Χειροπλοθήκη, seu armamentarium chirurgicum XLIII. tabulis aeri elegantissime incisis, nec ante hac visis, exornatum. Opus posthumum, Medicinae pariter ac Chirurgiae Studiosos perutile & necessarium, in quo tot, tam veterum ac recentiorum instrumenta ab authore correcta, quàm noviter ab ipso inventa, quot ferè hodie ad usitatas operationes manuales feliciter peragendas requiruntur, iusta & hac tenus semper desiderata magnitudine & applicandi modo, depicta reperiuntur, cum annexa brevi Tabularum descriptione, & sequentibus cautionibus ac curationibus Chirurgico-Medicis per omnes ferè corporis humani partes externas observatis.
Ulm: Typis & impensis Balthasari Kühnen, Reipubl. Ulmenf., Typographi & Bibliopolæ, 1655. First edition, and a fine unsophisticated copy, of the most popular and influential surgical text of the seventeenth century: a comprehensive illustrated “armamentarium” of operative surgery, issued with 43 large folio copper-engraved plates by the Ulm artist Jonas Arnold that form one of the most vivid, unflinching, and comprehensive visual records of surgical practice ever produced in the centuries before anaesthesia, antisepsis, or reliable haemostasis. Of these plates, twenty-two constitute a systematic catalogue of surgical instruments — many invented, refined, or first systematically illustrated by Scultetus himself — while the remaining twenty-one bring to life actual procedures in dramatic, often startling detail. Here we see elaborate techniques of bandaging and splinting, the reduction of complex fractures and dislocations using specialised traction apparatus, the passage of sounds and catheters, amputations (including mastectomy for cancer), trepanation for head injuries and abscesses, eye operations, dental extractions with forceps and the fearsome “pelican,” obstetrical interventions with forceps, complex hernia repairs, lithotomy, and the notoriously difficult and hazardous operations of early modern urology. These engravings, executed with exceptional clarity and realism, capture not merely the tools but the raw human reality of Baroque surgery: patients firmly restrained by multiple assistants, the intense physicality of the interventions, and the extraordinary ingenuity required when pain relief was minimal and infection control non-existent. The accompanying text, grounded in nearly one hundred detailed case reports drawn directly from Scultetus’s extensive practice in Ulm, offers precise instructions, cautions, post-operative care, and the hard-won wisdom of a seasoned practitioner who drew on both classical authorities and relentless empirical observation. Born Johann Schultheiss in Ulm in 1595, the eldest of eight children, Johannes Scultetus lost both parents by the age of thirteen and supported his younger siblings through years of menial work as a waiter in Regensburg and Vienna. His remarkable intellectual promise led him to the University of Padua, then Europe’s foremost centre for anatomical and surgical training. There he served as prosector (chief dissector) to the renowned anatomist Adriaan van den Spiegel (Spigelius), absorbed the teachings of Hieronymus Fabricius ab Aquapendente, and graduated with doctorates in medicine, surgery, and philosophy in 1623. After further practical experience in Vienna and continued work in Padua, he returned to his native city in 1625 as Stadtphysicus, or city physician. In that demanding role he built a large and respected practice that endured through the devastation of the Thirty Years’ War, during which he treated countless battlefield wounds and honed the practical innovations that would define his legacy. Chief among these was the versatile multi-tailed “Scultetus bandage,” a revolutionary abdominal binder still employed today in modified form for securing dressings after surgery or trauma, supporting postpartum recovery, and managing complex wounds. Scultetus died suddenly of apoplexy in 1645 at the age of fifty, leaving behind a rich archive of manuscript notes, case histories, and detailed drawings. Ten years later his nephew — likewise named Johannes Scultetus and a Padua-trained surgeon — carefully edited and published these materials in this magnificent posthumous folio, with plates engraved by the local artist Jonas Arnold. The Armamentarium Chirurgicum achieved immediate and lasting success across Europe. Its clear, experience-based text, enriched with meticulous case reports and the spectacular plates, made sophisticated surgical knowledge newly accessible not only to university-trained physicians but to the far larger community of barber-surgeons who performed the majority of operations in the period. As Haskell F. Norman observed in his celebrated catalogue, it constitutes “a complete catalogue of all known surgical instruments of the period, of the methods of bandaging and splinting, and of a vast number of operative procedures… the most widely published illustrated treatise on surgery of the seventeenth century.” Auction descriptions echo this assessment, noting that Scultetus’s “Arsenal of Surgery gives a complete picture of 17th-century surgical practice,” with special attention to bandaging techniques that proved particularly valuable to practitioners at every level. Scultetus masterfully bridged classical authorities (Hippocrates, Celsus, Galen) with Renaissance anatomical discoveries and his own hard-won empirical knowledge, creating a work that was both deeply practical and forward-looking. This monumental volume remains one of the finest and most influential illustrated medical books of the Baroque era — a true cornerstone in the history of surgical education and technique. Its enormous popularity ensured it remained a standard reference well into the eighteenth century, profoundly shaping European surgical practice during the critical transition toward more scientific and systematic methods. Only in this first folio edition are the engravings preserved at their original, imposing scale, making it the definitive and most visually powerful presentation of Scultetus’s groundbreaking work. Garrison-Morton 5571 (“Gives a complete picture of 17th-century surgical practice”); Heirs of Hippocrates 466; Haskell F. Norman 1912; Waller 8792; NLM/Krivatsy 10746; BL/STC German 17th-century S-1741.
Large folio (362 × 224 mm). [2], 10, 132, [3] pp. With 43 full-page copper-engraved plates by the Ulm artist Jonas Arnold (plates numbered 1–43 with the usual irregularities in numbering). Title printed in red and black with woodcut device. Contemporary vellum over boards, spine with contemporary manuscript title “Sculteti Armamentarium chirurgicum” and old shelfmark “27” in blue ink (vellum soiled and rubbed with typical age wear, small splits at head of spine and minor edge chipping, but structurally sound and unrestored; text with occasional light browning, foxing, or marginal soiling, plates generally clean with strong, dark impressions and full margins).
Item #6604
Price: $55,000.00
