Iusiurandum

Iusiurandum

Incunabula

Perotti, Niccolo, 1430-1480

Hippocrates. Hippocratic oath

Oaths

At the end of Nicolaus Perottus' 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.

Earliest printing of the Iusiurandum, the Hippocratic Oath, at the end of a Nicolaus Perottus' De generibus metrorum (Verona, circa 1475-1483)

Perotti, Niccolo, 1430-1480

Boninus de Boninis

1475-1483, circa

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Boston Medical Library Rare Books Collection (Ballard 523)

text

excerpt (2 pages)

Latin

text

DigID0002513

Bequest of Dr. William Norton Bullard to the Boston Medical Library, 1931