Hardcover
1566 · Basel
by Cardano, Girolamo (1501-1576)
Basel: ex Offic. Henricpetrina, 1566. Hardcover. Fine. [Bound with:]
De methodo medendi, sectiones quatuor.
Paris: in aedibus Rouillij, 1565
Octavo: 15.6 x 10.5 cm. 2 works in one volume. 1. “Ars curandi parva” (in 2 vols): Vol. I: (96), 1-720 pp. Vol. II: (2), 1003-1621 (3) pp. (as numbered by the publisher, instead of using 1-619 for the numbering. The work is complete). Collation: Vol. I: alpha-zeta8, A-Z8, Aa-Yy8. Vol II.: aaa-zzz8. 2. “De methodo medendi” (in 4 sections) with divisional title pages to sections 2 and 3, pagination and collation continuous: (16), 393, (15) pp. Collation: †8, A-L8, M4. N-Q8, R4. S4, T-Z8. AA-DD8.
FIRST EDITIONS OF BOTH WORKS. With some reprints or revisions of earlier works (see below for full contents.)
Bound in matching black vellum bindings, ties perished, small defect at head of first volume. Heinrich Petri’s printer’s device on first title and final leaf of the first work. Title and first two div. titles of second work with fine metal-cut borders surrounding Guillaume Rouille’s printer’s device. Very fine copies. In Vol. I the title page and one prelim. leaf are lightly soiled; there is a light stain on leaf P8, and small abrasions at the extreme edge of the closing gatherings. Vol. II with a small rust spot on leaf fff6 and a small nick at the top of leaves EEE2-3. There is a variable light dampstain to the outer margin from p. 273 to end in the second work.
Two remarkably diverse collections of Renaissance medical treatises by physician, mathematician, and natural philosopher Girolamo Cardano. There are 21 works describing “remarkable cures”, 16th c. pharmacology, the errors of medical practitioners, medical astrology, treatments for leprosy, syphilis, and many other diseases; and case studies -among them Cardano’s successful treatment of the Archbishop of Edinburgh for asthma and of a Milanese merchant suffering from syphilis. Cardano also discusses deafness, advocates for the use of sign-language, and rejects Aristotle’s notion that the deaf cannot fully reason due to their inability to hear. Cardano’s interest in treating syphilis (and its New World cure) was in part motivated by concern for his daughter, who had contracted the disease. In his encomium of medicine, he mentions the expulsion of superstitions as one of its benefits. See below for a full table of contents.
“The voluminous corpus of Cardano’s writing embraces all the major ideas of his time, and thus conveys an authentic picture of the intellectual life of the high Renaissance. His writing contains rudiments and ideas pertaining to almost every scientific and philosophical doctrine developed during the seventeenth century.” (Fierz. p. xii) His knowledge of nature and science was encyclopedic. Taken together, his works "represent the most advanced representation of physical knowledge up to his time and the idea that all creation is in progressive development" (Dibner).
“In addition to being one of the most original and talented physicians, mathematicians and astrologers of his time, Girolamo Cardano (b. 1501, Pavia, d. 1576, Rome) occupies an important place in the history of Renaissance philosophy. His contributions range from a comprehensive account of order in all its various meanings (natural, human, and divine) to epistemological and methodological directions concerning the progress of knowledge, from an elaborate theory of the immortality of the soul to a sophisticated analysis of the role of practical wisdom (prudentia) in such diverse human activities as medicine and political action.”(Giglioni, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Cardano the Physician:
Born in Pavia in 1501, Cardano pursued medicine against his father’s wishes, enrolling at the University of Pavia in 1520. Due to war, he transferred to the University of Padua, where he graduated in 1526. He practiced medicine in Saccolungo for six years before moving to Milan in 1532, facing repeated rejections from the College of Physicians. While teaching mathematics at Milan’s Piattine schools, his medical reputation grew, and he was finally accepted into the College in 1539. He taught medicine at the University of Pavia intermittently from 1543 to 1551, then traveled to Scotland in 1552 to treat Archbishop John Hamilton’s asthma. Returning to Milan in 1553, he resumed teaching in Pavia in 1559 but left for Bologna in 1562 due to growing hostility. In 1570, he was imprisoned for heresy, forced to renounce certain “heretical” views, and barred from teaching or publishing. In 1571, he moved to Rome to serve as a physician to Popes Pius V and Gregory XIII, joined Rome’s College of Physicians in 1575, and spent his final months writing his autobiography, De vita propria, before dying on September 20, 1576.
“[Cardano is] remarkably free with revealing details about the role of social contacts, patronage, and luck in fostering or hindering a medical career. Across accounts of several cures Cardano told the story of his relations with the pharmacist Donato Lanza (‘De methodo medendi” p. 224). Perhaps Cardano and Lanza entered into an arrangement then common among physicians and pharmacists whereby the pharmacist recommended the physician's services and the physician prescribed the pharmacist's remedies. In any event, ‘on account both of his own benefit and [my] treatment of his relative and others, Donato Lanza worked hard to ensure that my name would be known to everyone and that I might shine in the city [of Milan].’”(Siraisi, p. 592-3)
Contents:
I. ARS CURANDI PARVA:
Volume 1.
1. Pro Difficultate Spirandi Consilium, datum [...] Ioan. Archiepiscopo Sancti Andreae Ecclesiae Cathedralis regni Scotiae (Medical Advice on Asthma, Given to John, Archbishop of the Cathedral Church of St. Andrews in the Kingdom of Scotland).
2. Ephemeris Reuerend. D. Archiepisc. S. Andreae D.D. Ioan. Amulthon (Celestial Calculations for treating the Reverend Lord Archbishop of St. Andrews, Lord John Amulthon).
3. De Difficultate Spirandi Consilium pro [...] Hieron. Palavicino (Medical Advice on Difficulty in Breathing for Girolamo Palavicino of Cortemaggiore).
4. Ventriculi dolore cum alijs dispositionibus ob morbum Gallicum laborante Mercatore Mediolanensi Consilium & Hippocraticum (Hippocratic Advice for a Milanese Merchant Suffering from Stomach Pain Along with Other Conditions that arise Due to the French Disease [Syphilis]).
5. Ad Surditatem Consilium pro [...] Francisco Cire Genuensi (Advice on Deafness, for Francesco Ciri of Genoa).
6. Sanguinis fluxum coercendi Consilium generale (General Advice on Staunching the Flow of Blood).
7. Pro lepram patiente Consilium (Advice for a Patient Suffering from Leprosy).
8. Medicinae Encomium (In Praise of Medicine).
9. Podagrae Encomium (On Gout).
10. Apologia ad Andream Canutium [recte Camutium] (A Rebuttal Addressed to Andreas Camutius).
Volume 2.
11 Dialectica (On logic and reasoning).
12. Hyperchen (On Being)
13. De Socratis studio (On the Earnestness of Socrates).
14. Antigorgias dialogus seu de recta uiuendi ratione (“Antigorgias”: On the Right Way to Live).
15. De Aqua liber (On Waters).
16. De Aethere liber (On Ether).
17. De Cyna radice seu de decoctis magnis (On the Use of China Root or Sarsaparilla)
NOTE: Six of these works (Sanguinis fluxum coercendi, Pro lepram patiente, Medicinae encomium, De aqua liber, De aethere liber, De Cyna radicus) were first printed -by the same printer -in 1559 in the collection entitled “Quaedam opuscola artem medicam exercentibus utilissima'”.
II. DE METHODO MEDENDI:
1. Recentiorum medicorum errores (Errors of Modern Physicians)
2. De simplicium medicamentorum nocumentis (On the Harmful Effects of Simple Medicines).
3. Admirandae curationes & praedictiones morborum (Remarkable Cures and Predictions of Diseases).
4. Consilia in diversis morborum generibus (Advice on Various Types of Diseases).
NOTE: The first two sections (p. 1-210) are a reprint of Cardano’s “De malo recentiorum medicorum medendi usu libellus” (1545); the third section (p. 211-56) is a reworking of a section of his Liber de libris propriis (1557). The fourth part is the FIRST EDITION of “Consilia in diversis morborum generibus”. (Inventory #: 5188)
De methodo medendi, sectiones quatuor.
Paris: in aedibus Rouillij, 1565
Octavo: 15.6 x 10.5 cm. 2 works in one volume. 1. “Ars curandi parva” (in 2 vols): Vol. I: (96), 1-720 pp. Vol. II: (2), 1003-1621 (3) pp. (as numbered by the publisher, instead of using 1-619 for the numbering. The work is complete). Collation: Vol. I: alpha-zeta8, A-Z8, Aa-Yy8. Vol II.: aaa-zzz8. 2. “De methodo medendi” (in 4 sections) with divisional title pages to sections 2 and 3, pagination and collation continuous: (16), 393, (15) pp. Collation: †8, A-L8, M4. N-Q8, R4. S4, T-Z8. AA-DD8.
FIRST EDITIONS OF BOTH WORKS. With some reprints or revisions of earlier works (see below for full contents.)
Bound in matching black vellum bindings, ties perished, small defect at head of first volume. Heinrich Petri’s printer’s device on first title and final leaf of the first work. Title and first two div. titles of second work with fine metal-cut borders surrounding Guillaume Rouille’s printer’s device. Very fine copies. In Vol. I the title page and one prelim. leaf are lightly soiled; there is a light stain on leaf P8, and small abrasions at the extreme edge of the closing gatherings. Vol. II with a small rust spot on leaf fff6 and a small nick at the top of leaves EEE2-3. There is a variable light dampstain to the outer margin from p. 273 to end in the second work.
Two remarkably diverse collections of Renaissance medical treatises by physician, mathematician, and natural philosopher Girolamo Cardano. There are 21 works describing “remarkable cures”, 16th c. pharmacology, the errors of medical practitioners, medical astrology, treatments for leprosy, syphilis, and many other diseases; and case studies -among them Cardano’s successful treatment of the Archbishop of Edinburgh for asthma and of a Milanese merchant suffering from syphilis. Cardano also discusses deafness, advocates for the use of sign-language, and rejects Aristotle’s notion that the deaf cannot fully reason due to their inability to hear. Cardano’s interest in treating syphilis (and its New World cure) was in part motivated by concern for his daughter, who had contracted the disease. In his encomium of medicine, he mentions the expulsion of superstitions as one of its benefits. See below for a full table of contents.
“The voluminous corpus of Cardano’s writing embraces all the major ideas of his time, and thus conveys an authentic picture of the intellectual life of the high Renaissance. His writing contains rudiments and ideas pertaining to almost every scientific and philosophical doctrine developed during the seventeenth century.” (Fierz. p. xii) His knowledge of nature and science was encyclopedic. Taken together, his works "represent the most advanced representation of physical knowledge up to his time and the idea that all creation is in progressive development" (Dibner).
“In addition to being one of the most original and talented physicians, mathematicians and astrologers of his time, Girolamo Cardano (b. 1501, Pavia, d. 1576, Rome) occupies an important place in the history of Renaissance philosophy. His contributions range from a comprehensive account of order in all its various meanings (natural, human, and divine) to epistemological and methodological directions concerning the progress of knowledge, from an elaborate theory of the immortality of the soul to a sophisticated analysis of the role of practical wisdom (prudentia) in such diverse human activities as medicine and political action.”(Giglioni, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Cardano the Physician:
Born in Pavia in 1501, Cardano pursued medicine against his father’s wishes, enrolling at the University of Pavia in 1520. Due to war, he transferred to the University of Padua, where he graduated in 1526. He practiced medicine in Saccolungo for six years before moving to Milan in 1532, facing repeated rejections from the College of Physicians. While teaching mathematics at Milan’s Piattine schools, his medical reputation grew, and he was finally accepted into the College in 1539. He taught medicine at the University of Pavia intermittently from 1543 to 1551, then traveled to Scotland in 1552 to treat Archbishop John Hamilton’s asthma. Returning to Milan in 1553, he resumed teaching in Pavia in 1559 but left for Bologna in 1562 due to growing hostility. In 1570, he was imprisoned for heresy, forced to renounce certain “heretical” views, and barred from teaching or publishing. In 1571, he moved to Rome to serve as a physician to Popes Pius V and Gregory XIII, joined Rome’s College of Physicians in 1575, and spent his final months writing his autobiography, De vita propria, before dying on September 20, 1576.
“[Cardano is] remarkably free with revealing details about the role of social contacts, patronage, and luck in fostering or hindering a medical career. Across accounts of several cures Cardano told the story of his relations with the pharmacist Donato Lanza (‘De methodo medendi” p. 224). Perhaps Cardano and Lanza entered into an arrangement then common among physicians and pharmacists whereby the pharmacist recommended the physician's services and the physician prescribed the pharmacist's remedies. In any event, ‘on account both of his own benefit and [my] treatment of his relative and others, Donato Lanza worked hard to ensure that my name would be known to everyone and that I might shine in the city [of Milan].’”(Siraisi, p. 592-3)
Contents:
I. ARS CURANDI PARVA:
Volume 1.
1. Pro Difficultate Spirandi Consilium, datum [...] Ioan. Archiepiscopo Sancti Andreae Ecclesiae Cathedralis regni Scotiae (Medical Advice on Asthma, Given to John, Archbishop of the Cathedral Church of St. Andrews in the Kingdom of Scotland).
2. Ephemeris Reuerend. D. Archiepisc. S. Andreae D.D. Ioan. Amulthon (Celestial Calculations for treating the Reverend Lord Archbishop of St. Andrews, Lord John Amulthon).
3. De Difficultate Spirandi Consilium pro [...] Hieron. Palavicino (Medical Advice on Difficulty in Breathing for Girolamo Palavicino of Cortemaggiore).
4. Ventriculi dolore cum alijs dispositionibus ob morbum Gallicum laborante Mercatore Mediolanensi Consilium & Hippocraticum (Hippocratic Advice for a Milanese Merchant Suffering from Stomach Pain Along with Other Conditions that arise Due to the French Disease [Syphilis]).
5. Ad Surditatem Consilium pro [...] Francisco Cire Genuensi (Advice on Deafness, for Francesco Ciri of Genoa).
6. Sanguinis fluxum coercendi Consilium generale (General Advice on Staunching the Flow of Blood).
7. Pro lepram patiente Consilium (Advice for a Patient Suffering from Leprosy).
8. Medicinae Encomium (In Praise of Medicine).
9. Podagrae Encomium (On Gout).
10. Apologia ad Andream Canutium [recte Camutium] (A Rebuttal Addressed to Andreas Camutius).
Volume 2.
11 Dialectica (On logic and reasoning).
12. Hyperchen (On Being)
13. De Socratis studio (On the Earnestness of Socrates).
14. Antigorgias dialogus seu de recta uiuendi ratione (“Antigorgias”: On the Right Way to Live).
15. De Aqua liber (On Waters).
16. De Aethere liber (On Ether).
17. De Cyna radice seu de decoctis magnis (On the Use of China Root or Sarsaparilla)
NOTE: Six of these works (Sanguinis fluxum coercendi, Pro lepram patiente, Medicinae encomium, De aqua liber, De aethere liber, De Cyna radicus) were first printed -by the same printer -in 1559 in the collection entitled “Quaedam opuscola artem medicam exercentibus utilissima'”.
II. DE METHODO MEDENDI:
1. Recentiorum medicorum errores (Errors of Modern Physicians)
2. De simplicium medicamentorum nocumentis (On the Harmful Effects of Simple Medicines).
3. Admirandae curationes & praedictiones morborum (Remarkable Cures and Predictions of Diseases).
4. Consilia in diversis morborum generibus (Advice on Various Types of Diseases).
NOTE: The first two sections (p. 1-210) are a reprint of Cardano’s “De malo recentiorum medicorum medendi usu libellus” (1545); the third section (p. 211-56) is a reworking of a section of his Liber de libris propriis (1557). The fourth part is the FIRST EDITION of “Consilia in diversis morborum generibus”. (Inventory #: 5188)
(202) 907-7429![Vitae Duodecim Vicecomitum Mediolani Principum. [Bound with] Estienne, Charles (1504-1564), Abbregé de l'histoire Des Vicontes Et Dvcz de Milan, le droict desquels appartient a la couronne de France. Paris: Charles Estienne 1552](https://d3525k1ryd2155.cloudfront.net/h/563/284/1673284563.0.m.jpg)
