Description
First edition of this work on the art (or science) of curing by the Paduan physician John Paul Pernumia, published posthumously. It claims to offer a ‘complete method’ of therapeutic medicine, based on new theories in synthesis with the ancient authorities (chiefly following Galen’s humoral medicine, there is, unsurprisingly, a huge amount on fevers). This is not, however, a text designed for practical use in domestic medicine but more a theoretical treatise on diseases and on the nature of disease itself. Pernumia presents disease and illness as a natural part of human physiology; to cure is simply to go above or before what occurs naturally in the human body. Pernumia also, therefore, advanced the benefits of preventative cures that could anticipate these natural processes or changes. The contemporary annotator of our copy, however, appears mostly to be in search of practical information on diets to be followed during illnesses, and on the symptoms of diseases, such as hydropsy, phthisis and even headaches.
