Baverius de Baveriis, 5 November 1489

BAVERIIS, Baverius de (1405–1480). Consilia medica, with additions by Marcus Antonius, Ludovicus de Baveriis and Philippus Beroaldus. Bologna: Franciscus (Plato) de Benedictis, for the sons of the author, 5 November 1489.

First edition of Baverius’ renowned medical casebook. ‘A striking feature of clinical medicine in the 14th and 15th centuries was the writing of consilia or medical casebooks, consisting of clinical records from the practice of well-known physicians' and these consilia 'usually run over the patient’s physical condition and disease, winding up with seasonable advice as to what to eat, what drugs to take and what to avoid' (Garrison). Physician to Pope Nicolas V and professor at Bologna, Baverius was highly respected and his Consilia was popular in print, being the first to describe temporal bone caries among other pathologies. HC 2712; BMC VI 824; BSB-Ink. B-242; CIBN B-189; GW 3739; Goff B-283; Klebs 163.1; ISTC ib00283000.

Chancery folio (304 × 203mm). 161 leaves (of 162, without final blank). Opening initial in pink and colors on a gold ground and with illuminated extension, coat-of-arms in lower margin, initials and paragraph marks alternating in red or blue, quire ‘et’ partly unopened (a few words on t3v rubbed, small marginal wormhole in first and last few quires, first and last few leaves a little stained and repaired). Remboitage re-using two Italian contemporary blindtooled goatskin sides over wooden boards, earlier flyleaf at front retained with note citing Orlandi. Provenance: occasional contemporary Italian annotation – unidentified coat of arms – Stonyhust College (stamp on first and final leaf; sold Sotheby’s, 18 June 2003).