- Galen [Galenus] Works from the eighth edition of the Juntas [Opera ex octava Juntarum editione]. Venice: Lucantonio Giunti [Lucantonio Giunti]. 1609. Latin, 35.8x25x7 cm, 612 pages. PSMHM collection: MVM 25812 B 12569. Photo: Māris ŠteinbergsTo learn about the human body and health, the ancient physician and philosopher Galen (c. 129-216) treated both rulers and gladiators and even vivisectioned monkeys. The doctor's experience is reflected in his treatises. 110 of his texts have survived to this day, some of them fragmentary. New translations of ancient texts from Greek have been made for the eighth edition of Galen's works. It consists of seven thematic parts: anatomy and physiology, hygiene, etiology, semiotics, pharmacy, medical instruments, therapy. Galen's works were used in European medical schools until the 17th century.
- Aphorismi Hippocratis [Aphorismi Hippocratis]. Editor Adolphus Vorstius [Adolphus Vorstius]. Leiden: Elsevier Publishing House. 1628. Greek and Latin, 233 pages, 8.7x4.6x1.5 cm. PSMHM collection: B 1289. Photo: Māris ŠteinbergsThe ancient Greek physician Hippocrates (460-370 BC) is one of the most important doctors in the history of medicine. Hippocrates is the most influential and widespread work of the collection of Hippocratic writings, which has been repeatedly translated and cited. Already in the 1st century Nero's doctor Erotianus wrote about Hippocrates' treatises, but in the 2nd c. the ancient Greek physician Galen, who believed that Hippocrates himself compiled the knowledge at the end of his life, as a compilation of his knowledge. The book contains 412 short tips on diagnosis and treatment of diseases, on the ethics of a doctor's work. Medical students in Europe learned the teachings of Hippocrates for centuries.
- André Levret [André Levret]. The art of obstetrics according to the laws of motion and the theory of nature [Kunst der Geburtshilfe nach den Gesetzen der Bewegung und Natur lehre]. Part 1. Leipzig, 1778. German language, 292 pages, 19.7x11.4x2.3 cm, PSMHM collection: B 662. Photo: Māris ŠteinbergsThe French surgeon André Levret (1703-1780) specialized in obstetrics and was a highly sought-after doctor who also performed births at the French court. The book consists of 1530 theses on methods of obstetrics, reception of complicated births and instruments. For example, the doctor perfected birthing bars by adapting them to the curvature of the pelvis. As a surgeon, Levret believed that the development of obstetrics and surgery were closely related. This edition has experienced two fires. Initially, the book was located in the Riga Association of Practicing Doctors, whose premises burned down in 1941. Pauls Stradiņš moved the book to the Republican Clinical Hospital, where a fire broke out in 1949.
- Jean Bodin [Jean Bodin]. Demonomania of sorcerers [De la démonomanie des sorciers]. Paris: Jacques du Puy [Jacques du Puy]. 1582. French, 276 pages, 21.5x16x3 cm. PSMHM collection: B 1954. Photo: Didzis GrodzsPhilosopher and lawyer Jean Baudin (1530-1596) lived during the witch trials in France. The author condemned magic and was against werewolves and witches, based his accusations on the Old Testament and believed that witches are a threat to the state, because the state is built according to God's laws. While condemning witches, Bodin also criticizes the influence of Renaissance mysticism on the philosophical and social thought of the 16th century. Witch trials continued in Europe until the 18th century.
.jpg)
- Hieronymus Bock [Hieronymus Bock (Tragus)]. A new herbal book on the identification, effects and names of plants growing in German lands [New Kreuterbuch von Underscheidt, Würckung und Namen der Kreuter, so in teutschen Landen wachsen]. Strasbourg, 1565. German, 840 pages, 33.2x21.5x7 cm. PSMHM collection: MVM 37073 B 13808. Photo: Didzis GrodzsHieronymus Bock (1498-1554) was a German botanist, physician and pastor. The book was written to provide information about 700 16th century. Medicinal plants found in Germany and their uses. H. Bock created descriptions of plants based on observations in nature, which differed from the medieval classification of plants. The book was first published in 1539 without pictures, but subsequent editions were illustrated. This edition contains more than 500 plant illustrations by Renaissance artist David Kandel. They show not only the plants, but also their use.
- Johann Wilhelm Weinmann [Johann Wilhelm Weinmann] [Phytanthoza iconographia]. Regensburg, 1737, 1739, 1742. Latin and German, Part 1: 360 pages, 39x25x8 cm, Part 2: 640 pages, 39x25x9.5 cm, Part 3 : 612 pages, 39x25x 9 cm. PSMHM collection: MVM 37079 B 13814, MVM 37080 B 13815, MVM 37081 B 13816. Photo: Māris ŠteinbergsThe book is the first detailed illustrated work in botany. In eight volumes, 1,025 plants recognized in Europe and elsewhere in the world in the first half of the 18th century are represented, arranged in alphabetical order. Descriptions of plants were made by four different authors, of which the German apothecary and pharmacist Johann Wilhelm Weinmann (1683-1741) made a special contribution. More than half of the plants described in the book were illustrated by the German artist and gardener Georg Dionysius Ehret.
- Andreas Vesalius [Andreas Vesalius]. On the structure of the human body [De humani corporis fabrica]. Basel, 1555. Latin, 870 pages, 40.5x28.2x7.5 cm. PSMHM collection: B 2009. Photo: Didzis GrodzsThe Flemish physician Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564) was the founder of human anatomy. The book is based on Vesalius' lectures on the structure of the human body, which he gave at the University of Padua before becoming court physician to Emperor Charles V. Vesalius was the first doctor to perform public dissections of a human corpse himself, so the insights gathered in the book became very important in the history of anatomy. The book contains accurate anatomical illustrations created by Renaissance artists, which served as an excellent reference tool for doctors for several centuries.
Back
Lost Libraries Collection
This collection has been gathered from the private libraries of Latvian doctors. It contains books dating back to the 16th century, perhaps even earlier — the collection is still being researched. The core of this collection used to be part of Pauls Stradiņš’ (1896–1958) personal library, which he and his family directly donated to the Museum.
In later years, the collection was supplanted by gifts from doctors — notably N. Pavlovsky, along with anatomists, medical historians and a member of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences, Vasily Ternovsky (1888–1976). A highlight of the collection is a 1564 edition of the Canon of Medicine by Avicenna, originally purchased by Dr. Pavlovsky in Tehran. The Museum’s book collection stores nearly 18,000 publications, many of which are extremely rare globally, and some happen to be the only specimens available in Latvia.
Galen [Galenus] Works from the eighth edition of the Juntas [Opera ex octava Juntarum editione]. Venice: Lucantonio Giunti [Lucantonio Giunti]. 1609. Latin, 35.8x25x7 cm, 612 pages. PSMHM collection: MVM 25812 B 12569. Photo: Māris Šteinbergs
Aphorismi Hippocratis [Aphorismi Hippocratis]. Editor Adolphus Vorstius [Adolphus Vorstius]. Leiden: Elsevier Publishing House. 1628. Greek and Latin, 233 pages, 8.7x4.6x1.5 cm. PSMHM collection: B 1289. Photo: Māris Šteinbergs
André Levret [André Levret]. The art of obstetrics according to the laws of motion and the theory of nature [Kunst der Geburtshilfe nach den Gesetzen der Bewegung und Natur lehre]. Part 1. Leipzig, 1778. German language, 292 pages, 19.7x11.4x2.3 cm, PSMHM collection: B 662. Photo: Māris Šteinbergs