Das Buch der Cirurgia ( Strassburg, 4 July 1497)]]> Hortus sanitatis (Mainz, 23 June 1491)]]> Herbolarium describes the medicinal uses of common herbs and plants with woodcut illustrations of each. The work was once attributed to the medieval physician Arnaldus de Villanova (d. 1311) because of this imaginative frontispiece depicting a meeting of Arnaldus with the eleventh-century Arabian physician Avicenna. There is, in fact, no single author for the Herbolarium; it is a compilation of classical and medieval botanical lore from many sources. This volume appears to be the first of the 541 incunables purchased, donated, or bequeathed to the Boston Medical Library by Dr. William Norton Bullard. ]]> Herbolarium (Vincenza, 27 October 1491)]]> ]]> Chiromantia (Venice, October 1493)]]> A Fine Treatise on the Origin of the French Evil] was enormously popular, appearing in four different editions in Latin and German in the last years of the fifteenth century. The pamphlet was printed during the course of a syphilis epidemic which originated in France and reached Germany in 1495. Joseph Grünpeck theorized that the outbreak was caused by a disastrous conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn.]]> Ein hubscher Tractat von dem Ursprung des Bosen Franzos (Nuremberg, circa 1497)]]> here.]]> Book of Surgery was intended to be a manual of general practice for the independent surgeon and is the first printed German text on this subject. The Cirurgia contains information on the treatment of wounds, dislocations, fractures, and amputations and includes one of the earliest detailed accounts of the treatment of gunshot wounds. ]]> Das Buch der Cirurgia (Strassburg, 4 July 1497), showing the treatment of a leg injury]]> Nuremberg Chronicle traces the history of the world through six ages, from the Creation to 1493, concluding with the Apocalypse. Michael Wolgemut and Wilhelm Pleydenwurff designed maps, city views, portraits of saints, popes, and kings, and Biblical scenes—over 1,800 woodcuts in all-making the Chronicle the most lavishly illustrated book of the fifteenth century.]]> Das Buch der Croniken und Geschichten (Nuremberg, 23 December 1493)]]> Hortus sanitatis [Garden of Health] was a popular compendium of plant and herb lore during the Middle Ages. This is the first Latin edition, and twenty others were printed in Latin before 1547 attesting to its popularity. In addition to botanical information, it contains tracts on fish, birds, and other animals; mining and gemstones; and a work on the analysis of urine. ]]> Hortus sanitatis (Mainz, 23 June 1491) showing the analysis of urine]]> Fasciculus medicinae is also a cornerstone in the history of medicine, as it contains the first detailed anatomical illustrations ever printed. There are six woodcuts in the Fasciculus: a circle of urine glasses; a diagram of the veins for phlebotomy; a pregnant woman; a chart of wounds and one of disesases; and a second phlebotomy diagram which associates the parts of the body with the signs of the Zodiac. ]]> Fasciculus medicinae (Venice, 26 July 1491)]]> Conciliator differentiarum [Reconciler of the Differences Between Philosophers and Physicians] represents his attempt to answer medical questions through a synthesis of Greek, Arabic, Jewish, and Latin authorities, including Aristotle, Avicenna, and Averro]]> Conciliator differentiarum (Venice: Bonetus Locatellus, for Octavianus Scotus, 15 March 1496)]]> De revelatione contains a number of unusual woodcuts, among them this image of the birth of the Antichrist—which is also one of the earliest printed depictions of a Caesarian section birth. There is a long iconographic tradition of linking the Antichrist with a Caesarian birth, hinting at the suspicion and distrust surrounding this "unnatural" procedure.]]> here.]]> De humani corporis fabricaby nearly half a century. Only two other specimens are known.

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.

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Hortus sanitatis (Mainz, 1491) of a virgin and a unicorn]]> An online guide to the collection is available. Click here.

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Fasciculus medicinae (Venice, 1495) of the medieval medical library of Petrus de Montagnana]]> From the William Norton Bullard Collection]]> Hortus sanitatis (Mainz, 1491) showing a serpent in an apple tree]]> <p>This edition of Avicenna&rsquo;s <em>Canon</em> is its first appearance in print as well as the first printing of a medical treatise in Hebrew&mdash;and the only one produced during the fifteenth century. Hebrew printing in the 15th century was restricted to Italy and the Iberian peninsula; after the expulsion from Spain in 1492, printers in Italy and Portugal produced a very small number of works. The Gunzenhauser family founded the first Hebrew press in Naples in 1486; this edition of the <em>Canon</em>was one of the last Hebrew books printed in that city.</p>]]> Canon medicinae (Naples, 9 November 1491) written in Hebrew]]> Regimen sanitatis [Rule of Health] was translated into almost every European language following its first appearance in print in 1480. Nearly forty different editions were produced before 1501. Composed in the twelfth or thirteenth century, the Regimen is a didactic poem of domestic medical practice, containing commonsense rules and advice on diet for the maintenance of good health. ]]> Regimen sanitatis (Venice, 1500) with doodles in the margin showing a rabbit and a boar, as well as marginal notes and underlining of the text]]> De medicina is a compilation of knowledge of diet, pharmacy, and surgery from the time of Imperial Rome, circa 30 A.D. In the Renaissance, Celsus' elegant style earned him the title of Cicero medicorum, the Cicero of physicians. His De medicina appeared in more editions than almost any other scientific text. It was printed four times during the fifteenth century, and over fifty editions had been produced by the nineteenth century.

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. ]]> De medicinia (Florence, 1478)]]> De sermonum proprietate contains chapters on subjects as diverse as the earth, animals, precious stones and metals, heretics, paradise, time, and sewers, but it is also the earliest printed book known to contain a section devoted to medicine, De medicina et morbis, [On medicine and disease].]]> de medicina et morbis from Rabanus Maurus' De sermonum propietate (Strassburg, before 20 July 1467)]]> ]]> Malleus maleficarum [The Witches' Hammer], the foremost legal and theological handbook on witchcraft and demonology. It describes the operations of witches, remedies against spells, and the judicial proceedings of ecclesiastical and civil courts against witches and heretics. Twenty-eight editions of the Malleus maleficarum were produced before 1600, and it was still consulted in the eighteenth century. ]]> Malleus Maleficarum (Speyer, before 15 April 1487) including the appologia of the author and the beginning of the text]]> De bello Peloponnesiaco, or The History of the Peloponnesian War, his contemporary account of events, is one of the earliest works of historical writing. The Italian humanist, Lorenzo Valla (1407-1457), was commissioned by Pope Nicholas V to make this translation from Greek. It was the first Latin edition of Thucydides and the only one produced during the fifteenth century.

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. ]]> De bello Peloponnesiaco (Treviso, 1483?) by Thucydides, describing the plauge in Athens that killed Pericles]]> Thucydides ]]> De generibus metrorum appears one of the most famous documents in the history of medicine, ethics, and education: the first printing of the Iusiurandum, the Hippocratic Oath. While certainly not composed by Hippocrates of Cos, the Iusiurandum was probably formulated in the fourth century B.C. and expresses many Hippocratic ideals. It became common practice, by the 1850s, for American medical students to take this oath of conduct at the completion of their studies; the tradition continues to this day. The Boston Medical Library also holds a copy of the Articella (Venice, 1483), containing another fifteenth century edition of the Iusiurandum, as well as Francisco Arceo's A Most Excellent and Compendious Method of Curing Wounds in the Head (London, 1588) with the first translation of the Hippocratic Oath into English. ]]> Iusiurandum, the Hippocratic Oath, at the end of a Nicolaus Perottus' De generibus metrorum (Verona, circa 1475-1483)]]>