An Interactive Annotated World Bibliography of Printed and Digital Works in the History of Medicine and the Life Sciences from Circa 2000 BCE to 2022 by Fielding H. Garrison (1870-1935), Leslie T. Morton (1907-2004), and Jeremy M. Norman (1945- ) Traditionally Known as “Garrison-Morton”

15959 entries, 13943 authors and 1935 subjects. Updated: March 1, 2024

SIMON GENUENSIS, (Simon a Cordo; Simon Januensis; Simon of Genoa)

2 entries
  • 6788

Synonyma medicinae, seu clavis sanationis.

Milan: Antonio Zarothus, 1473.

The first printed medical dictionary. It was originally published at Ferrara, 1471-2?, of which the only recorded copy is a fragment of 21 leaves in the Bodleian Library. ISTC No. is00526000. “The great work of Simon Januensis, physician, sub-deacon and capellanus to Pope Nicolas IV, called Clavis Sanationis by his friend the mathematician Campanus to whom he inscribed it, is better known as Synonyma Medicinae. In the preface he tells of thirty years of labour devoted to the work and of arduous travels in search of knowledge .. The authorities quoted show the working library of a physician at the beginning of the thirteenth century ... Most of the terms are briefly defined, and longer accounts with references to authors are given of the more important drugs, as of the poppy, taken chiefly from Dioscorides. Arabic and Greek names are about equally divided. No classification of drugs is attempted, but under such terms as “coloris” and “oleum” long lists are given. The ophthalmic definitions are excellent and taken, as a rule, from Demosthenes, whose works were then available” (Osler, quoted by Deborah Coltham, 02-2017). Digital facsimile of the 1473 edition from BnF Gallica at this link. Simon's lexicon is being edited and translated into English as a wiki project at Simon Online.



Subjects: Dictionaries, Biomedical › Lexicography, Biomedical, MEDIEVAL MEDICINE , MEDIEVAL MEDICINE › Italy
  • 1790

Breviarium medicinae. Tr: Gerardus Cremonensis. Add: Serapion the Younger: In medicinis simplicibus. Tr: Simon a Cordo Januensis and Abraham Judaeus Tortuosiensis. Galenus: De virtute centaureae; Johannes Platearius: Practica brevis; Matthaeus Platearius: De simplici medicina "Circa instans".

Venice: Bonetus Locatellus, for Octavianus Scotus, 1497.

Serapion the Elder and Serapion the Younger were Syrian Christians who wrote in Arabic. Breviarum medicinae was an abridgement of the opinions of the Greek and Arabic physicians concerning diseases and their treatment. It also includes transcriptions from Alexander of Tralles, an author with whom few of the other Arabic writers seem to have been much acquainted.

Matthaeus Platearius, a physician from Salerno, is thought to have produced a twelfth-century Latin manuscript on medicinal herbs titled "Circa Instans" aka ("The Book of Simple Medicines"), later translated into French as "Le Livre des simples medecines." It was an alphabetic listing and textbook of simples that was based on Dioscorides "Vulgaris", which described the appearance, preparation, and uses of various drugs. Matthaeus Platearius and his brother Johannes were the sons of a female physician from the Salerno school who was married to Johannes Platearius I; it is possible that she was Trotula. ISTC No. is00466000. Digital facsimile from the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek at this link.



Subjects: BOTANY, BYZANTINE MEDICINE, MEDIEVAL MEDICINE , MEDIEVAL MEDICINE › Italy, MEDIEVAL MEDICINE › Italy › Schola Medica Salernitana, PHARMACOLOGY › PHARMACEUTICALS › Materia medica / Herbals / Herbal Medicines