Hortus Sanitatis Explained

The Hortus Sanitatis (also written Ortus; Latin for The Garden of Health), a Latin natural history encyclopaedia,[1] was published by Jacob Meydenbach in Mainz, Germany in 1491.[2]

It describes species in the natural world along with their medicinal uses and modes of preparation. It followed the Latin Herbarius moguntinus (1484) and the German Gart der Gesundheit (1485), that Peter Schöffer had published in Mainz. Unlike these earlier works, besides dealing with herbs, the Hortus sanitatis deals with animals, birds, fish and stones too. Moreover the author does not restrict himself to dealing only with real creatures, but also includes accounts of mythical animals such as the dragon, harpy, hydra, myrmecoleon, phoenix, and zitiron.

Author

The author is unknown. Occasionally the Frankfurt physician Johann Wonnecke von Kaub is incorrectly named as the author.

Contents

Set in two columns, the work contains five sections describing simple drugs used for therapy:

  1. De Herbis with 530 chapters on herbs.
  2. De Animalibus with 164 chapters on land animals (Chapter 1: De homo).
  3. De Avibus with 122 chapters on birds and other airworthy animals.
  4. De Piscibus with 106 chapters on aquatic animals.
  5. De Lapidibus with 144 chapters on semi-precious stones, ores and minerals.

As appendix a treatise on uroscopy and several detailed registers.

Set in two columns, each chapter is headed by a picture. The following text gives a general description of the related simple drug and under the title of »oparetiones« a list of its effects on the human body.

The plants of the section "De Herbis" were determined by B. and H. Baumann (2010, pp. 205-222) according to current binominal nomenclature.

Sources

The author has composed the Hortus sanitatis out of well-known medieval encyclopaedias, such as the Liber pandectarum medicinae omnia medicine simplicia continens of Matthaeus Silvaticus (14th c.) and the Speculum natural of Vincent of Beauvais (13th century).[3] [4] [5]

The text of uroscopy at the end of the Hortus sanitatis was borrowed from a text that circulated in numerous manuscripts under the names of »Zacharias de Feltris« or »Bartholomew of Montagna«.[6] [7]

A Latin manuscript, dated 1477, which already contains the textual core of Hortus sanitatis, was initially regarded as a possible template for the printing, but is now held for an independent copy of a Latin »circa-instans-manuscript«.[8] [9]

Publication history

Incunabule

16th century

Sections two to five of the Hortus sanitatis (section one – herbs – lacking). Latin

Sections two to five of the Hortus sanitatis (section one – herbs – lacking). German

An English version of extracts from the Hortus, the English, Middle (1100-1500);: Noble lyfe & natures of man, of bestes, serpentys, fowles & fisshes, was produced in 1491 by Laurence Andrew (fl. 1510–1537). A facsimile edition of this was published in London in 1954 by B. Quaritch.[21]

Illustrations

The woodcut illustrations are stylised but often easily recognizable, and many were re-used in other works.[22] In addition to the representations of simples, pictures show their use by humans, and scenes in which figures are surrounded by the subjects in their natural environment, such as standing by a river with fish and mermaids.[1]

Illustrations. Mainz 1491

Source:[23]

In culture

The University of Sydney comments that "The rich variety of the woodcuts makes this a very attractive book. The engraver was a skilled craftsman, but there is some botanical retrogression, since he did not always fully understand the plants he was copying from previous cuts."[24]

A copy once owned by the apothecary George Pavius of Aberdeen is held by the University of Aberdeen.[25]

References

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Attenborough . David . Ortus sanitatis . Cambridge Digital Library . 16 October 2014 . cs2.
  2. Web site: Ortus sanitatis . Cambridge Digital Library . 16 October 2014 . cs2.
  3. Matthaeus (Silvaticus) Moretus. Liber pandectarum medicinae omnia medicine simplicia continens. Bologna 1474 Bayerische Staatsbibliothek Matthaeus (Silvaticus) Moretus. Liber pandectarum medicinae. Straßburg ca. 1480 (Digitalisat)
  4. Vincentius. Speculum naturale. Straßburg 1481. Band I Bayerische Staatsbibliothek Band II (Digitalisat)
  5. Brigitte Baumann, Helmut Baumann: Die Mainzer Kräuterbuch-Inkunabeln – „Herbarius Moguntinus“ (1484) – „Gart der Gesundheit“ (1485) – „Hortus Sanitatis“ (1491). Wissenschaftshistorische Untersuchung der drei Prototypen botanisch-medizinischer Literatur des Spätmittelalters. Hiersemann, Stuttgart 2010,Spätmittelalters. Hiersemann, Stuttgart 2010, S. 182.
  6. Bartolomeo Montagna was a medical professor in Bologna and Padua, who died in 1460. --- Gundolf Keil: Montagna(na), Bartolomeo. In: Enzyklopädie Medizingeschichte. 2005, S. 1006.
  7. Gundolf Keil: ‚Hortus sanitatis‘. In: Enzyklopädie Medizingeschichte. 2005, S. 618.
  8. Jaques Rosenthal. Bibliotheca medii aevi manuscripta. Pars altera. Einhundert Handschriften des Mittelalters vom zehnten bis zum fünfzehnten Jahrhundert. Katalog 90. München 1928. Darin: Ernst Schulz. pp. V–VI: Vorwort (Digitalisat) and pp. 53–56 (No 146): Manuskriptbeschreibung (Digitalisat)
  9. Brigitte Baumann, Helmut Baumann: Die Mainzer Kräuterbuch-Inkunabeln – „Herbarius Moguntinus“ (1484) – „Gart der Gesundheit“ (1485) – „Hortus Sanitatis“ (1491). Wissenschaftshistorische Untersuchung der drei Prototypen botanisch-medizinischer Literatur des Spätmittelalters. Hiersemann, Stuttgart 2010,Spätmittelalters. Hiersemann, Stuttgart 2010, p. 182.
  10. Mainz. Jacob Meydenbach 1491 (digitized)
  11. Strasbourg. Anonymous 1497 (digitized)
  12. Baumann, Brigitte and Helmut: Die Mainzer Kräuterbuch-Inkunabeln. Hiersemann, Stuttgart 2010, S. 238–239.
  13. F. v. Zglinicki believed that this print could be attributed to the workshop of Johann Prüss (1447-1510). Friedrich v. Zglinicki: Die Uroskopie in der bildenden Kunst. Eine kunst- und medizinhistorische Untersuchung über die Harnschau. Ernst Giebeler, Darmstadt 1982,, S. 60 f.
  14. Strasbourg after 1500 (digitized)
  15. Strasbourg 1517 (digitized)
  16. Strasbourg. Matthias Apiarius 1536 (digitized)
  17. Straßburg 1529. Hans Grüninger (Digitalisat)
  18. Straßburg 1529. Balthasar Beck. Gart der gesuntheit. zu latin … (Digitalisat)
  19. Straßburg 1536. Mathias Apiarius. Gart der gesuntheit Zů latein … (Digitalisat) (Digitalisat)
  20. Frankfurt 1556. Hermann Gülfferich. Gart der Gesundtheyt Zu Latein … (Digitalisat)
  21. Web site: An early English version of Hortus sanitatis : a recent bibliographical discovery by Noel Hudson . NLA.gov.au . 28 February 2016.
  22. Web site: Johannes de Cuba Ortus sanitatis . Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh . 16 October 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20141021001506/http://www.rcpe.ac.uk/sites/default/files/library_papers/crowe/cuba/cuba-index.php . 21 October 2014 . cs2.
  23. Mainz. Jacob Meydenbach 1491 (digitized)
  24. Web site: Treasures of the Rare Books and Special Collections Library: Scientific works: Hortus Sanitatis. Mainz: Jacob Meydenbach, 1491 . . 28 February 2016 . 17 September 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20121211024321/http://www.library.usyd.edu.au/libraries/rare/treasures/tour-hor.html . 11 December 2012 . cs2.
  25. The University of Aberdeen has a copy of "Hortius sanitas" owned by George Pavius (Georgius Pavius, 1596-1619). The book was also owned by Birney. AU ref Inc 3. Inscription: Magister Jacobus birny; Maist. Jameis birny. The item as the following inscription " ...Georgius pavius pharmacopoeus me iure possidet 1619 ex dono praepositi Abredonensis -- 1A1r. nunc ex dono praefecti Abredonensis anno 1619 die 20 martij datur Georgio pavio pharmacopoeo ; Georgius pavius pharmacopoeus me iure possidet 1619 -- 2E5v....".

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