Amatus Lusitanus (pseudonym of João Rodrigues). Curationum Medicinalium Centuriae duae (collection of medical case histories).

AUCTION 40 | Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 1:00

Fine Judaica: Printed Books, Manuscripts, Autograph Letters, Graphic & Ceremonial Art

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Lot 169

(MEDICINE).

Amatus Lusitanus (pseudonym of João Rodrigues). Curationum Medicinalium Centuriae duae (collection of medical case histories).

<<FIRST EDITION.>> Headpieces. Floriated initials. Marginalia in Latin and French. ff. (16), 230, (2 blanks), (15), (1 blank), 150, (1). Light stains, marginal worming, some underlining in ink. Tree calf, gilt extra, lacking top and bottom portions of spine. 12mo. Not in Adams; Friedenwald (1946), p. 36.

Paris: Sebastian Niuelli 1554

Est: $1,500 - $2,500

Amatus Lusitanus (1511-1568?), arguably the most distinguished physician of his age, was a Marrano, born in Castello Branco, Portugal, who openly returned to Judaism in Ancona, Italy. Always one step ahead of the Inquisition, Amatus finally fled to the friendlier clime of Ottoman Salonica, where it is believed, he succumbed to plague in 1568. See Harry Friedenwald, The Jews and Medicine I (1967), pp. 332-380; Natalia Berger (ed.) Jews and Medicine (Philadelphia, 1995), pp. 89-97.