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VIGO, Giovanni de.

The most excellent workes of chirurgerie, made and set foorthe by Maister John Vigon head chirurgien of oure tyme in Italie; translated into English; wherunto is added an exposition of straunge termes and vnknowen symples, belongyng to the arte.

London: Thomas East and Henry Middleton, 1571.

3rd Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. Item #004092

Print date 17 July 1571. Folio (274 x 196 mm). [6], CCLXX, [16] leaves. Black letter type printed in double columns, title with woodcut headpiece, woodcut initials of various sizes and styles, 30 pp. of index at end, last leaf a blank. Signatures: [double dagger]⁶ A-Zz⁶ &&⁶ !!⁴. Numerous foliation errors. Contemporary blind-tooled calf over wooden boards, both brass catches, one clasp and parts of leather laces preserved, later endpapers (rebacked with red morocco lettering piece to spine, a few other repairs, lacking upper clasps, wormholes through both boards). Text generally little age-toned only, rare spotting in places, frequent wormholes at the beginning (decreasing to remaining 2 from ca. f.Lxx), small burn-hole in f.Ciiii, long tear at foot of f.Cvii (no loss), f.Cxv with long split in text block close to gutter (no loss), f.Cxix with short tear at head (no loss), margin of f.Clxiiii and CCi with paper flaw (no affecting text), f.CCxxxvi with long tear to inner blank margin (no loss), leaves CClxiiii and CClxv creased, faint pale dampstaining to pages of penultimate gathering. Provenance: The Medical Library of Jan E. Muhlbauer. An exceptionally well preserved, clean and crisp copy in a binding of the time. ----

THIRD EDITION IN ENGLISH, AND VERY RARE, of Giovanni de Vigo's works on surgery, translated by Bartholomew Traheron in 1543 from the French edition, which was first published in 1514.
"The first complete system of surgery after that of Guy de Chauliac. It contains an account of gunshot wounds and a section on syphilis" (Garrison-Morton-Norman 5559.1, for first French edition).
"Giovanni de Vigo, who was born in at Rapallo, Italy, lived in the early Renaissance period (1450-1525). In 1503, De Vigo became the personal surgeon to Pope Julius II. He wrote a surgical book, " Practica Copiosa in Arte Chirurgia," which was completed in 1514 and published in Latin. It was translated into English by Richard Traheron and printed by Edward Whytchurch in 1543. Vigo's 'Chirurgia' consists of nine books ranging from a consideration of anatomy necessary for a surgeon, to sections on abscesses, wounds, ulcers, benign and malignant tumors, fractures and dislocations, pharmaceuticals, ointments and plasters, as well as sections on dentistry, exercise, diet, syphilis, among others. De Vigo introduces a novel approach for treating mandible dislocations and describes a trephine he invented, as well as a number of new instruments. Examination of his surgical piece demonstrates that he had a broad spectrum of knowledge in surgery based in part on the ancient Greek and Arabic medical literature but mainly on his personal experience. Giovanni de Vigo contributed significantly to the revival of medicine in the sixteenth century, and he can be considered as a bridge between Greek medicine of antiquity, Arabic medicine, and the Renaissance" (R. Gurunluoglu et al., Review of the "Chirurgia" of Giovanni de Vigo: estimate of his position in the history of surgery. In: World J. Surg. 27(5), 2003, pp. 616-23, Abstract).
Bibliography: Cushing VI42; Durling 4617; STC 24722; Waller 9979; Wellcome I, 6622. - Visit our website to see more images!

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