Nov 03, 2006 - Sale 2092

Sale 2092 - Lot 5

Price Realized: $ 600
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 250 - $ 350
AMATUS LUSITANUS [pseud. of JOÃO RODRIGUES]. Curationum medicinalium . . . centuriae duae quinta videlicet et sexta. [16], 380, [3] pages. 8vo, modern calf with morocco lettering piece; contents dampstained, most noticeably at beginning and end, minor worming in blank lower margins in middle of volume, title soiled, with 17th-century inscription. Venice: ex Officina Valgrisiana, 1560

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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 reprints the fifth and sixth series, the latter concluding with Rodrigues's medical oath, "one of the most exalted literary documents in medical ethics . . . 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; DSB VIII, 554; EJ II, 796-97; Friedenwald, The Jews and Medicine I, 352-370; Hoffmann-Axthelm, page 155.