Mercuriale - De Arte Gymnastica - 1587

THE FIRST PERSONAL TRAINER IN HISTORY: THE BODY AS THERAPY
The Venetian edition of 1587 of De Arte Gymnastica by Girolamo Mercuriale represents one of the absolute peaks of Renaissance medical-scientific literature. A foundational work of sports medicine, the treatise restores therapeutic dignity to physical exercise through a rigorous dialogue between classical sources, direct clinical observation, and a systematically arranged iconographic apparatus. Published while the author was still alive, this Giunta edition definitively consolidates the European fortune of the work and fixes its mature form, destined to influence for centuries the reflection on the relationship between movement, health, and prevention, well beyond the strictly medical sphere.
MARKET VALUE
In the international antiquarian market the Venetian edition of 1587 of De Arte Gymnastica generally falls in a bracket between 3,000 and 6,000 euros, depending on the quality and completeness of the iconographic apparatus, the structural solidity, and the state of preservation. The presence of complete woodcuts, the historical importance of the work as an act of birth of sports medicine, and the cross-disciplinary interest among the history of medicine, body science, and humanistic culture support a steady demand. Reported structural flaws and posthumous binding affect the valuation without compromising its collectible prominence.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Posthumous parchment binding. Ownership mark of Tommaso Codronchi of Imola, son of the physician Giovan Battista Codronchi (1547–1628), a significant testament to circulation within a medical-family milieu. Printer’s mark on the frontispiece and on the last leaf. Numerous woodcut engravings in the text, traditionally attributed to Pirro Ligorio from drawings by Cristoforo Coriolani, with an explanatory and didactic function. Presence of ancient marginal glosses, indicating active use of the volume. Part D5–6 detached (pp. 55–56). Small restorations at the corners of the first leaves, some tanning and slight traces of humidity. In ancient books, with a multi-century history, some imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. Pp. (2); 12mo; 308; 26pp; (2).
FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
De Arte Gymnastica Libri Sex.
Venice, apud Iiuntas, 1587.
Hieronymi Mercurialis.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
Written in 1569, De Arte Gymnastica marks the birth of modern sports medicine, re-evaluating physical exercise as a therapeutic, preventive, and regulative tool for health. Mercuriale critically rereads the gymnastic practices of Greco-Roman antiquity in light of Galenic medicine, distinguishing between salutary, harmful, and curative exercises, and adapting them to age, temperament, constitution, and specific pathological conditions. The iconographic apparatus is not merely ornamental: the images guide the reader in the practical understanding of movements, turning the book into a true operating manual intended for physicians, educators, and the aristocracy. This edition of 1587 reflects the phase of full theoretical maturity of the work and disseminates its model throughout Europe, influencing preventive medicine, physical education, and the culture of the body up to the modern era.
BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Girolamo Mercuriale was born in Forlì in 1530 and died in 1606. A physician, philologist, and humanist, he was among the leading interpreters of Renaissance medicine founded on the critical revival of classical sources. He taught in Padua, Bologna, and Pisa and served as court physician. De Arte Gymnastica is universally considered his masterpiece and one of the most influential texts in the history of preventive medicine.
PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
The first edition of De Arte Gymnastica appeared in Venice in 1569 with a dedication to Cardinal Alessandro Farnese. Subsequent enlarged and corrected reissues followed between 1569 and 1573, later dedicated to Emperor Maximilian II, and an important Paris edition in 1577. The Venetian editions of 1587 and 1601 were published while Mercuriale was still alive and represent the most authoritative textual tradition. After the author’s death, late reissues appeared in 1644 and 1672, the latter with interpolations and updates not always faithful to the original text.
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
EDIT16, census of Italian XVIth-century editions: Mercuriale, De Arte Gymnastica (to be verified for specific collation).
ICCU – OPAC SBN: records of the Venetian editions 1569, 1573, 1587, 1601.
Siraisi, N. G., Medieval & Early Renaissance Medicine, Chicago, 1990, pp. 185–198.
Siraisi, N. G., Medicine and the Italian Universities, Leiden, 2001, pp. 312–320.
Singer, C., A Short History of Medicine, Oxford, 1928, pp. 203–208.
Wear, A., Knowledge and Practice in English Medicine, Cambridge, 2000, pp. 45–48 (on Mercuriale’s European reception).
Grafton, A., Defenders of the Text, Cambridge, 1991, pp. 214–218 (on philological method applied to medicine).
Thorndike, L., A History of Magic and Experimental Science, New York, vol. V, pp. 476–482 (on the relationship between body, science, and ancient tradition).