ISS: Information Services and Systems

Case 2- Ancient Greek and Roman Medicine

Portrait of Hippocrates from: Hippocrates. Opera omnia vol. 1. Geneva: Samuel Chouët, 1657. KCSMD Historical Collection FOL. R126.H5 HIP

Hippocrates. Opera omnia vol. 1. Geneva: Samuel Chouët, 1657. KCSMD Historical Collection FOL. R126.H5 HIP

Ancient Greek medical knowledge is demonstrated in what is known as the Hippocratic Collection (Corpus Hippocraticum). This canon of medical literature is made up of 70 volumes and is clearly not all the work of one individual, although the spirit of one great master appears to permeate throughout. There are seven known physicians recorded as having the name of Hippocrates during this period but it is the second Hippocrates born in approximately 460BC who is considered to be the most important. Hippocrates worked on the assumption that diseases have a natural cause rather than a supernatural one. His first rule was the observation of the patient, which led to aknowledge of the nature of the disease. It was on this basis that medicine became a science.

This book formerly belonged to St. George's Hospital Library and is part of a two volume set of the works of Hippocrates. Text is in both Latin and Greek. The portrait of Hippocrates is by Pierre Aubry (1610-1686), a French engraver.

Illustration of the skull by Pieter Paaw (1564-1617), the first Professor of Anatomy in Leiden from: Aulus Cornelius Celsus. De re medica liber octavio. Leiden: Colster, 1616. KCSMD Historical Collection RD521 PAA

Aulus Cornelius Celsus. De re medica liber octavio. Leiden: Colster, 1616. KCSMD Historical Collection RD521.PAA

Aulus Cornelius Celsus (25BC-40AD) was one of the most important medical authors of the Ancient Roman period. He was an encyclopaedist who touched on many subjects including rhetoric, philosophy, history and agriculture. His detailed accounts of medical practice leave behind a clear picture of medicine during this era.This work is illustrated by Pieter Paaw (1564-1617), the first Professor of Anatomy in Leiden.

Title page of: Aetius of Amida. Aetti Amideni quem alii Antiochenum vocant medici clarissimi ... vol. 3. Basel: Froben, 1535. KCSMD Historical Collection FOL. R138.5 AET

Aetius of Amida. Aetti Amideni quem alii Antiochenum vocant medici clarissimi ... vol. 3. Basel: Froben, 1535. KCSMD Historical Collection FOL. R138.5 AET

Aetius of Amida (527-565), a Roman physician, added little in the way to the development of medicine but as his writings contained excerpts from lost works, they are of historical value.

This book still has the original metal clasps and catches, which are a binding feature more typical of the fifteenth century than of the sixteenth. It was originally owned by Henry Power (1623-1668), a physician and naturalist, and bears his annotations throughout.

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