Examen omnium Syruporum, quorum publicus usus est. Omnia ab autore recognite cum indice
Lyon: Apud Ioannem Pullonum è Tridino, 1545. Fourth Edition. Hardcover. Sammelband: combined with Examen omnium Simplicium medicatorum, in officinis usus est. addita sunt insuper Aristotelis Problemata, que ad stirpium genus & ole racea pertinent; Lyon: Apud Guilielmum de Millis, 1544. Antonio Musa Brasavola’s Examen omnium Syruporum (translated: Examination of All Syrups in Public Use) is a pharmacological and therapeutic treatise that systematically examines the preparation, composition, and medical applications of syrups widely used in 16th-century European medicine. Published in 1545 in Ferrara, this work is part of Brasavola’s larger campaign to organize, critique, and reformulate Galenic pharmacy using empirical observation and rational method. Syrups, derived from honey or sugar-based decoctions, were among the most common dosage forms for delivering drugs, especially for internal use in treating humoral imbalances. Brasavola evaluates each syrup known to apothecaries at the time — their ingredients, methods of preparation, indications, dosages, and expected outcomes. He critiques inconsistencies, clarifies ambiguities, and offers corrected or standardized formulas, drawing from both Galenic tradition and his own clinical experience.
The work is notable for being both descriptive and polemical: Brasavola identifies many errors in contemporary practice and attempts to restore the authority of classical sources while advocating for rigorous pharmaceutical method.
It includes a detailed index of syrups, and the edition of 1545 is revised ("omnia ab autore recognita").
The book Examen omnium simplicium medicamentorum, quae in officinis usus est (Ferrara, first published in 1536) is a treatise that examines all the simple medicinal substances (i.e., single-ingredient drugs) commonly used in Renaissance apothecaries. Drawing heavily on classical authorities such as Galen, Dioscorides, and Avicenna, Brasavola systematically reviews the identity, origin, properties, and therapeutic uses of botanical, mineral, and animal-derived remedies. This was one of the first efforts in early modern Europe to standardize and critically assess materia medica based on both textual tradition and practical observation. The appended "Aristotelis Problemata"—a set of pseudo-Aristotelian medical and natural philosophical questions—reflects Brasavola’s broader humanist aim of linking learned inquiry with empirical practice.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Antonio Musa Brasavola, an Italian physician, was born Jan. 16, 1500. After studying natural philosophy, medicine and logic in Bologna and Padua (where he had among his teachers Niccolo Leoniceno), Brasavola returned to Ferrara with the intention of practicing medicine, and befriended Duke Alfonso I, who was interested in pharmacology; upon his suggestion he then published a treatise in that field.
After the death of Alfonso, he became physician to his son Hercule II; he presented some innovative pharmacological dissertations on lemons and vinegar, using Guaiaco in the care of syphilis, and the use opium, china, coca, stramonium and atropa. He later became a physician to Francis I, Charles V, Henry VIII, and Pope Paul III, and had among his disciples Gabriele Falloppio. Brasavola is credited with first separating botany from medicine by doing two distinct sciences. In Ferrara he collected a real collection of medicinal plants from all over the world, dedicating himself to the development of the botanical garden. In his honour was named Brassavola, a kind of orchidaceous of Central and South America.
Historians of medicine note that he was the first to perform a tracheotomy, sometime before 1546. He died in 1555.
BOOK DETAILS AND CONDITION:
8vo Contemporary (16th century) black morocco incised designs on boards and spine, raised bands, edges of pages gilt. I: 2 blank leaves, title page, pp 3-231, 6 (1) pp (contents), blank. II: 16 leaves (including title page, Dedication, Epistle, Poem, Table of Contents), pp 1-530 (530 misprinted as 520 ), 7 leaves index. Occasional neat marginal notes (p 19 in II: drawn hand as pointer to underlined material). Binding generally VG for its age: some cracking, very slight separation (2 inches) top front hinge, rear hinge worn. Title page of I missing small section (repaired, no loss of words). In II, final page of index missing about 1/3 of page (repaired with loss of words and losses to colophon on verso). Internally VG.
RARITY:
This 1545 Lyon edition is extremely rare. USTC lists only three extant library copies, all in Continental Europe. Has appeared at auction once in the last century (RBH).
REFERENCES:
Neville (I 221-2) has the Venice 1545 edition of the Simplicium medicatorum (first edition, Rome, 1534). Thorndike (V, 445-471) devotes Chapter 20 to Brasavola; Partington (II 96-7) discusses chemical content and import of this work. Very Good / No Jacket. Item #EBS100219
Price: $2,700.00