History of medicine

On crises

Staff #MedievalMonday August 14, 2017July 31, 2017Galen, History of medicine, Medieval manuscripts

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 13^th-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.

Beginning of book II, folio 7v. Galen, *De crisibus libri III*, France. circa 1200 – 1250. Call no. 10a 233.

Summer fruits to rid oneself of a hot fever

Staff #MedievalMonday July 17, 2017April 18, 2018Herbal remedies, History of medicine, Humors, Medieval manuscripts, Medieval medicine

In medieval medicine, humoral medicine was a common practice. (For more about the humors, see my earlier post here.) When patients were ill, food and drugs – often plant-derived – were prescribed, taking into account not only the symptoms, but also his or her temperament, age, location, and time of year.

Balancing the humors seems to me to have been somewhat precarious at times. If one was too choleric (hot and dry), foods and herbs that were considered cold and moist were prescribed. However, too much could cause a swing in the opposite direction. Foods were assigned qualities similar to those of the four humors – for example, cucumbers and watermelons were considered cool and moist.

Folios 65v – 66r. Baptista Massa de Argenta, *De fructibus virtutibus*, Ferra, Italy. 1471. Call no. 10a 189.

Recipes for “Natural Magick”

Tristan Dahn Digital humanities, Out of the stacks June 27, 2017April 17, 2018Alchemy, Giambattista della Porta, History of medicine, Natural Magick, Recipe books

(This is our second blog entry in The Recipes Project’s virtual conversation, “What is a Recipe?” For a bit of background or to read the first article, on a 19^th Century recipe manuscript from Lancaster, PA, click here.)

Magia Naturalis, or Natural Magick, written by Giambattista della Porta was first published in 1558 in Naples when the author was fifteen years old. Della Porta was an Italian scholar and playwright known for his expertise and knowledge of a wide variety of subjects, and for having contributed many advances to the fields of agriculture, optics, pharmacology, hydraulics and more.

The edition held at The Historical Medical Library of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia is the first English translation published in 1658, 100 years after its initial publication. It contains some of the additions added by della Porta in subsequent editions, most notably, the first published description of the convex lens and camera obscura. Though he did not invent these, his work in perfecting and describing them, and their inclusion in Natural Magick, contributed to the dissemination of this knowledge.

But, you may be asking by now, what does this have to do with recipes? A quick look at almost any page in volume reveals the answer.

Heart’s Ease

Staff Digital humanities, Education and outreach, Out of the stacks June 20, 2017June 2, 2020Herbal remedies, History of medicine, Homeopathic remedies, Recipe books

What is a recipe? Is it instructions from which one can prepare a meal, a snack, a dessert? Or is it how to mix the best cocktail? Or how to cure acne? Or how to care for a bee sting? What other knowledge does one need to properly take advantage of the advice in a recipe? Recipes found in medical books are no different than ones found in food cookbooks; it’s just that the desired outcome is different than a crowd-pleasing cake.

The Historical Medical Library holds over 20 manuscript recipe (or “receipt”) books, dating from the 17^th century up through the early 20^th century. The majority of our recipe books are medical in nature, but many include food, drink, and household cleaning recipes as well. I’ve even seen recipes for ink in a couple of our 19^th century books.

Secreti medici…still a secret to me

Staff #MedievalMonday May 1, 2017April 18, 2018Codicology, History of medicine, Medieval manuscripts, Recipes

10a 131 is comprised of two volumes: one from the 14^th century and one from the 3^rd quarter of the 15^th century, both (probably) from the Veneto in Italy. Donated to the Library by Morris Wickersham sometime in the 1880s, the volumes were soon bound together.

Part I of volume 1, folios 8v – 9r. Composite volume of medical texts, Italy. Call number 10a 131.

Race, Genitals, and Walt Whitman in Dr. Leidy’s Lectures

Staff From our researchers, Out of the stacks, Voices from our collection April 13, 2017April 15, 2020Biodeterministic racial difference, Brain size, Civil War-era medicine, History of medicine, Joseph Leidy

– by Christopher Willoughby, Ph.D.*

Over the last five years, I have spent months conducting research at the Historical Medical Library at The College of Physicians of Philadelphia. In my dissertation, I examine the history of slavery and racial science in American medical schools before the Civil War, and my research at the College of Physicians played an essential role in completing this project. One of the central tasks that I undertook at the Historical Medical Library was an intensive study of Joseph Leidy, the Professor of Anatomy at the University of Pennsylvania’s Medical Department for much of the second half of the nineteenth century.

“Neither the rose nor the lily may overpass the violet”

Staff #MedievalMonday April 3, 2017May 5, 2021Herbals, History of medicine, Medieval manuscripts, Medieval medicine

Just in time for spring, we’re having a look this week at a medieval herbal and exploring the medicinal properties of the violet. 10a 159 is 15th century Italian manuscript and contains Macer Floridus’ De virtutibus herbarum, among other texts.