Very rare work on medicine in the East and West Indies, compiled for the use of naval and tropical surgeons, including ships doctors on VOC and WIC ships. Dutch physicians Jacobus Bontius (or Jacob de Bondt, 1592-1631) and Willem Piso (or Gulielmus Piso, 1611-1678) are both considered to be the founders of the field of tropical medicine. Bontius worked in the East Indies. His chapters contain the first modern descriptions of cholera, beriberi, tropical dysentery, and yaws. Piso worked in Brazil during the Dutch period (1630-1654). He is known for his research on local medicinal plants, including the jaborandi, and discovered that Brazilian lemons were particularly effective for treating scurvy. The work is very rare. According to WorldCat, it is only present in a few libraries worldwide. We have also not been able to trace any other copies in sales records of the past 100 years.
The present work is a Dutch translation of De medica Indorum (1642) by Bontius, the first Dutch work on tropical medicine, and Historia naturalis Brasiliae (1648) by Piso and Georg Markgraf (also known as Georg Marcgrave or Marggraf, 1610-1644), which is also considered to be a pioneering work in the field. As the present work was meant as a practical guide for surgeons, only the most relevant chapters of the Latin editions have been included.
This is the first Dutch edition of Piso's work, but the second of Bontius'. Although most reference works do not mention this, the Dutch translation of Bontius' work had already been published in 1673 as Oost-Indische warande. As a result, the present work is the second edition, but it is the first to combine these two pioneering works.
The last work in this binding, written by VOC physician Johannes Verbrugge (17th century) is a catalogue of drugs that physicians should carry on their travels to the East and West Indies, and includes a list of diseases that are common on those voyages and their cures. It is a logical addition to the other two works and is rarely found separately.
With an ownership inscription on the first flyleaf ("4 d Verwilghen") ("Van den bussche"), and another on the second flyleaf ("Ch. Verwilghen 1829"), probably referring to the Verwilghen family, a notable and noble Belgian family originating from the Waasland region. Further with a small wormhole in the upper margin, (not affecting the text), very slight browning and foxing throughout, and the upper support is slightly loosened for the quires in the second half of the work. Otherwise in good condition. Krivatsy 1500; Landwehr VOC, 829; Sabin 6341; STCN 102642796 (3 copies, incl. 1 incomplete); USTC 1838762 (4 copies); WorldCat 1154809136 (9 copies); cf. Borba de Moraes II, p. 676 (different ed.); Garrison & Morrison 2263 and 2263.1 (different eds.).