Sorbit - Universa Medicina - 1672

IN FOLIO - 3 WORKS OF MEDICINE: PLAGUE, SYPHILIS, FEVER AND SURGERY - THE EMPRESS’S DOCTOR
Extraordinary seventeenth-century medical collection that brings together in a single volume three important works by Paul de Sorbait, one of the most authoritative physicians of the Habsburg Empire and professor at the University of Vienna.
Printed in Nuremberg in 1672 by the renowned Endter workshop, the work offers a comprehensive view of European medicine at the stage of transition between Galenic tradition and modern clinical observation. Physiology, therapeutic practice, syphilis, fevers, infant diseases, surgery and the university training of physicians converge in a monumental synthesis intended for medical professionals and academic libraries. Particularly interesting is the presence, in addition to the major medical treatise, of the rare Modus Promovendi Doctores in Archilyceo Viennensi, dedicated to teaching and promotion of doctors at the University of Vienna, a precious testimony to medical academic culture in Baroque Europe.
MARKET VALUE
Seventeenth-century medical collections containing multiple original works by Paul de Sorbait are considerably more interesting than the individual treatises isolated. Complete specimens in contemporaneous bindings kept on the international antiquarian market generally range between 900 and 1,500 euros, with higher prices for copies that are particularly fresh, complete, and with illustrious provenance.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
In folio. Contemporary full parchment binding with author, title and date handwritten on the spine. Pages with physiological browning, oxidation and sporadic traces of time. Final pages of the index trimmed and with some marginal tears. Genuine and substantially complete specimen of its original structure. In old books with a multigenerational history, some imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. Pp. (2); 30; 782; 38nn.
FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Paulus de Sorbait.
1. In Nomine SS. Triados. Tractatus Primus Physiologico-Practicus, in quo Theoria reducitur ad praxin et morborum a capite ad calcem cura methodice tractantur. Cum controversiis utilissimis singulis capitibus annexis. Tractatus Secundus De Lue Venerea. Tractatus Tertius De Febribus, de Morbis Puerorum, nec non Chirurgia cum Examine Chirurgico, de Modo Consultandi, Observationes quaedam rariores. Noribergae, Sumptibus Michaelis et Johannis Friderici Endterorum, 1672.
2. Modus Promovendi Doctores in Archilyceo Viennensi, tribus apologicis discursibus, in medicinae et medicorum encomia exornatus. Noribergae, Sumptibus Michaelis et Johannis Friderici Endterorum, 1672.
3. Universa Medicina. Noribergae, Sumptibus Michaelis et Johannis Friderici Endterorum, 1672.
CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
This collection exceptionally comprehensively documents the medical thought of Paul de Sorbait, a central figure of Habsburg medicine in the XVII century. The Physiologico-Practicus addresses the relationship between theory and clinical practice, systematically organizing diagnoses and treatments of the main known diseases. The tract De Lue Venerea constitutes one of the most interesting testimonies on the management of syphilis in modern Europe, while the De Febribus and the De Morbis Puerorum reflect the growing interest in disease classification and pediatric medicine. The surgical section completes the picture with practical observations aimed at field physicians.
Of notable historical interest is the Modus Promovendi Doctores, a rare university text that describes and celebrates the system of training and promotion of physicians at the University of Vienna. The work constitutes a primary source for the history of European medical education and offers a precious testimony of academic ceremonies, the organization of faculties and the social prestige of the medical profession in the full seventeenth century.
BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Paul de Sorbait (1624–1691) was born in the Low Countries and developed his career in Vienna, where he became professor of medicine, dean of the medical faculty and personal physician to Empress Eleonora Gonzaga. He was among the most authoritative exponents of academic medicine in Central Europe and gained particular notoriety for his studies on plague epidemics and contagious diseases. His works achieved wide dissemination in the Germanic and Habsburg areas, contributing to the training of generations of physicians.
PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
The works were printed in 1672 in Nuremberg by Michael and Johann Friedrich Endter, members of the renowned Endter typographic dynasty, one of the most important scientific workshops in seventeenth-century Germany. The Endters published numerous works on medicine, mathematics, astronomy and natural philosophy, contributing decisively to the diffusion of scientific culture in Protestant and Catholic Europe. Sorbait’s volumes were intended mainly for universities, institutional libraries and medical professionals, a circumstance that explains the relative rarity of copies preserved intact in contemporaneous bindings.
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
VD17 12:113588U.
VD17 12:113589M.
VD17 12:113590E.
Wellcome Collection, historical catalogs of Paul de Sorbait’s works.
National Library of Medicine, Historical Collections, Sorbait works.
Krivatsy, Catalogue of Seventeenth Century Printed Books in the National Library of Medicine.
Hirsch-Hübotter, Biographisches Lexikon der hervorragenden Ärzte aller Zeiten und Völker, vol. V, pp. 409-410.
Graesse, Trésor de livres rares et précieux, VI, p. 444.
ICCU / OPAC SBN, censimenti delle edizioni di Paul de Sorbait.
Osler Library, McGill University, Historical Medical Collections.
Norman, Catalogue of Rare Books and Manuscripts in the History of Medicine and the Sciences.
Blake, A Short Title Catalogue of Eighteenth Century Printed Books in the National Library of Medicine (for later editions and the author’s publishing fortune).