Antall József szerk.: Pictures from the Past of the Healing Arts / Orvostörténeti Közlemények – Supplementum 5. (Budapest, 1972)

The Medical Historical Library

One of the greatest early Hungarian medical writers was János Zsámboki (Sambucus) (1531-1584) the humanist scholar who was professor at the University of Bologna and court physician in Vienna. 44 works are attributed to him, the most significant of which are to be found in our library. His work entitled Embléma a was published in Antwerp in 1564 in the Plantin printing house. (Fig. 125.). Zsámboki edited Petrus Ranzanus's work entitled Epitome rerum Ungaricarum (Vienna, Rafael, Hofhalter, 1558). This volume contains Zsámboki's report on the defense of Eger in 1552 and the first siege of Szigetvár. The publication of Antonius Bonfini's Symposion Triemeron is also connected with his name (Basle, 1572). Péter Melius (Horhi) Juhász (1536-1572), one of the leading personalities of Calvinism in Hungary, beside several religious and polemical works compiled a Herbarium based on Galen, Pliny and Lonicerus, which was published in Kolozsvár in 1578 by Gáspár Heltai. This volume is fragmentary, the missing pages are replaced with handwritten ones. Tamás Jordán (1539-1585), doctor of medicine, was born at Kolozsvár and is author of the work Pestis phenomena

, published in Francfort 1576. János Jeszenszky (Jessenins) (1566-1621) the famous physician, professor of medicine and diplomat is also present with his works, the most outstanding ones being his "

Anweisung zur Wųñđar zñeÿ published in Nuremberg in 1674 and ... Nove cognoscendi morbos metĥódus

... (Wittenberg, 1601). Sámuel Spielenberger was chief medical officer at Lőcse at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries and wrote a thesis on the Alorbus Hungaricus (Theses de morbo hungarico)

. It was published in Basle 1597. A significant book is János Lippaÿs work (Jesuit friar and teacher - 1

606-1666) entitled Posonikert

, Veteményes kert, Gyümölcsös kert (Pozsony garden, Kitchen garden, Fruit-garden). The composite volume written in Hungarian was published in Nagyszombat and Vienna in 1664 and 1667. Other works representing special value: János Apáczai Csere (1625-1659): Magyar Encyclopaedia (Hungarian encyclopaedia) published in Utrecht in 1653; several editions of Pax corporis written by Ferenc Pápai Páriz (1649-1716) the famous doctor of medicine and professor at Nagyenyed. (The earliest edition was published at Kolozsvár in 1690); György Felvinczi's (150-1715) translation of the work "De conservanda Bona valetudine liber

" written by the medical school of Salerno. The Hungarian translation was edited by the Brewer press at Lőcse in 1694; Concilium međieųrn de çųranda peste cum praedervationibus written by Ottó Moller Károly (16701747), physician at Besztercebánya, in Latin (1709), its German translation was published in 1739; the Hungarian translation was made by Dániel Per itzi in 1740. Mention should be made of György Wernĥer's work De admirandis aquis hypomnemation published in Vienna in 1561. This work by the captain of Eperjes is preserved only in photo copy in the library but it is one of the earliest sources on balneology in Hungary.