Eustachio Rudio - De Humani Corporis Affectibus - 1590

Eustachii Rudii
Bellunensis physicians and philosophers:
De humani corporis affectibus, dignoscendis, praedicendis, curandis et preservandis, libri quinque.
Ad Serenissimum Senatum Venetum. Cum privilegiis.
Venetiis, apud Paulum Meietum bibliopolam Patauinum, MDXC

In full folio parchment back cover, large engraved typographical emblem on the front, 6 leaves, 156 leaves. Beautiful ornamental initials.
Total pp. (12),312.

Extremely rare original edition

The book is a medical treatise published in Venice in 1590 by the Belluno physician Eustachio Rudio, a cultured Renaissance figure, active as a physician and philosopher. The work, divided into five books, discusses the affectus humani corporis, that is, the conditions, diseases, and alterations that can affect the human body. Rudio describes how to recognize (dignoscere) symptoms, how to predict the progression of diseases, how to treat them, and finally how to maintain health through hygiene, diet, and a balanced lifestyle.
The text is part of the tradition of Galenic medicine, but also reflects the new Renaissance focus on direct observation, clinical experience, and a rational approach to physiology. Rudio seeks to unite theory and practice, demonstrating how the physician must be both a philosopher and an observer of the human body. The book is dedicated to the Most Serene Senate of the Veneto, an authority that often granted publishing privileges to works deemed beneficial to the public good.
In summary, the treatise is a systematic guide to diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy in late sixteenth-century medical thought, and represents a valuable source for understanding pre-modern medical science and the role of the physician in Renaissance Italy.

Eustachio Rudio of Belluno studied in Padua and had Fabrizio d'Acquapendente among his teachers. He then moved to Udine and in 1599 was appointed to the chair of practical medicine in Padua, succeeding Massaria. Harvey likely attended his lectures, acquiring his first insights into the structure and function of the heart. In this first book, he addresses diseases of the nervous system, ophthalmia, defects of the eyelids and vision, hearing, the nose, teeth, and the cardiovascular system.