Manardi party

Damien Ihrig, MA, MLIS
Curator, John Martin Rare Book Room

Welcome to August, folks! State fairs are in full swing, fall sports are gearing up, and schools are preparing for the return of students. Get all the hot Cheeto floats you can before it's too late!

This month, we highlight a spicy little book by late 15th- early 16th-century physician and botanist Giovanni Manardo (1462-1536) (aka Manardi or the Latinized Iohannes Manardus). Manardo was a well-known Italian humanist scholar and early critic of Galen and astrology. He was the personal physician to famous poets and Hungarian kings and had lots of things to say about syphilis.

Manardo's Epistolarum medicinalium libri duodeviginti [18 books of medical letters] (1535) is the greatly expanded second edition of his 1521 work, which contained only six books. Beyond showcasing Manardo's knowledge of medicine, our copy has a few fun surprises

Read below to learn more about Manardo, Epistolarum, and all its surprises. Deep-fried butter is optional.

Stay well and happy reading!

Hours

The JMRBR is open to the public from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and by appointment on Friday. For more information, please contact me at damien-ihrig@uiowa.edu or 319-335-9154.

Book of the month

MANARDO, GIOVANNI (1462-1536). Epistolarum medicinalium libri duodeviginti. Printed in Basel by Johann Bebel, 1535. 32 cm tall.

Orphaned at 10, Manardo was placed under the guardianship of his second cousin. He spent most of his life in Ferrara—minus one or two small detours around Italy and a big one to Hungary—earning his doctorate in medicine in 1482 and becoming a lecturer at the University of Ferrara.

He moved to Mirandola in 1493, serving as the personal physician to the famed Italian philosopher and poet Giovanni Pico. Pico died under mysterious circumstances in 1494 before he could finish his latest work, Disputationes adversus astrologiam divinatricem. In it, Pico argued against astrology and its supposed power to divine the future. Manardo helped finish editing the book and oversaw its printing.

Manardo was a student and follower of the physician Niccolo Leoniceno (aka Nicolaus Leoninus and Nicolaus Leonicenus). Leoniceno wrote the first scientific treatise on syphilis in 1497. Manardo continued his teacher's work, engaging in debates and writing about syphilis throughout his career. Epistolarum contains several chapters on syphilis. Through his work, he helped to establish the (much debated) Columbian theory for the spread of the disease throughout Europe starting in the late 15th century.

In December 1513, Vladislaus II invited Manardo to Hungary. He became chief physician and traveled through Croatia, Austria, and Poland. He returned to Ferrara in 1518, succeeding Leoniceno as professor of medicine in 1524 and

becoming the personal physician to the Duke of Ferrara, Alfonso I d'Este.

Giovanni Manardo died on March 7, 1536, in Ferrara, afflicted by gout and nephritis. He was buried in the cloister of San Paolo, with his tombstone eventually moved with several other well-known Ferrans to the university building of Palazzo Paradiso. His tombstone features verses by his friend, the Ferraran poet Giglio Gregorio Giraldi.

The first edition of Epistolarum appeared in 1521, but the book was expanded from 6 to 18 books for the Basel editions and to 20 for the 1540 posthumous edition. Along with a delightful collection of illustrated initials (see .gif above), our copy has a manuscript waste cover and is chock full of marginalia.

The initials depict all kinds of scenes, but many feature pastoral elements, death, and mischievous putti. The manuscript cover is written in a scholastic hand and is believed to be from The Life of Anthony (St. Anthony the Great). Although marginalia is one of my favorite finds in rare books, historic inks are notorious for how acidic they are.

So as fun, interesting, and informative as marginalia can be, it can be fairly destructive as well. The banner image above demonstrates how, over the centuries, inks can eat away at the paper fibers. Otherwise, this fantastic folio is in great shape and awaits its next reader.

Contact me to take a look at this book or any others from this or past newsletters: damien-ihrig@uiowa.edu or 319-335-9154.