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RARE EDITION OF TWO MEDICAL WORKS
ON THE MYSTERY OF THE GOLDEN TOOTH AND SLEEPWALKING
HORST, Jacob. De Aureo Dente Maxillari Pueri Silesii, primum, utrum eius generatio naturalis fuerit, nec ne; Deinde an digna eius interpretatio dari queat.
INCLUDING: De Natura Differentiis et causis eorum, qui dormientes ambulant, vigilantium opera, eaq;...
Leipzig, (colophon: Michael Lanzenberger for:) Valentinus Voegelinus, 1595. Small 8vo. 2 parts in 1 volume. With 2 large woodcut vignette's. Nineteenth-century half vellum, red sprinkled edges, with interesting paper sides.
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Rare first combined edition of two medical works by Jacob Horst (1537-1600), professor of Medicine at the Julius University in Helmstadt, both published separately by the same publisher in 1593.
The first work is of special interest, being a rare early treatise on dentistry. In it Horst tried to solve the famous mystery of the golden tooth, which rumour would have it had erupted in the mouth of a child aged seven years, the first large molar on the left of the lower jaw. Horstius ascribed the phenomenon to supernatural causes, and thought it must be the precursory sign of the coming of the Golden Age, the last age of this world before universal judgment. After Horstius many other scholars discussed the question, some of them believing it to be an imposture, and still in 1695, a century later, a new dissertation appeared on the golden tooth. According to Guerini, an important conclusion can be drawn for the history of dental art, which is that as early as 1593 there was an artificer who knew how to construct a gold crown. The second work is on sleepwalking, a subject which from old seems to have greatly concerned parents and teachers, since much attention was given to it in early medical and educational literature.
Good copy, browned, with an ownerships inscription dated 1598 and some minor dampstains. Binding in good condition, worn spine with a small tear.
