A mirror for medicine : some resources of the Wellcome Institute Library an exhibition, Monday 19 October - Friday 18 December 1987.
- Wellcome Historical Medical Library
- Date:
- 1987
Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Credit: A mirror for medicine : some resources of the Wellcome Institute Library an exhibition, Monday 19 October - Friday 18 December 1987. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![WESTERN MANUSCRIPTS The collection of western manuscripts provides a unique resource for the study of European medicine and science from the 3rd century A.D. to recent times. The manuscripts on display show the wide range of the collection in both date and subject matter. 1. Pseudo-Galen. Anathomia; Anathomia porci. England. Mid 15th cen- tury. Written in Middle English, this manuscript contains vulgarised versions of two anatomical texts. Both are attributed here to Galen. The first derives, in fact, from the Practica of Lanfranc of Milan, while the second is a version of the anatomy of the pig, attributed elsewhere to the Salernitan author Copho. The texts are finely illuminated, and accompanied by a remarkable series of illustra- tions showing the external surfaces of the body, the skeleton and nerves, 'wound man', and 'disease woman'. 2. Ein buech zusarnen gezogen ... wie ain zeughauss samb aller Mo- nition anhaimisch gehalten soil werdn .... Germany. Mid 16th century. This work on artillery describes how to keep an arsenal and ammunition in good order, and how to make gunpowder. It is illustrated with coloured drawings of fire-balls, bombs, incendiary arrows, cannons and other instruments of war. At the end are five folding plates showing an artillery train on the march. 3. Galileo Galilei [1564-1642]. Letters to Galileo from various correspon- dents, 1592-1641. The western manuscripts include a large quantity of correspondence of doctors and scientists. The greater part dates from the 18th and 19th centuries, but amongst earlier correspondence is a group of forty original letters received by Galileo in the years 1592-1641. The earliest letter, dated 25 September 1592, is from the Paduan collector and patron of scholarship Gian Vincenzo Pinelli [1535-1601]. 4. Caspar Magninus. De linearum, nervorumque prognostico faciei hu- manae contingentmm. Italy. Mid 17th century. This work on physiognomy is illustrated by numerous pen and wash drawings of heads. It purports to show how facial characteristics indicate a man's moral nature and reveal his fortune. The faces on f.20v indicate a bad moral char- acter (above), and ingenuousness and probity (below). Those on f.21r show a changeable, deceitful character with unstable wealth (above), and riches and good fortune (below). Other predictions are more specific. One face foretells death in the galleys at the age of 39; another syphilis, loss of a testicle, and misfortune in marriage.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b20456852_0013.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
