Ein Newes hochnutzlichs Büchlin/ von erkantnüs der kranckeyten der Augen.
Strassburg, H. Vogtherr d.Ä. 1538.
4to. (194 x 141 mm.). [ii], [22]p. FULL-PAGE ANATOMICAL WOODCUT OF THE EYE, Vogtherr’s white-line self-portrait on the final verso.
19th-century German green and black marbled boards (worn, lacks label).
With: Fuchs, Leonhart. Ad I-II: First Editions: THE FIRST AND SECOND VERNACULAR BOOKS ON OPHTHALMOLOGY PUBLISHED IN THE WEST. Multiple members of the Vogtherr family — Heinrich the Elder, his brothers Bartholomaeus and Georg, and their father Conrad — were practicing oculists and contributed to both works, written for laymen and barber-surgeons.
Alle Kranckheyt der Augen. Strassburg, H. Vogtherr d.Ä. 1539. 4to. [ii], [22]p. A DIFFERENT FULL-PAGE ANATOMICAL WOODCUT OF THE EYE.
The woodcut of the optic nerve and external view and cross-section view of the eye (I) was cut by Vogtherr. The woodcut of the nerve and eye cross-section alone (II) was executed after his designs.
Both books address the anatomy and common diseases of the eye, including conjunctivitis, ophthalmitis, cataracts, corneal infections and vision loss. Both offer remedial therapies and pharmaceutical preparations from folk medicine — eye drops, ointments, powders, salves, distillations and tinctures — that require no exotic ingredients. No U.S. institution owns both works. In good condition (a few margins somewhat frayed, scattered minor spots and pale stains).
Ad I: Devoted to useful knowledge, the Booklet suggests preventative tips with a list of Do’s and Don’t’s and promises a “longer and better” version (tr.).
Ad II: That promise is fulfilled in All Illnesses, an unauthorized adaptation of a fugitive broadside in Latin by botanist and physician Leonhart Fuchs. This vernacular tract is more scientific than Vogtherr’s, enumerating additional diseases and employing Latin- and Greek-derived terminology.
¶Ad I-II: Blanchard, “Vogtherr's Büchlin” in Documenta ophthalmologica 93 (1997) 73-79; Van Schevensteen, “À Propos de traités d’opthalmologie parus à Strasbourg au début du XVIe siècle” in Janus 28 (1924) 1-20; Garrison-Morton (online) 6932 & 6933; Albert et al., Source Book of Ophthalmology 793; Raynaud, Eye Representation…from Antiquity to Helmholtz 77 & 78; VD 16 N 1189 & F 3229.
¶Ad I: Muller, Heinrich Vogtherr l’Ancien E 11.a, 233.a & 231.a; Durling, 16th Century…Books in the National Library of Medicine 3336 (lacking leaves).
¶Ad II: Muller E 16 & 234; Stübler, Leonhart Fuchs, Leben und Werk 25 & pp. 49-50 & Abb. 5; not in Durling.
Price: $25,000.00