Gynaeciorum sive de mulierum tum communibus, tum gravidarum, parientium, et puerperarum affectibus et morbis

SPACH, Israel

Published by Strassburg: Lazarus Zetzner, 1597

First edition under Spach's editorship, and the most complete edition of this celebrated collection of gynaecological writings, incorporating the best that had been written on the subject. "The increased interest in diseases of women during the Renaissance is evidenced by the appearance of what we may call encyclopedias of gynaecology. Conrad Gesner (1516-1565) of Zurich, a physician of remarkable erudition and the author of the famous Bibliotheca Universalis, prepared a collection of what were considered the best treatises on diseases of women and proposed to edit them in a single volume. Before the work was finished, Gesner died, but he had designated his friend and successor at the University of Zürich, Caspar Wolff (1532-1601), to complete the task . . . In 1586, twenty years after the publication of the first Gynaecia, a second four-volume edition appeared. Considerably augmented, it was the work of Caspar Bauhin (1560-1624), professor of anatomy, botany, medicine and Greek at the University of Basle . . . The third and final edition of the Gynaecia appeared eleven years later in 1597, issued in a single volume by Israel Spach of Strassbourg" (Ricci, pp. 254-255). "Spach's compilation of gynecological and obstetrical texts was the largest such collection of its day, reprinting most of the works collected in Caspar Wolff's Volumen gynaeciorum (1566) and Gaspard Bauhin's Gynaeciorum sive de mulierum affectibus (1586-1588), and adding several other treatises. The collection includes works by Plater (whose anatomy of the female genitalia heads the collection), Moschion, Le Bon, Montanus, Paré and many others. Some of the anatomical woodcuts are taken from Vesalius's Fabrica, in particular his 'masculinized' representation of the female reproductive organs; also illustrated are various surgical and gynecological instruments, including a speculum" (Norman). This edition of the Gynaeciorum is the first to contain Bauhin's Libellus variorum historianum (on Caesarean section) and Martin Akakia's De morbis muliebribus, the latter published here for the first time; this edition is also the only one to contain a substantial index. This is a rather clean copy in an attractive contemporary binding - this book was printed on poor quality paper, and most copies are badly browned. Adams S1517; Cutter and Viets, pp. 29-30; Durling 2254; Garrison and Morton 6013; Norman 1977; Waller 9096; Wellcome 6030. Ricci, The Genealogy of Gynaecology. History of the Development of Gynaecology throughout the Ages 2000 BC - 1800 AD (2nd edition), 1950. Folio, pp. [xxxvi], 28, 1080, [34]. Title in red and black with printer's woodcut device, numerous woodcut illustrations in the text (variable browning and foxing throughout, damp stain in fore-margin of first 25 leaves or so). Contemporary yapped vellum, later black morocco lettering piece (a bit soiled, Bodleian Library bookplate and release stamp on front paste-down, without free endpapers). Seller Inventory # ABE-1633020512752

Bibliographic Details

Title: Gynaeciorum sive de mulierum tum communibus,...
Publisher: Strassburg: Lazarus Zetzner
Publication Date: 1597
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Very Good
Edition: 1st Edition