Etymologiae.

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Creator

Isidore de Seville [Isidorus Hispalensis] (560–636 CE).

Title

Etymologiae.

Publisher

Strasbourg: [Johannes Mentelin],

Date

[1472].

Description

Provenance: Richard Götlich, a contemporary Strasbourg physician, with his annotations and signature.

Written ca. 600, this work, first in manuscript and then in print, became the major encyclopedia of the Middle Ages. Isidore, archbishop of Seville, is the source of much of our information about the classical period. Etymologiae contains a broad range of knowledge that became the source for information relied on by Renaissance writers when they developed their ideas of ancient Rome.

Medicine comprises a small section in this large compendium, but the entries discuss common conditions such as coma, apoplexy (accurately described as a sudden hemorrhage), epilepsy, sciatica, and symptoms involving most of the major organs. Etymologiae is among the earliest printed texts to discuss an aspect of medicine. It is clear that, to Isidore, the brain is the seat of intellect, memory, and sensation. There are eight woodcut diagrams, including the first printed map of the world, a “T-O” design.

Source

Eugene S. Flamm