AURELIANUS, CAELIUS. Fl.420.


Tardarum Passionum, Libri V. Basel: Henricus Petrus, 1529. 4to (288 x 189). Rebacked retaining early calf top and bottom covers. Wear, light dampstaining.Provenance: Dr. Gordon M. Jones (bookplate).FIRST EDITION of Caelius Aurelianus' Latin translation from Greek texts of Soranus of Ephesus. The writings of Soranus represent the pinnacle of Graeco-Roman medical literature. In it are descriptions of the symptoms of numerous diseases, including coronary artery disease, atrial fibrillation, coronary thrombosis, and one of the earliest descriptions of epilepsy. "In Caelius Aurelianus' book one is astonished to find, as early as the fifth century A.D., a very detailed account of circulatory failure and a discussion of its causes ... He also seems to have observed cases of shock which accompany acute onset of atrial fibrillation. He discussed the possible differentiation between primary diseases of the stomach or heart. The cardinal symptoms of acute coronary thrombosis also can be found in these chapters.... He was guided by his clinical instinct and the knowledge of earlier writers. He left us a more detailed description of his various observations than any other medical writer of antiquity" (Rudolph Siegel, American Journal of Cardiology, volume 7, pp 427-431, 1961. Durling 358; Garrison-Morton 1959.1; Norman 386.