Thesaurus de Remediis Secretis - Pars Secunda

Thesaurus de Remediis Secretis - Pars Secunda – Circulo Cientifico – Academia de Farmacia de Castilla y León (Salamanca, Spain)

Zurich (Switzerland) — 1569

Ovens, distillation apparatuses, and other laboratory utensils for the production of drugs in 52 woodcuts: Part II of Dr. Conrad Gessner's pioneering pharmacological treatise on pharmacological chemistry

  1. Dr. Conrad Gessner (1516–65) wrote the first modern treatise on pharmacological chemistry

  2. Ovens, distillation devices, and other laboratory tools for creating medicines are depicted in detail by 52 woodcuts

  3. This is the second, complimentary volume of the treatise, one of the most important in scientific history

Thesaurus de Remediis Secretis - Pars Secunda

Facsimile Copy Available!
Price Category: €€
(1,000€ - 3,000€)
  1. Description
  2. Facsimile Editions (1)
Description
Thesaurus de Remediis Secretis - Pars Secunda

Known to his contemporaries as the “Swiss Pliny”, Dr. Conrad Gessner (1516–65) was a Renaissance polymath regarded today as the father of modern botany and zoology and was the first to scientifically describe many European plants and animals. The codex at hand is the second, supplementary work of the important treatise on pharmacological chemistry, in which Gessner wanted to compile the knowledge of his time about remedies of all kinds. In doing so, he not only worked on the basis of ancient, medieval and contemporary natural history and medical texts, but also made his own observations and exchanged ideas with other scholars. Due to his early death, the Thesaurus de Remediis Secretis - Pars Secunda was completed posthumously on the basis of Gessner's well-sorted documents according to his will by his collaborator Caspar Wolf and was published in Zurich in 1569 together with 52 fascinating woodcuts, after which it spread throughout Europe in various translations.

Thesaurus de Remediis Secretis - Pars Secunda

Dr. Conrad Gessner (1516–65) was a Swiss physician, physicist and chemist of great prestige. He is the author of many books including the Thesaurus Evonymi Philiatri de remediis secretis, one of the most important documents in the history of chemistry and pharmacology. It was the first book of its kind to be produced during the Renaissance, and is still valued today for its 52 detailed woodcuts of ovens, distillation devices, and other 16th century laboratory tools. This is a second, complementary work of that popular text that was published posthumously in Zurich in 1569, twelve years after the original. The second book would take the title “On Rare and Excellent Remedies, Little Practiced”. Gessner was not able to finish his follow-up because he developed a tumor in the chest and another under the armpit. Aware that the end was coming, Gessner began with great serenity to order all his files and documents, as well as his will. In it, he gave orders for all his manuscripts to be delivered immediately after his death to his most beloved disciple: Gaspar Wolf (b. 1532), another Swiss physician and the main co-contributor to the work. It was he who was able to take Gessner’s source material and order it into a worthy successor text, which was as celebrated as the first. The work was soon translated into French (1573), English (1576), and German (1583) and has enjoyed numerous editions across Europe, attesting to the popularity and usefulness of the text.

Codicology

Size / Format
474 pages / 16.5 × 12.0 cm
Date
1569
Language
Illustrations
52 xylographic engravings of laboratory utensils
Artist / School

Available facsimile editions:
Thesaurus de Remediis Secretis - Pars Secunda – Circulo Cientifico – Academia de Farmacia de Castilla y León (Salamanca, Spain)
Circulo Cientifico – Madrid, 2012
Limited Edition: 999 copies
Facsimile Editions

#1 Thesaurus de Remediis Secretis - Pars Secunda

Circulo Cientifico – Madrid, 2012

Publisher: Circulo Cientifico – Madrid, 2012
Limited Edition: 999 copies
Binding: Handmade brown goatskin binding with dry stamping. Both, the facsimile and the commentary volume, are presented in a joint case in half leather and green cloth.
Commentary: 1 volume (420 pp.)
Language: Spanish
1 volume: Exact reproduction of the original document (extent, color and size) Reproduction of the entire original document as detailed as possible (scope, format, colors). The binding may not correspond to the original or current document binding.
Facsimile Copy Available!
Price Category: €€
(1,000€ - 3,000€)
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