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History of Medicine

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Banner for Odyssey of Knowledge: Medieval Manuscripts and Early Printed Books from the National Library of Medicine.

About the Collection

The collections of the National Library of Medicine (Bethesda, Maryland, USA) include 90 Western manuscripts written before 1601.

Many of the Library's manuscripts are recorded in Dorothy M. Schullian and Francis E. Sommer, A Catalogue of Incunabula and Manuscripts in the Army Medical Library (1950), and Seymour De Ricci and W.J. Wilson, Census of Medieval and Renaissance manuscripts in the United States and Canada (1935–1940), with a supplement by C.U. Faye and W.H. Bond in 1962.

Manuscripts on Display

Listed by De Ricci's Census Number

1 (14th century)
2 (Italy, 1485–86)
3 (13th century)
8 (ca. 1150)
11 (13th century)
12 (13th century)
14 (14th century)
21 (15th century)
23 (1434)
26 (15th century)
33 (Germany, 15th century)
36 (14th century)
40 (15th century)
78 (Oxford, mid-13th century)
81 (Florence, mid-16th century)
82 (Florence, mid-16th century)
A 27 (16th century)
A 45 (18th century [?])
A 69 (13th century)
P 2 (India, 17th century [?])
P 16 (17th century)

Printed books on display

Aristotle. De Animalibus. (Venice: Johann, von Köln, 1476). WZ 230 A716da 1476
Aristotle. Problemata. (Venice : Antonius de Strata, de Cremona, 24 Nov. 1488). WZ 230 A374p 1488
Hippocrates. De natura hominis. [Rome : Eucharius Silber, about 1483-1490] WZ 230 H667L 1483
Leoniceno. De Plinii et aliorum in medicina erroribus. (Ferrara : Laurentius de Rubeis, de Valentia, with Andreas de Grassis, de Castronovo, 18 Dec. 1492). WZ 230 L585dp 1492
Valla. [Collection]. (Venice : Simon Bevilaqua, 30 Sept. 1498). WZ 230 V175c 1498

Further Information

Medieval manuscripts at the National Library of Medicine

Early Western manuscripts at the National Library of Medicine

Islamic Medieval manuscripts at the National Library of Medicine



Last Reviewed: May 2, 2012