Jacques Houllier - Omnia opera practica. - 1623

Omnia opera practica: Doctissimis eiusdem scholiis & observationibus illustrata: deinde Lud. Dureti ... in eundem enarrationibus, annotationibus, & Antonij Valetij ... exercitationibus luculentis / Accessit etiam ad calcem libri therapia puerperarum I. Le Bon ....

Quarto: [16] 584, 317 (misnumbered 315) [19] pages. In sturdy contemporary calf.

See Heirs of Hippocrates # 255.

This is the first edition of Houllier's work under this title. It includes both books of Houllier's text on internal medicine as well as texts on the plague, pharmaceutics, and surgery.

Jacques Houllier (1504?-1562) was among the most distinguished physicians of sixteenth-century France and served as a professor in the renowned Faculty of Medicine at Paris. A leading representative of Renaissance medical humanism, he advocated a return to the close study of Greek and Roman medical authorities, especially Hippocrates and Galen, while integrating them with bedside observation and practical experience. His lectures attracted students from across Europe, and his writings became standard medical texts for generations. The posthumous publication of Omnia opera practica (“Complete Practical Works”) reflects the high esteem in which he was held, as printers and editors continued to issue expanded editions more than sixty years after his death. The 1623 Geneva edition, printed by Jacob Stoer, represents a mature scholarly compilation designed for practicing physicians, medical students, and university teachers.

The contents of the volume reveal the breadth of early modern medicine. Houllier’s principal treatises address the diagnosis and treatment of internal diseases (De morbis internis), discussing disorders of major organs and bodily systems according to the prevailing Galenic framework of humors and temperaments. The work includes extensive material on fevers, respiratory illnesses, digestive disorders, neurological complaints, and chronic diseases, emphasizing symptoms, prognosis, and therapeutic regimens. Other sections treat surgery, wounds, ulcers, fractures, and practical medical procedures, demonstrating the close relationship between medicine and surgery before their modern separation. The volume also contains discussions of epidemic diseases, including plague, outlining methods of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment during periods of recurrent outbreaks. Pharmacological material describes the preparation and use of medicinal substances, compounds, and remedies, providing guidance on therapeutic practice. The edition is further enhanced by Houllier’s own scholia and observations, the detailed commentaries and annotations of Louis Duret (1527–1586), physician to the French crown, and the learned medical exercises of Antoine Valet, which clarify difficult passages and expand upon clinical applications. Finally, the appended Therapia puerperarum by Jean Le Bon focuses on pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum care, including the management of complications affecting mothers during the puerperal period.

The importance of Omnia opera practica lies in its value as a comprehensive handbook of Renaissance clinical medicine. Unlike purely theoretical medical texts, it was intended to guide physicians in everyday practice by combining medical doctrine with practical case-based instruction. The work illustrates how seventeenth-century physicians understood disease causation, bodily functions, therapeutics, and public health before the emergence of modern pathology and microbiology. Its discussions of epidemics, surgery, pharmaceutical preparations, and maternal care provide insight into the actual challenges faced by practitioners and patients in early modern Europe. Moreover, the inclusion of commentaries by Duret and Valet demonstrates the collaborative and cumulative nature of medical scholarship, showing how later physicians interpreted, corrected, and expanded earlier authorities.