Sphygmicae artis iam mille ducentos annos perditae & desideratae libri V.
Publisher Information: Basel: J. Oporinus, 1555.
Struthius, Josephus [Stru , Józef] (1510 – 1568/69). Sphygmicae artis iam mille ducentos annos perditae & desideratae libri V. 8vo. [16], 366, [16]pp. 2 folding tables, woodcut text illustrations. Basel: Oporinus, [1555]. 155 x 100 mm. Limp vellum ca. 1555, remains of leather ties, old paper labels on spine. Portion of upper title cut away affecting author’s name and title; missing portion supplied in facsimile. Very good. A few marginal notes in an early hand on first few text leaves.
First Edition. Sphygmicae artis is the most significant work on the pulse between Galen and Harvey; it includes what is probably the earliest graphic representation of the pulse. Struthius, a Polish physician, “suggested a method for quantitative estimation of blood pressure by displacement of graded weights, and he provided the first study of the pulse illustrated in graphic form. First published in 1555 by Johannes Oporinus of Basel, [Struthius’s] book was used by Harvey in his work on the circulation of the blood but ignored by most standard historians of medicine” (Compston). Struthius also anticipated the development of the polygraph, stating in the Sphygmicae that “if you wish to find out, based on the pulse, if someone you suspect to be guilty is guilty or not, touch their arteries and by that you scare them . . . If someone feels guilty he will immediately fall into a spiritual disorder such as fear, sadness or fear connected with anger. Many people try to hide these experiences; however, their pulse discovers and reveals them against their will” (quoted in Varvounis, Made in Poland: The Women and Men who Changed the World [2016]). Compson, RCP 9: Simples and Rarities Suitable and Honourable to the College (2018). Garrison-Morton.com 10601.
Book Id: 45022Price: $4,500.00