The first complete system of surgery after that of Guy de Chauliac

Vigo, Giovanni da. Practi[ca] Jo[annis] de Vigo copiosa in arte chirurgica [...]. (And:) Practica compendiosa Ioannis de Vigo quam post suam copiosam in chirurgia compilavit.

Venice, heirs of Ottaviano Scoto, 19 Dec. 1520 - 22 Jan. 1521 ["1520"].

Folio (212 x 298 mm). 113 pp. 21 pp. Woodcut initials throughout; printer's device to both final leaves. Modern diced calf on five raised bands. All edges red.

$5,588.00

First Venice edition, and virtually the earliest attainable. The "Practica copiosa" addresses the two great problems for Renaissance surgery, gunshot wounds and syphilis; da Vigo was the first Italian to publish on the former. It was "a book which especially suited a practitioner who knew nothing of anatomy and feared or disliked to make use of the knife" (J. S. Billings). The first complete system of surgery after that of Guy de Chauliac (1478), it was hugely successful, appearing in forty editions and several languages. Originally published in Rome in 1514; its second part, the "Practica compendiosa", followed in 1517.

Provenance

16th century ink ownership of "Petrus Baldus Vetranus" to title-page; a couple of small ink notes and markings in a seventeenth century hand.

Condition

A few leaves browned, with scattered spots and stains. First 10 leaves with defects to top edge, paper and silked repairs with some glue staining, affecting first few lines of text with some loss. Final leaf of "Practica compendiosa" mounted on stub with small chip to top edge, also affecting previous 8 leaves (without loss). Both parts lack final blanks; some light marginal damp-stains.

References

Edit 16, CNCE 16101, 16102. Durling 4609, 4605. Wellcome 6612 (second part only). Not in Adams or BM-STC Italian. Cf. Garrison/M. 5559.1.

Stock Code: BN#62795 Tags: ,

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