SECRETI DIVERSI ET MIRACOLOSI
RACCOLTI DAL FALOPIA
& APPROBATI DA ALTRI MEDICI DI GRAN FAMA
NUOVAMENTE RISTAMPATI & A COMUN BENEFICIO DI CIASCUNO DISTINTI IN TRE LIBRI
NEL PRIMO DE QUALI SI CONTIENE IL MODO DI FARE DIVERSI OLII, CEROTI, UNGUENTI, ONTIONI, ELETTUARII, PILLOLE, & INFINITI ALTRI MEDICAMENTI
NELS ECONDOS'INSEGNA A FARE ALCUNE FORTI DI VINI & ACQUE MOLTO SALUTIFERE
NEL TERZO SI CONTENGON ALCUNI IMPORTANTISSIMI SECRETI DI ALCHIMIA & ALCUNI ALTRI SECRETI DILETTEVOLI & CURIOSI
IN VENETIZ
APPRESSO CAMILLO FRANCESCHINI 1582
Scarce edition of 1582 of this amazing book of segrets attribuited to the anatomist Gabriele Falloppio (1523-1562).
The work was published for the first time in 1563.
The author ws surgeonm pharmacologist, teacher of pharmaceutical in Ferrara, of anatomy in Pisa and of surgical anatomy and botany in Padoa.
The studies about female apparatus are very famous. He told he invented the preservative as a system against syphilis.
The first part is totally dedicated to preparations and remedies of medicine.
Then sergets, curiosities and alchemic recipes many of them how to transform metals in gold.
"Underlying these works was the assumption that nature was a repository of occult forces that might be manipulated, not by the magus's cunning, but merely by the use of correct techniques. The utilitarian character of the books of secrets gave concrete substance to this claim. Unlike the recondite treatises on the philosophical foundations of magic, which barely touched base with the real world, the books of secrets were grounded upon a down-to-earth, experimental outlook: they did not affirm underlying principles but taught 'how to.' Hence they seemed to hold forth a real and accessible promise of power. What they revealed were recipes, formulas, and 'experiments' associated with one of the crafts or with medicine: for example, instructions for making quenching waters to harden iron and steel, recipes for mixing dyes and pigments, 'empirical' remedies, cooking recipes, and practical alchemical formulas such as a jeweler or tinsmith might use. By the eighteenth century such 'secrets' were techniques and nothing more. In the sixteenth century, however, the term was still densely packed with its ancient and medieval connotations: the association with esoteric wisdom, the domain of occult or forbidden knowledge, the artisan's cunning. and the political power that attended knowledge of secrets" (Eamon, Science and the Secrets of Nature, pp. 4-5).
Some handwritten notes in the edges and antique manuscript of recipes in the first white page.
Signature in the title page.
In good conditions.
Full parchment cover with handwritten title in the spine in good general conditions lightly worn in the extremities. Binding in fair conditions with light cracks. Inside pages are in good conditions with foxing. Light dumpt stains in the edges. In 16. cm 15x10. Pp. (12)+360.