Thesaurus de Remediis Secretis

Thesaurus de Remediis Secretis

The Treasure of the Secret Remedies is the first treatise of pharmacological chemistry and contributed to the scientific revolution of the Renaissance. It is one of the most important documents in the history of chemistry and pharmacology and was written by Dr. Conrad Gessner (1516–65) a Swiss physician, physicist and chemist of great prestige. Printed in the 16th century, it includes 52 woodcuts that allow us to appreciate the images of ovens, distillation devices, and other laboratory tools. It was one of the main books that contributed to the scientific renewal of the Renaissance through the inheritance of scientific thought collected throughout the Middle Ages. Carlos Gómez Canga-Argüelles, President of the Pharmacy Academy of Castilla y León, called the work “one of the most important documents of the history of the chemistry, pharmacy, cosmetics, and liquor of the sixteenth century”. It is a wonderful record of the advances in technology during the Renaissance, when the knowledge of classical antiquity was being rediscovered and built upon by scholars living in the Late Middle Ages.