DE MEDICINA.
By Aulus Cornelius Celsus
(Celsus, Aurelius Cornelius (c. 25 BC-c. 50 CE))
Paris: [Simon Du Bois for] Chretien Wechel, 1529.
Small folio (8 by 10.5")
Edited by Jean Ruelle, title printed within full-page woodcut architectural border incorporating a vignette of Cleopatra committing suicide by snake; also including Scribonius Largus's (c. 1-c. 50 CE) De Compositionibus Medicamentum Liber One, and several short medical works by other Latin writers.
Some notes to first title page, scattered marginal, some faded water staining.
Full tight-backed vellum over boards, first and last few leaf reinforced on verso, final leaf backed with paper, when held to the light, extensive period manuscript notes are visible
===
Celebrated treatise On Medicine (De Medicina). "The work’s encyclopedic arrangement follows the tripartite division of medicine at the time as established by Hippocrates and Asclepiades — diet, pharmacology, and surgery."
It is divided into eight books.
Book 1 – The History of Medicine (includes references to eighty medical authors, some of whom are known only through this book)
Book 2 – General Pathology
Book 3 – Specific Diseases
Book 4 – Parts of the Body
Book 5 and 6 – Pharmacology
Book 7 – Surgery
Book 8 – Orthopedics
In the "Prooemium" or introduction to De Medicina there is an early discussion of the relevance of theory to medical practice and the pros and cons of both animal experimentation and human experimentation. Celsus discusses, for example, the case of Herophilos and Erasistratos, who he asserts practised vivisection.
In the treatment of disease, Celsus's principal method was to observe and watch over the operations of Nature, and to regulate rather than oppose them, conceiving that fever consisted essentially in an effort of the body to throw off some morbid cause, and that, if not unduly interfered with, the process would terminate in a state of health. On occasions, however, he boldly recommends the use of the scalpel; his rules for blood letting and purgatives are laid down with detail and precision; and many of the rules he prescribes were not very different from those still in use at the beginning of the 19th century.
His work contains detailed descriptions of the symptoms and different varieties of fever, and he is credited with recording the cardinal signs of inflammation known as "Celsus tetrad of inflammation": calor (warmth), dolor (pain), tumor (swelling) and rubor (redness and hyperaemia).
He goes into great detail regarding the preparation of numerous ancient medicinal remedies including the preparation of opioids. In addition, he describes many 1st century Roman surgical procedures which included removal of a cataract, treatment for bladder stones, and the setting of fractures.
Celsus wrote on the anatomy of the eye and was the first to call one of its layers the choroid. During the twentieth century, many historians claimed that Celsus believed that the crystalline lens is in the exact center of the eye. In fact, Celsus made no specific statement about the position of the crystalline lens, and his Graeco-Roman contemporaries did understand that the lens is located to the front.
Hippocrates used the Greek word karkinos 'crab, crayfish' to refer to malignant tumors as carcinomas. It was Celsus who translated the Greek term into the Latin cancer, also meaning 'crab'.
Aulus Cornelius Celsus (c. 25 BC – c. 50 AD) was a Roman encyclopaedist, known for his extant medical work, De Medicina, which is believed to be the only surviving section of a much larger encyclopedia. The De Medicina is a primary source on diet, pharmacy, surgery and related fields, and it is one of the best sources concerning medical knowledge in the Roman world. The lost portions of his encyclopedia likely included volumes on agriculture, law, rhetoric, and military arts. He made contributions to the classification of human skin disorders in dermatology, such as Myrmecia, and his name is often found in medical terminology regarding the skin, e.g., kerion celsi and area celsi.
========
Adams C-1243; Choulant, Handbuch, pages 169 Durling 910-11; Garrison-Morton 1785 and 1984.
==

Reserve: $1,014.99

Shipping:

Domestic: Flat-rate of $25.00 to anywhere within the contiguous U.S.

International: Foreign shipping rates are determined by destination.

Combined shipping: Please ask about combined shipping for multiple lots before bidding.

Location: This item ships from Pennsylvania.

Your purchase is protected:
Photos, descriptions, and estimates were prepared with the utmost care by a fully certified expert and appraiser. All items in this sale are guaranteed authentic.

In the rare event that the item did not conform to the lot description in the sale, Jasper52 specialists are here to help. Buyers may return the item for a full refund provided you notify Jasper52 within 5 days of receiving the item.