Science, Medicine, Mathematics, and Book Collecting from Jonathan A. Hill Bookseller

Jonathan A. Hill Bookseller has just released their Catalogue 236. The catalogue focuses on science and medicine, along with mathematics, and a few items on book collecting. There are many items of importance, sometimes monumental importance and rarity. This is not a catalogue for the faint-hearted collector, but for those with sufficiently deep pockets there are some spectacular items in this collection. Here are a few of them.

We will start with one of those spectacular items though it certainly didn't seem like much at the time it was published. The rarity can be explained by the heading, For Private Distribution, and more precisely, “for distribution among Members of the Cambridge Philosophical Society.” It explains, “The following pages contain Extracts from Letters addressed to Professor Henslow by C. Darwin, Esq.” The “C” stood for Charles. Perhaps people didn't know that. He was not a celebrity yet. It was 1835 and Darwin was off sailing around South America as the naturalist on the Beagle. Henslow got him appointed to that position. This was Darwin's first separately published work, but he didn't know about it. He had been writing letters to Henslow, his professor at Cambridge. Henslow was so impressed he read them to the Philosophical Society and published this printed copy of the letters. The result is that Darwin did have at least some reputation when he finally returned. At this time, Darwin had been gathering the evidence that later formed his theory of evolution, but it would still be several more years before it jelled in his mind and 25 years before he made it public. Item 17. Priced at $300,000.

This next item is more pricey than the last. At first you may wonder why. The book is Divina Proportione by Luca Paciola, published in 1509. It is a significant book on mathematical proportions and their application to proportions in art and architecture. It was influential in its day, while Paciola, a Franciscan brother, was also noted for mathematical texts and the development of double entry accounting. Still, there is something more here – the illustrations. The book contains 59 drawings of geometrical solids by Leonardo Da Vinci. It is an important source for the study of the great Italian polymath. Item 58. $475,000.

This book represents a major advancement in medical diagnostics. The title is Inventum Novum ex Percussione Thoracis Humani ut Signo Abstrusos Interni Pectoris Morbos Detegendi (A new invention from the stroke of the human thorax as a sign of rediscovering hidden internal chest diseases). The author was Leopold Auenbrugger, the publishing date 1761. Son of an innkeeper, Auenbrugger learned he could tell the wine level in a cask by tapping on the barrel. The sound varied with the amount of fluid therein. He discovered that by tapping on a patient's chest, he could diagnose certain lung and heart diseases. The sound varied based on whether there was fluid present, air, or solids. The process is known as chest percussion. Hill notes that this was the first advancement in physical diagnosis of illness since the age of Hippocrates, two millennia earlier. Item 6. $13,500.

Here is a detailed medical manuscript that Hill describes as “one of the most remarkable and seemingly contradictory items I have had.” It's not that there is anything wrong with the remedies, at least not by standards of the times when it was created (1775-1785). Obviously, you would not want to follow it too closely today, but it was prepared by someone knowledgeable for a time when things like bloodletting were considered good practice by physicians. The author was Maximus Fidelis Steigendesch of Swabia, in southern Germany. Hill notes “the present massive and imposing manuscript contains the largest and richest collection of pharmaceutical recipes I have yet encountered,” adding that it is arranged so as to be easy to use and the handwriting is neat and legible. The manuscript starts with a summary of medical history and explains the writer's deep family history with medicine. It includes diagnostic procedures such as taking the pulse, examining urine, bloodletting and analyzing the patient's diet. He then describes the preparation of various ointments, pills, powders, infusions and such for treatment. Finally, there is an extensive alphabetical list of medications and a listing of thousands of ailments affecting all parts of the body afflicting people of different ages, and pharmaceutical recipes to be used for each. Why is all this contradictory? Steigendesch was not a doctor. Rather, he was the local executioner. He came from a family of executioners whose job was to kill people, not heal them. However, there is an explanation for this. Hill said that it was not unusual for executioners of that time to provide medical advice. The explanation is executioners “had considerable knowledge of the human anatomy from their work as hangmen, beheaders, and torturers.” It was not unusual for them to become “executioner-bonesetters” and “executioner-physicians.” Item 69. $35,000.

This item takes us back to the earliest days of printing. This is the Catholicon, a Latin dictionary compiled by the Dominican Johannes Balbus, completed in 1286. Naturally, Balbus wasn't around to engage in the printing, but Johannes Gutenberg was, at least for the first impression. While there is still some question about the printing, it appears that the first issue was printed by Gutenberg in 1460. Gutenberg had lost his first shop to his creditor after printing his bible, but opened a smaller one later. This likely was his last book. Gutenberg came up with another advance in printing for this book. He created two-line “slugs” rather than using movable type as this allowed books to be reprinted without having to reset the type. Two other issues were printed of the Catholicon. The second impression was printed in 1669 by Gutenberg's former associate, Peter Schoffer. It is a copy of this printing that Hill is offering. A third issue followed in 1772. All of them look identical but use different paper. The Catholicon had a few firsts in printing. It was the first book to mention its printing location (Mainz) and the first printed secular book. Item 8. $600,000.

Jonathan A. Hill Bookseller may be reached at 917-294-2678 or jonathan@jonathanahill.com. The website is www.jonathanahill.com