. A Method of Medicine to Glaucon, Harvard Univ. Press, 2019, p.137-8).
II. NLM/Durling 1786; Garrison-Morton 359 (for Colines edition). FIRST OR SECOND SEPARATE EDITION in Latin, "translated by Johann Guinter von Andernach, of Galen's dissection manual, in which Galen both described his dissection techniques and described anatomical details that were previously unknown. Guinter was able to translate the first eight and one-half books, which survived in Greek, of Galen's original text which was written in 15 books ... Some authorities date Colines's edition as 1532. Guinter's translation also appeared in Basel from the press of Andreas Cratander in 1531 with Guinter's translations of 3 other works by Galen as Claudii Galeni Pergameni De anatomicis administrationibus libri novem; De constitutione artis medicae liber; De Theriaca, ad Pisonem commentariolus; De pulsibus, ad medicinae candidatos liber. Galen's anatomical writings are a repository of all contemporary knowledge, together with some of his own views and discoveries. He had a good knowledge of osteology and myology, some knowledge of angiology and less of zoology. Although not to be regarded as the founder of the science of anatomy, he is nevertheless its first important witness." (Garrison-M).
III. NLM/Durling 1785; Garrison-Morton 11083. FIRST SEPARATE EDITION in Latin of "Galen's De compositione medicamentorum, On the Composition of medicines, translated by William Winter of Andernach, to which was added Galen's treatise on weights and measures translated by humanist Andrea Alciato. Durling cites another edition of Guinter's translation published in Paris by Simon de Colines, also in 1530." (Garrison-M).

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