Breve compendio di maravigliosi segreti approvati e pratticati con felice successo nelle indispositioni corporali

Book Description

Milano: Gioseffo Marelli, 1666. References: Aboca Museum, 144; Thorndike VII, 595. 12mo (14 cm) [20], 346, [2] pages. Woodcut ornaments. Bound in contemporary vellum over boards, expertly rebacked. Well-thumbed text, foxed and dampstained. Owner's inscription on rear pastedown. Popular medical recipe book of home remedies (emetics, plasters, purges, antidiarrhea infusions, and so on), including tobacco soup for depression. Lizard blood mixed with tears, powdered coral and red clay makes a good clotting agent. There is also an essay on physiognomy (a slender neck signifies a penchant for betrayal), a chapter on mixing paints (!), a chapter on astrological traits, in short, a wide-ranging compendium of lore, some of it medicinal. The text first appeared in 1655, and was reprinted in succeeding decades with substantial alterations by several different printers.

Not sure what some of these terms mean? Look it up in our glossary.