Oribasio - Collectorum Medicinalium - 1555

ORIBASIO ALDINO: GIULIANO’S MEDICINE RISES IN VENICE
THE MEDICINE OF THE APOSTATE: BETWEEN GALEN AND PAOLO MANUZIO
Elegant Aldine edition of the medical works of Oribasius, personal physician to Emperor Julian the Apostate, a central figure in the transmission of Greco-Roman medical science to the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Printed in Venice by Paolo Manuzio, the work fits into the editorial program of the Aldine type foundry aimed at disseminating classical and scientific texts in a portable format and philologically curated. A specimen in contemporaneous parchment binding, a living testimony to the use and circulation of a fundamental text in the history of medicine.
MARKET VALUE
Aldine sixteenth-century editions, especially in octavo format and with contemporaneous binding, are consistently appreciated in the rare-book market. The Greek medical works, less common than literary classics, hold particular interest for collectors of the history of science. A complete copy in similar conditions generally trades in a range between 1,500 and 2,000 euros, with variations tied to paper freshness and binding sturdiness.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Contemporaneous soft parchment binding with stab stitching; traces of two bands; signs of wear. Aldine printer’s device on the title page. Marginal handwritten notes. Decorated initials. Pages with some browning and foxing. A numbering error on the last leaf. In old books with a long history, some imperfections may be present that are not always noted in the description. Pp. 8nn; 250.

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Collectorum Medicinalium libri XVII.
Venetiis, apud Paulum Manutium Aldi F., [1555].
Oribasio.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
Oribasius (4th century AD), a Greco-Roman physician from Pergamum, compiled extensive medical collections drawn from Galen and other classical authors. His Collecta medicinalia, organized in several books, formed a fundamental instrument for the transmission of ancient medical knowledge, especially in the Byzantine world.
The Aldine edition represents a key moment in the humanistic revival of Grecian medicine, when Venice emerged as a primary center for publishing scientific texts in their original language. The octavo format, typical of the later Manuzio productions, made the work easily consultable by doctors and scholars.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Oribasius (c. 320–400 AD) was a physician and friend of Emperor Julian. Author of extensive medical compilations, he gathered and synthesized the doctrines of Galen and other Grecian doctors, preserving numerous fragments of otherwise lost works. His work profoundly influenced Byzantine medicine and, through Latin translations, the medieval Western medical tradition.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
Printed by Paolo Manuzio, heir to the Aldine workshop, the edition belongs to the strand of Greek and scientific publications of the Venetian press in the mid-16th century. It served as a model for the Paris edition of Torresano of 1555, confirming the central role of the Aldine enterprise in the European circulation of classic medical texts.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
EDIT16 (to be verified with the specific CNCE number of the edition).
Adams, O-558 (for sixteenth-century editions of Oribasius, to be verified with collation).
Renouard, Annales de l’imprimerie des Alde, for Paolo Manuzio editions.
ICCU/OPAC SBN, locations of the Venetian edition.