Galen (129 – circa 200/216) was a Greek physician, surgeon, and philosopher in the Roman Empire. He was born the city of Pergamum in Asia Minor (present-day Turkey). His extant works total over 120 treatises and 3 million words, although it is estimated this accounts for only a third of what he wrote. Although his works were not translated into Latin in the ancient period, they were translated into Arabic.
The Library holds over 200 books in English, German, and Latin related to Galen and his works, including 10a 233: De crisibus libri III (On crises). The Library’s copy of De crisibus, as mentioned last week, was written in the first half of the 13th-century in France, and is Gerard of Cremona’s translation. Gerard of Cremona (1113 or 1114-1187) was an Italian translator of books from Arabic into Latin.
What did Galen mean by “crises”? Traditionally, a “crisis” in medicine meant a turning point for better or worse. The Oxford English Dictionary defines “crisis” as (definition 1):
The point in the progress of a disease when an important development or change takes place which is decisive of recovery or death; the turning-point of a disease for better or worse; also applied to any marked or sudden variation occurring in the progress of a disease and to the phenomena accompanying it.
In book 2 of De crisibus, Galen describes a crisis as:
“…a sudden change in a disease, either towards death or recovery; which last is produced by nature secreting the good from the bad humours, and preparing the latter for excretion.”
– Translation from Alpinus, Prosper. The Presages of Life and Death in Diseases. Translated by R. James. London, 1746: 121.
Today, however, “crisis” usually refers to “a difficult or dangerous situation that needs serious attention.” But that change in the definition of “crisis” over the years is a research topic for another day.
Sources:
“Crisis.” OED Online. Oxford University Press, 2017. Oxford University Press.
“Crisis.” Merriam Webster.com.
Kotrc, Ronald F., and K. R. Walters. “A bibliography of the Galenic Corpus. A newly researched list and arrangement of the titles of the treatises extant in Greek, Latin, and Arabic.” Transactions and Studies of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia series V, volume 1, no. 4. Philadelphia: The Winchell Company. (December 1979): 256-304.