SEVERINO Marco Aurelio Vipera Pythia. Id est, de Viperæ Natura, Veneno, Medicina, Demonstrationes & Experimenta nova.

Graesse, VI, 376 ; Nissen, ZBI, 381 ; Waller, 8893 ; Wellcome, V, 93 ; NLM, 11061; Osler, 3961 (dated 1650).

Second and best edition, entirely revised (first Padoue 1643). Severino is one of the first to describe correctly the anatomy and reproductive system of vipers. Interesting zoological, historical and symbolic treatise on snakes, the first edition of which appeared in Padua, with the same publisher, in 1643.

The author, Marco Aurelio Severino (1580-1656), a Neapolitan surgeon, naturalist and philosopher influenced by Tommaso Campanella and Bernardino Telesio, is considered one of the precursors of modern medicine and experimental science. Severino taught anatomy and medicine in Naples, where he directed the hospital for incurables. His Zoologia Democritea (1645) is one of the first treatises on comparative zoology. The very abundant illustration, engraved on copperplate, includes a title with mythological vignettes, a portrait of the author with a quatrain in the caption and 24 beautiful figures in the text, 18 of which are full-page, most of which approach the iconography of snakes from an archaeological and mythological angle. Two figures, very curious, show snakes mating and a singular distillation apparatus. The author of this suite, the engraver Giovanni Giorgio, or Georgi, lived in Padua and worked mainly for booksellers; according to Mariette, he was of German origin (cf. Bénézit).

“Severino’s permanent contributions seem to lie in his anatomical works… Severino recognized a close similarity between the anatomy of man and of animals and considered important the detailed study of nonhuman anatomy. He himself dissected and studied a wide range of specimens, both vertebrate an invertebrate… Particularly important are his relations to Harvey and his place in the discussions arising from the publication in 1628 of Harvey’s De motu cordis” (DSB).

Fine copy preserved in a contemporary Spanish binding.

Provenance: Dr Maurice Villaret (book plate).