Talbot / Unterkircher - Codex Vindobonensis 93 - 1978

ANCIENT MEDICINE AS A LUXURY OBJECT: SPLENDID FACSIMILE OF THE IMPERIAL MANUSCRIPT
This facsimile of Codex Vindobonensis 93 is not a mere reproduction, but an editorial object built to evoke the prestige and sanctity of the original manuscript kept in Vienna. The combination of the iconographic apparatus, symbolic full-leather binding, with case, and limited edition turns the volume into a representative work, where ancient medicine is restored as aristocratic knowledge, almost initiatic. The presence of precise numbering and a detailed editorial colophon places the exemplar within a conscious collecting logic, typical of the great editorial operations of the second half of the twentieth century devoted to illuminated codices.
MARKET VALUE
Numered copies of this 1978 edition, especially those complete with case and in excellent condition, generally range between 800 and 1,500 euros, with higher figures for copies particularly well preserved or belonging to special editions with original engraving. The presence of numbering and the original editorial page positively affect the collectible value.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION - COLLECTOR'S COPY
In Folio - Large volume in editorial full-leather honey-colored binding, blind-stamped with geometric frames and central caduceus; spine with the title MEDICINA ANTIQUA in gold; preserved in a rigid case. Inside is the original editorial page of the Collection Musée du Livre. Copy numbered 182. Limited edition of 4,700 numbered copies (plus 100 in Roman numerals). About 220 cards (unpaginated). As new.

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Medicina Antiqua. Facsimile of the Codex Vindobonensis 93, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Wien.
French translation based on the studies of Charles H. Talbot and Franz Unterkircher; Latin to English translation by Marthe Dulong.
Edition: Club du Livre, Paris, 1978 (Collection Musée du Livre).

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
The Codex Vindobonensis 93 represents one of the most fascinating testimonies of late antique and early medieval medicine, renowned for its figurative apparatus where architecture, symbolism, and therapeutic knowledge fuse. The miniatures do not merely illustrate the text; they reinterpret it as a visual system: pavilions, temples, and scenic structures become metaphors for the body and care.
This 1978 edition fits into the era of large European facsimile reproductions, when cultivated publishers sought to restore not only the content but also the aesthetic experience of the manuscript. The reference to the Collection Musée du Livre underlines the intention to transform the volume into a museum object. The numbering of the exemplar reinforces this dimension: not a consultative book, but a collectible good with a precise identity within the edition.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Not applicable in the traditional sense. The Codex Vindobonensis 93 is a composite manuscript, the product of late antique and Byzantine medical tradition, probably linked to the transmission of texts derived from Dioscorides and other classical authors, reworked in a medieval environment.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
The edition was completed on June 12, 1978, at Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt (Graz), one of the leading European centers for high-quality facsimile production, and bound in Paris at the J. Ardouin ateliers. Total edition of 4,700 numbered copies from 1 to 4700, plus 100 luxury copies numbered in Roman numerals (I–C), accompanied by an original copper engraving by Brigitte Coudrain. Some off-market copies were also produced for edition collaborators.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
– Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna, Cod. Vindob. 93 (codicological card of the manuscript)
– Talbot, C.H., Medicine in Medieval England, London, 1967, pp. 45-72
– Unterkircher, F., Die datierten Handschriften der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek, Wien, vol. I, pp. 112-115
– Dulong, M., trad. fr. Medicina Antiqua, Club du Livre, Paris, 1978 (introduction)
– ICCU / OPAC SBN: searches for “Medicina Antiqua 1978 Club du Livre” and “Codex Vindobonensis 93”
– Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, editorial catalogs of facsimiles (the ’70s)