Rare second authorized edition of Boerhaave's collection of prescriptions referring to his Aphorismi. It is a word-for-word exact reprint of Severinus first edition of the Materia medica of 1719; the copies of both editions were signed by the publisher; the apparently pirated editions of 1720 and 1721, both in Leiden and in Paris, were not.
A year after Boerhave published his main work, his Institutiones medicae (1708) and his Aphorismi de cognoscendis et curandis morbis came out in 1709. The Aphorismi is a collection of short pronouncements concerning the diagnosis and therapy of various diseases. If possible this work was still more in demand than the previous one, the Instititiones medicae, and numerous editions and translations spread the fame of its author all over Europe (Lindeboom, nrs. 143-197).
In the Aphorismi no exact prescriptions were given. The unauthorized printing of them by some of his English students forced Boerhaave to publish a collection of corrected and supplemented prescriptions referring to his teachings in the Aphorismi himself as Libellus de materia medica in 1719.
In order to guarantee the authenticity of the Libellus de materia medica he made the publisher Severinus sign personally every copy (as he did also in our copy). The small book ran to 259 pages and was provided with an extensive index. It was eagerly received and was frequently reprinted, even after Boerhaave's death. The last edition appeared in 1776.
Herman Boerhaave (1668-1738), was the central figure of European medicine and the greatest clinical, or bedside teacher of his time. He spent the whole of his professional life at the University of Leiden, serving as professor of botany of medicine, rector of the university, professor of practical medicine, and professor of chemistry.
Upper margin of the title-page repaired, slightly foxed and soiled, otherwise in good condition. Blake, p. 54; BMGC, III, p. 758; Lindeboom, 285; Lindeboom, Dutch med. biogr., 179/186; Wellcome II, 189; cf. Heirs of Hippocrates 741; Boerhaave tentoonstelling (Leiden 1968), p. 18.