Dispensatorium cum Petri Coudebergi & Mattiae Lobelii Scholiis, emendationibus, & auctariis; item Rondeleti de Theriaca Tractatu. Accesserunt novissima hac editione Formulae selectiorum Pharmacorum, quorum post Val. Cordum usus in illustrium aliquot Rerum publicarum Officinis receptus est.
16mo (13.1 x 7.6 cm). 547, [15] pp. (last p. blank). Bound in contemporary yapp-edged vellum with gilt embossed arms to cover (including bishop’s mitre and intials M. A. L.). Ownership inscriptions of Franciscus Muller, MD and Joannes Marsting Waibel to title; ex-libris of the Horticultural Society of New York, Kenneth K. Mackenzie bequest, 1934; Greek library stamp to title-page. Internally immaculate, a lovely and very genuine copy. Rare edition of Cordus’ famed Dispensatorium, one of the first official pharmacopoeia of Western Europe, here with added commentary by Pieter van Coudenberghe and Matthias de l’Obel, alongside Rondelet’s treatise on theriac, an antidote to snake venom. In 1542, at the age of 27, Valerius Cordus (1515-1544) wrote his Dispensatorium, a handbook to assist pharmacists in compounding drugs. It was first published in 1546 in Nuremberg, two years after his untimely death at 29 in Rome. His opus became the first legally binding state pharmacopoeia (the Florentine pharmacopoeia dating from 1499 was only intended for local use). In 1567, with the aid of the Antwerp apothecary and botanist Pieter van Coudenberghe (1517-1599), the printer Christophe Plantin planned a revision of the Latin Cordus for the Low Countries, and it is van Coudenberghe’s edition which became the standard for 17th-century pharmacists across Europe. Cordus’ pharmacopoeia contains information on more than 225 medicinal plants and minerals, the origin and adulteration of drugs, and practical tips on how to become a successful—and financially successful—apothecary. In 1580, the famous Flemish botanist Mathias de l’Obel (Lobelius) edited van Coudenberghe’s Latin text; he added an important chapter entitled “Over de Succedanaea oft quid pro quo”, a compendium of substitutes for certain ingredients. Cordus is considered one of the fathers of pharmacognostics. “His role in pharmacy is based primarily on the much-praised Dispensatorium (1546), which through a limited selection of prescriptions brought order for the first time into the unsystematic corpus of medicaments and soon became the obligatory standard for all of Germany. In addition to describing approximately 225 medicinal plants and minerals, Cordus also refers, with careful commentary, to the origin and adulteration of drugs. The undated first edition was quickly followed by the second and subsequent editions that made this first official pharmacopoeia known far beyond the borders of Germany” (DSB). None of Cordus’s works were published during his lifetime.
Price: $1,750.00