Ian Ehling
Head of Department
Lot 107
VESALIUS, ANDREAS. 1514-64. Epistola rationem modumque propinandi radicis Chynae decocti.... Basel, [Johannes Oporinus, 1546].
10 December 2020, 11:00 EST
New YorkSold for US$27,812.50 inc. premium
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VESALIUS, ANDREAS. 1514-64.
Epistola rationem modumque propinandi radicis Chynae decocti.... Basel, [Johannes Oporinus, 1546].
Folio (272 x 185 mm). Woodcut portrait and printer's device, 3 large woodcut initials, roman and italic types, printed shoulder notes. 16th-century limp vellum. Some dampstaining. Provenance: Marcus Myron (early inscription on flyleaf and title); Anton Delobel (early ownership inscription on title).
FIRST EDITION. "In this work on the discovery and therapeutic use of the china root (Smilax chinae) in the treatment of syphilis, Vesalius described the first attempt to formulate methods of identification of an exotic drug. He also offered physicians means of detecting adulteration of the china root, which was coming into common use..." (Norman). The work also contains important autobiographical information and is "the chief source of our knowledge of many episodes" of Vesalius's life, "such as the burning of his documents and the information concerning his medical forebears" (Cushing). Durling 4588; Garrison-Morton-Norman 1810.1; Norman 2141; Osler 584; Heirs of Hippocrates 182, see Cushing Vesalius pp. 160- 62.
Folio (272 x 185 mm). Woodcut portrait and printer's device, 3 large woodcut initials, roman and italic types, printed shoulder notes. 16th-century limp vellum. Some dampstaining. Provenance: Marcus Myron (early inscription on flyleaf and title); Anton Delobel (early ownership inscription on title).
FIRST EDITION. "In this work on the discovery and therapeutic use of the china root (Smilax chinae) in the treatment of syphilis, Vesalius described the first attempt to formulate methods of identification of an exotic drug. He also offered physicians means of detecting adulteration of the china root, which was coming into common use..." (Norman). The work also contains important autobiographical information and is "the chief source of our knowledge of many episodes" of Vesalius's life, "such as the burning of his documents and the information concerning his medical forebears" (Cushing). Durling 4588; Garrison-Morton-Norman 1810.1; Norman 2141; Osler 584; Heirs of Hippocrates 182, see Cushing Vesalius pp. 160- 62.