Girolamo Mercuriale - Responsa Medicinalia - 1620

THE DOCTOR AND THE PHILOSOPHER: THE HIDDEN KNOWLEDGE IN THERAPEUTIC PRACTICE
A work of great significance in Girolamo Mercuriale’s output, the Consultationes et responsa medicinalia represents one of the high points of practical medicine between the 16th and 17th centuries, configuring as a vast repertoire of clinical cases, medical opinions, and therapeutic reflections based on Galenic tradition and direct experience. The Venetian edition of 1620, enriched by the annotations of Ludovico Mundini, testifies to the vitality of a medical knowledge that moves between classical erudition and empirical observation, offering a concrete snapshot of Renaissance clinical practice now projected toward modernity. The frontispiece, strongly symbolic, visually conveys the authority and dignity of the physician-philosopher, mediator between nature, body, and reason.
MARKET VALUE
The sixteenth- and seventeenth-century editions of Mercuriale’s Consultationes show a modest but steady presence on the antiquarian market, with values generally ranging from 900 to 1,800 euros depending on completeness, condition, and presence of the engraved frontispiece. Well-preserved copies, with wide margins and contemporary bindings, can reach or exceed 2,000 euros, while defective copies or those with evident restorations tend to sit at the lower end of the range.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
In folio; frontispiece printed in red and black with a large central allegorical copperplate vignette; text in two columns; presence of final indices. Paper of good quality, typical of Venetian production of the early Seicento; occasional foxing and marginal browning; some stains. Contemporary full parchment binding, signs of wear, spine refurbished with part of an ancient manuscript antifonary on parchment, front board loose.
Collation: π² a–z⁶ A–Z⁶ Aa–Zz⁶ Aaa–Zzz⁶ (continuous sequence with alphabetical catchwords for each volume)
Pagination:
Vol. I: [16], 148;
Vol. II: [24], 185;
Vol. III: [52], 130.
In ancient books, with a multisecondary history, some imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description.
FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Hieronymi Mercurialis Foroliviensis, philosophi et medici celeberrimi, Consultationes et Responsa Medicinalia, tribus tomis comprehensa; postrema hac editione a Mundino Mundinio philosopho et medico Vincentino annotationibus exornata;
Venetiis, apud Iacobum de Francisciis, 1620
Girolamo Mercuriale

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
The Consultationes by Mercuriale sit within the tradition of medical responsa, a genre that gathers professional opinions formulated on concrete cases, often requested by patients or other physicians. In these pages one sees a medicine still strongly anchored in the authority of the classics — primarily Galen and Hippocrates — yet already oriented toward greater attention to observational data and the specificity of the clinical case. The work thus constitutes a bridge between humanist medicine and the earliest forms of modern medicine, offering an extraordinary repertoire of diagnoses, prognoses, and therapies. Mundini’s annotations update and expand the text, making it an even more useful tool for medical practice of the time. The iconographic apparatus of the frontispiece, with allegorical figures and symbols of wisdom and care, reinforces the idea of the physician as interpreter of nature’s secrets.
BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Girolamo Mercuriale (1530–1606), born in Forlì, was one of the most important physicians and humanists of the Renaissance. Professor at Padua, Bologna and Pisa, he is best known for De arte gymnastica (1569), a foundational treatise on sport medicine and body hygiene. His humanistic formation led him to marry the study of classical texts with medical practice, contributing to a profound renewal of the discipline. His works were widely distributed throughout Europe and influenced medicine for over a century.
PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
The Consultationes et responsa medicinalia were first published at the end of the 16th and early 17th centuries, with various reprints and enlargements. The Venetian edition of 1620 is among the most complete and up-to-date, thanks to Mundini’s editorial input. Venice, a primary printing center, ensured broad dissemination of the work in European academic and professional circuits, making it a reference text for physicians and scholars.
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
EDIT16 (for Mercuriale’s Italian editions, related entries); ICCU/OPAC SBN (search for “Mercuriale, Consultationes”, Venice 1620 edition, copies held in Italian libraries); WorldCat (Hieronymus Mercurialis, Consultationes et responsa medicinalia, Venice 1620); Wellcome Collection Library Catalogue (records relating to sixteenth-century editions); NLM (National Library of Medicine) historic catalog; Adams, Catalogue of Books Printed on the Continent of Europe, M-1350 ca.; Durling, Catalogue of Sixteenth Century Printed Books in the National Library of Medicine, no. 3083 et seq. (for earlier editions); Garrison-Morton, Medical Bibliography, no. 1986 (for Mercuriale and his complete work).