History of Medicine

3 men playing with balls in renaissance times

Apr 13 2020

Girolamo Mercuriale | Art of Gymnastics | April 2020 Notes from the John Martin Rare Book Room @Hardin Library

Posted on April 13, 2020July 8, 2020 by Sarah Andrews

oil painting of man seated, holding book from Renaissance era — Girolamo Mercuriale

GIROLAMO MERCURIALE (1530-1606) De arte gymnastica libri sex. Apud Juntas 1587 3rd ed. 3, 308 [27] pp. illus. 23.6 cm .[The Art of Gymnastics, volume six in Latin].

Mercuriale, professor of medicine at Bologna and Pisa, is best know for this masterwork, first published in 1569.

De arte gymnastica was the first complete text on gymnastics and stresses the importance that all forms of exercise have in maintaining good health. Relying heavily on ancient practices, this work is an excellent compendium of physical therapy of earlier times. Mercuriale describes ancient gymnasia and baths and discusses mild exercises such as dancing as well as more strenuous pursuits such as wrestling and boxing. He gives consideration to the health benefits of proper exercise and concludes the book with a section of therapeutic exercises.

University of Iowa affiliates may view 1978 reprint version online

An English translation of this book can be found in De arte gymnastica. Critical edition by Concetta Pennuto; English translation by Vivian Nutton. Latin and English on facing pages; critical matter in English or Italian. Firenze: L.S. Olschki, 2008. ISBN: 9788822258045; 8822258045. University of Iowa affiliates may request this title via Interlibrary Loan.

Thanks to Emeritus Professor Paul Greenough for suggestions to add translation information to the newsletters.

Like the rest of the University of Iowa Libraries, the John Martin Rare Book Room and the Hardin Library for the Health Sciences are physically closed. Much of Hardin Library’s current collection is available online, and Library staff continue to work virtually, assisting our users by email, Zoom, and other electronic means.

We are also mailing physical books to our users, when possible. These circumstances mean that the Rare Book Room’s collection is currently unavailable, although we encourage you to explore the digital exhibits, illustrations, and books available through the website at http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/hardin/rbr/

Thank you for your support and interest in the John Martin Rare Book Room.

Mar 17 2020

Cancelled | 2020 R. Palmer Howard History of Medicine Society Dinner | April 24 | Marie Jenkins Schwartz, Enslaved Women | Cancelled

Posted on March 17, 2020 by Sarah Andrews

The University of Iowa History of Medicine Society and Hardin Library for the Health Sciences announce that the 2020 R. Palmer Howard Dinner scheduled for Friday, April 24 has been cancelled.

The event will not be rescheduled.

Mar 05 2020

CANCELLED |2020 Open House | John Martin Rare Book Room @Hardin Library | Black Plague | March 26

Posted on March 5, 2020March 17, 2020 by Sarah Andrews

The 2020 John Martin Rare Book Room Open House has been cancelled. This event will not be rescheduled.

Please see our online exhibit: The Black Death: The Plague, 1331-1770

image of fire burning in street during plague — A street during the plague in London with a death cart a Credit: Wellcome Library, London.

Feb 21 2020

Mattioli | Encyclopedia of Renaissance pharmacology | February 2020 Notes from the John Martin Rare Book Room @Hardin Library

Posted on February 21, 2020 by Sarah Andrews

By Moretto da Brescia – Musei di Strada Nuova – Palazzo Rosso

PIETRO ANDREA MATTIOLI (1500-1577) Commentarii, in libros sex Pedacii Dioscoridis Anazarbei, Demedica materia. In officina Erasmiana; Apud Vincentium Valgrisium 1554 [48] 707 [1] pp., illus. 31.5 cm.

Mattioli of Siena studied medicine at Padua where he graduated in 1523. During his career, he practiced at Siena, Perugia, Rome, Trent, and Gorizia. Mattioli was physician to Ferdinand I and later Maximilian II. He wrote books on syphilis, the practice of medicine, and therapeutics, but his best-known and most popular work was Comentarii.

Mattioli first published his commentary on Dioscorides in Italian at Venice in 1544 and this is his first Latin commentary and also the earliest edition to contain information on botanical specimens from the Americas, Asia, and Africa. He prepared what many authorities now regard as the encyclopedia of Renaissance pharmacology. Mattioli studied hundreds of plants, examined and described them fully, added many new species, and provided excellent illustrations which were far superior to those of any previous work in the field.

By Unknown – Pietro Andrea Mattioli. Commentarii, in libros sex Pedacii Dioscoridis Anazarbei, de medica materia. Adiectis quàm plurimis plantarum et animalium imaginibus, eodem authore. Vincentius Valgrisi, Venedig, Public Domain, Link

Dec 27 2019

Lower Pioneer of Experimental Physiology | December 2019 Notes from The John Martin Rare Book Room @Hardin Library

Posted on December 27, 2019December 30, 2019 by Sarah Andrews

RICHARD LOWER (1631-1691). Tractatus de corde. Amsterdam: Apud Danielem Elzevirium, 1669. [16] 232 pp

Richard Lower was one of the foremost English physiologists of the seventeenth century. Soon after receiving his M.D. degree in 1665, Lower relocated to London. He quickly acquired a large practice, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and later a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. Lower was an ardent supporter of Harvey, and this treatise is the first important work on cardiac physiology to appear after the work of Harvey.

In this book, Lower first described many finer structures of the heart, including the scroll-like nature of the musculature. He discussed the physiology and mechanism of the heart and of respiration, described his experiments on transfusion, and gave an accurate description of tricuspid valve endocarditis. His chief contributions included his concept of the heart’s musculature, his explanation of the muscular nature of the heart beat, and his proof that the dark venous blood becomes bright red on passing through the lungs by virtue of being brought into contact with air in the lungs.

You may view this book in the John Martin Rare Book Room, Hardin Library for the Health Sciences.

By https://wellcomeimages.org/indexplus/obf_images/7d/a2/9faa72e8bc76def50f7d76be6111.jpg
Gallery: https://wellcomeimages.org/indexplus/image/L0019687.html
Wellcome Collection gallery (2018-04-01): https://wellcomecollection.org/works/pm7gnnfw CC-BY-4.0, CC BY 4.0, Link

Nov 05 2019

Da Vinci Catalogue of Drawings | November 2019 Notes from the John Martin Rare Book Room @Hardin Library

Posted on November 5, 2019December 27, 2019 by Sarah Andrews

drawing of Da Vinci — presumed self portrait of Leonardo da Vinci

LEONARDO DA VINCI (1452-1519). A catalogue of the drawings . . . in the collection of His Majesty the King at Windsor Castle. 2 vols. New York: Macmillan and Cambridge, England: 1935.

Leonardo Da Vinci was one of the greatest artists and scientists of the Italian Renaissance. His contributions to science include significant accomplishments in mechanics, physics, hydraulics, astronomy,
anatomy, architecture, and civil engineering. He is considered to be the founder of physiological anatomy. After his death, his writings and drawings were forgotten for over two centuries and became
scattered among private collectors, libraries, and archives throughout Europe.

The greater part of his extant writings and drawings on anatomy were found at the Royal Library of Windsor Castle in the early 1700s; however, no drawings from the collection were published until 1796. The first effort to make the collection available to the public in facsimile was not made until 1898 when the first volume of this set, containing a transcription of Leonardo’s text together with a French translation, was issued. The
second volume was published in 1901; unfortunately both volumes contained numerous mistakes due to misunderstandings, ignorance of the subject, and the difficulty of interpreting Leonardo’s
handwriting.

You may view this book in the John Martin Rare Book Room, Hardin Library for the Health Sciences.

Views of a Foetus in the Womb.jpg — Da Vinci drawing of fetus in womb

Additional images and information about Da Vinci Life in Drawing exhibits

Oct 15 2019

Anthony van Leeuwenhoek | Microscope Builder | October 2019 Notes from the John Martin Rare Book Room @Hardin Library

Posted on October 15, 2019December 27, 2019 by Sarah Andrews

ANTHONY VAN LEEUWENHOEK (1632-1723). Continuation arcanorum naturae detectorum. Delft: Apud Henricum a Kroonevelt, 1697.

Antonio van Leeuwenhoek, of Delft, was the first to use the microscope systematically and brought the construction of the simple microscope to a high degree of perfection.

Self-taught and never having attended a university, ignorant of Latin and Greek and the classical texts, he became one of the greatest and most expert microscopists, thanks to the sagacity of his observations and the perfection of his technique.

Leeuwenhoek was a master lens-grinder and constructed several hundred microscopes, grinding a new lens for each new investigation which he undertook. These volumes contain eighty letters from several hundred in which Leeuwenhoek communicated the results of his investigations to the Royal Society in London and which were published in its Philosophical Transactions. In 1683, van Leeuwenhoek’s drawing of bacteria was the first published representation.

Though not a trained scientist, he opened up avenues of anatomy previously unseen, leading to accurate physiology and accurate therapeutics. Malpighi used one of his microscopes to define the ultimate structure of the capillaries. Leeuwenhoek first described the individual plant cell, the individual striped muscle cell, spermatozoa, red corpuscles, and the crystalline lens of the eye.

You may view this book in the John Martin Rare Book Room, Hardin Library for the Health Sciences.

Biography of van Leeuwenhoek

replice microscope from 1700s — Replica of van Leeuwenhoek microscope

image of hooded man on horse with bottle of potion

Aug 23 2019

A Model for Chaucer’s Doctor | August 2019 Notes from the John Martin Rare Book Room @Hardin Library

Posted on August 23, 2019December 27, 2019 by Sarah Andrews

JOHN OF GADDESDEN (1280?-1361). Rosa Anglica practica medicine a capite ad pedes. Pavia: Joannesantonius Birreta, 1492.

John studied at Merton College, Oxford, then practiced first at Oxford and later in London, where he was highly esteemed among his contemporaries. He was the first Englishman to be appointed court physician to an English king, Edward II, and is said to have been Chaucer’s model for the “Doctour of Physik” in the Canterbury tales.

Rosa Anglica was written around 1314 and was the first printed medical book written by an Englishman. It is not noted for its scientific approach to medicine and is not much more than a medical advisor for the layman. However, John covered his subject thoroughly and the book is typical of other medical works of the period. John called his book Rosa Anglica because a rose has five petals and his book had five parts which covered fevers, injuries, general hygiene, diet, and therapeutics. Being impressed with his ability and perhaps conceited, John made it clear to his readers that his book was superior to all other medical treatises, just as the rose is superior to other flowers.

You may view this book in the John Martin Rare Book Room, Hardin Library for the Health Sciences.

colored lithograph of old fashioned 5 petaled rose — Five petal Rosa corymbulosa, from lithograph in Curstis’s Botanical Magazine, v.140

Jul 07 2019

Leslie Schwalm, PhD | Black Bodies, Medical Science & the Age of Emancipation | History of Medicine Lecture Thursday, October 24

Posted on July 7, 2019November 1, 2019 by Sarah Andrews

The University of Iowa History of Medicine Society and Hardin Library for the Health Sciences present Professor Leslie Schwalm speaking on Black Bodies, Medical Science, and the Age of Emancipation, Thursday, October 24, 2019 in 1287 Carver Biomedical Research Building.

Why did the Civil War, which ultimately ended slavery, also see northern whites deeply invested in sustaining racial hierarchies? How and why do white medical practitioners in the Union army and in northern civilian relief efforts engage in efforts to advance the notion of race as a biological and hierarchical construct?

White medical practitioners and military officers attempted to document what they believed to be the immutable, hierarchical characteristics of race. That contradiction–a war for emancipation generating greater belief in medical and scientific racism–challenges our ideas about the consequences of the war and the development of wartime medical science.

Professor Schwalm is a historian of gender and race in the nineteenth-century U.S., and her research focuses on slavery, the Civil War, and emancipation. She is Chair, Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies and with Professor, History. Profile

Driving? Park at Newton Road Ramp, Newton Road.
Bus? Take Cambus Pentacrest to the Nursing Building or PBDB stop.

May 13 2019

Benzi’s Observations on Galen | May 2019 Notes from the John Martin Rare Book Room @Hardin Library

Posted on May 13, 2019December 27, 2019 by Sarah Andrews

UGO BENZI (1376-1439). Expositio super libros Tegni Galeni. Venice: Bonetus Locatellus, for Octavianus Scotus, 1498

Benzi, also know as Hugo of Siena, initially studied philosophy and medicine at the University of Siena. He completed his doctorate at Pavia in 1396 where he remained on the faculty until 1399.

During his subsequent academic career, he held major teaching positions at Bologna, Padua, Florence, Perugia, and Ferrara. Benzi enjoyed a great reputation as a physician and teacher of anatomy, medicine, and philosophy. One of the best interpreters of the ancient medical writers, he wrote commentaries on Hippocrates, Galen, Avicenna, and others.

In Expositio super libros Tegni Galeni, he presents his observations on Galen’s Tegni or Ars medica, a leading medical text of the Renaissance. Benzi’s work indicates that although illnesses were classified in relation to major body parts or organs, there were no concepts of localization or specificity as assumed since the early nineteenth century. Illness was described primarily in terms of the “complexion of the humors” rather than of any specific disease. Hence there was no diagnosis in the modern sense. Nor were the elaborate drugs prescribed of any value other than palliative, although the suggested regiment of the “non-naturals” (personal hygiene) was often sensible. (Richard Harrison Shryock, The American Historical Review, Volume 58, Issue 1, October 1952, Pages 92–94, https://doi.org/10.1086/ahr/58.1.92)

Complete Latin text available online from Iowa Digital Library

You may view this book in the John Martin Rare Book Room, Hardin Library for the Health Sciences.

The University of Iowa Libraries

Need to Know

Category: History of Medicine

Girolamo Mercuriale | Art of Gymnastics | April 2020 Notes from the John Martin Rare Book Room @Hardin Library

Cancelled | 2020 R. Palmer Howard History of Medicine Society Dinner | April 24 | Marie Jenkins Schwartz, Enslaved Women | Cancelled

CANCELLED |2020 Open House | John Martin Rare Book Room @Hardin Library | Black Plague | March 26

Mattioli | Encyclopedia of Renaissance pharmacology | February 2020 Notes from the John Martin Rare Book Room @Hardin Library

Lower Pioneer of Experimental Physiology | December 2019 Notes from The John Martin Rare Book Room @Hardin Library

By https://wellcomeimages.org/indexplus/obf_images/7d/a2/9faa72e8bc76def50f7d76be6111.jpg
Gallery: https://wellcomeimages.org/indexplus/image/L0019687.html
Wellcome Collection gallery (2018-04-01): https://wellcomecollection.org/works/pm7gnnfw CC-BY-4.0, CC BY 4.0, Link

Da Vinci Catalogue of Drawings | November 2019 Notes from the John Martin Rare Book Room @Hardin Library

Anthony van Leeuwenhoek | Microscope Builder | October 2019 Notes from the John Martin Rare Book Room @Hardin Library

A Model for Chaucer’s Doctor | August 2019 Notes from the John Martin Rare Book Room @Hardin Library

Leslie Schwalm, PhD | Black Bodies, Medical Science & the Age of Emancipation | History of Medicine Lecture Thursday, October 24

Benzi’s Observations on Galen | May 2019 Notes from the John Martin Rare Book Room @Hardin Library

By https://wellcomeimages.org/indexplus/obf_images/7d/a2/9faa72e8bc76def50f7d76be6111.jpg Gallery: https://wellcomeimages.org/indexplus/image/L0019687.html Wellcome Collection gallery (2018-04-01): https://wellcomecollection.org/works/pm7gnnfw CC-BY-4.0, CC BY 4.0, Link

By https://wellcomeimages.org/indexplus/obf_images/7d/a2/9faa72e8bc76def50f7d76be6111.jpg
Gallery: https://wellcomeimages.org/indexplus/image/L0019687.html
Wellcome Collection gallery (2018-04-01): https://wellcomecollection.org/works/pm7gnnfw CC-BY-4.0, CC BY 4.0, Link