Oct 09, 2003 - Sale 1979

Sale 1979 - Lot 12

Price Realized: $ 632
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 400 - $ 600
AMATUS'S CONTRIBUTION TO MEDICAL ETHICS AMATUS LUSITANUS [pseud. of JOÃO RODRIGUES]. Curationum medicinalium . . . centuriae duae quinta videlicet et sexta [centuria septima]. 380, [4]; 176, [8] pages. Together, 2 volumes in one. 8vo, 19th-century 1/4 sheep gilt, spine faded, ends rubbed; occasional browning, worming through approximately 30 leaves in middle of volume affecting some text, scattered stains, contemporary underscoring and marginalia, some text inked out, including the invocation of the Ten Commandments in the oath at the end of Centuria sexta (see below), dates given according to the Jewish calendar, references to Luther and other Protestants, sexual matters involving the clergy, etc. Venice: ex Officina Valgrisiana, 1560; apud Vincentium Valgrisium, 1566
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Rodrigues published 700 case histories in series of 100 each between 1551 and 1561, "which established his reputation as a thorough researcher in various fields, including anatomy, internal medicine, dermatology, and mental illness. The centuriae are also a mine of information on 16th century medical history, social life, and individual biography." (EJ). The present volume contains reprints of the fifth, sixth, and seventh series, the last 2 of which conclude with Rodrigues's medical oath, "one of the most exalted literary documents in medical ethics. He takes the oath in the name of 'the Ten Holy Commandments, which were delivered into the hands of Moses on Mount Sinai for the people who were redeemed from bondage in Egypt.' This oath emphasizes the philanthropic side of the art of healing and the need to aid the poor and the needy. In this it differs (as do the Christian oaths) from the professional materialism of the Hippocratic oath" (EJ). Adams A917, A919; DSB VIII, 554; EJ II, 796-97; Friedenwald (1944), pages 352-370; Hoffmann-Axthelm, page 155 (for description in the fifth series of Amatus's design for a gold palate obturator, preceding Paré). See also lots 163 and 164.