Philonium Pharmaceuticum et Chirurgicum, de Medendis Omnibus, Cum Internis, Tum Externis Humani Corporis Affectibus [Practica]

Valesco de Tarenta; Valescus de Taranta

Frankfort: Ex Officina Chalcographica Romani Beati, 1599

4to. Bound in contemporary blind stamped vellum.  Minor soiling, stains to cover.  Collated: [12], including blank, 677, [22], pages.  Scattered foxing, a few pages have contemporary marginalia/underlining.  Taranta was a Portuguese physician, who practiced medicine for 36 years in Montpellier.  He served as the Court Physician of King Charles VI of France.  In this, his most important work, Valesco presents a practical treatise on pathology and medical practice.  Unlike his contemporaries, Valesco didn't base his medical recommendations on the work of ancient Greek masters, but instead he advocated modern and observation-based practices.  "In the Philonium, first published in 1488, he presents a general textbook of medicine intended to cover all of medicine except surgery." - Heirs of Hippocrates 120.  Valesco was the first to propose the use of arsenic to cure cancer.