From the Prince Dietrichstein Library.
]]>From the Prince Dietrichstein Library.]]>
The engraving appears to be only the fourth printed depiction of the skeleton and the first produced by copper engraving rather than woodcut. The archaic Italian inscription below reads "I cannot deny—I said, probably just before dying—that the agony that comes before dying is extremely painful, but even more painful is the fear of eternal damnation." When Librarian James F. Ballard first saw this engraving, its fine condition caused him to question its authenticity.
]]>The first edition of De medicina is notable for the appearance of a number of medical innovations and classic descriptions. These include the use of ligatures; surgical operations for crushing bladder stones and hernias; the first appearance of the terms insania [insanity] and cardiacus [heart disease]; plastic repair for mutilations of noses, lips, and eyelids; treatments for jaw fracture; and tooth extraction, fillings, and oral surgery. The De medicina also contains the first history of medicine, and it was Celsus who originally translated Greek medical terms into Latin. ]]>
In 430 B.C., just at the beginning of the war, Athens suffered an outbreak of plague which severely demoralized its citizens and killed the city's leader, Pericles. Thucydides himself was afflicted but survived and left a vivid description of the effects of the plague. ]]>