FALLOPIO, Gabriele

First edition of this practical summary of medicines and their uses, designed for the use of medical students, by one of the most famous Renaissance physicians, Gabriele Fallopio (d. 1562). As advertised on the title-page, there is an extensive index to aid students when navigating the work. Like many of Fallopio’s works, which were largely developed from his lecture notes, it was published posthumously. The work begins with a theoretical approach to the use of chemical medicines, with sections on quality versus quantity, measurements, and how medicines enter and act upon the body. The latter portion of the work is made up of brief descriptions of specific medicines and their uses, mostly derived from the Antidotarium Nicolai, a medieval compendium of medicines originating in the School of Salerno, but also from Galen and from Arabic sources including Mesue, Razhes, Al-Kindi and Averroes.

This edition also contains the first appearance of Fallopio’s treatise on cauterisation, De Cauteriis, with recipes for the preparation of cauterising substances and tables instructing the reader on the appropriate circumstances in which to employ them. Fallopio was an advocate of cauterisation, noting that the body naturally produces the kind of heat that can also be achieved through chemical processes.