Open Access

Richard J. Durling

• Neither classical scholars nor medical bibliographers have yet given adequate attention to Renaissance Latin translations of Galen. The German editors of the Corpus Medicorum Graecorum have concluded that detailed study of these versions will seldom aid materially in the reconstruction of the Greek text. Mediaeval Latin translations on the other hand, which are both literal and based On manuscripts some two to three centuries older than those used by the editors of the Aldine editio princeps, have been diligently studied by textual critics. The classical specialist tends therefore to underestimate the interest oflater versions for the historian ofideas, the medical historian and the professional bibliographer. Nevertheless, these translations provide material for the treatment of several topics not yet fully investigated: the rise and fall of Galen's reputation in the Renaissance; the relative importance attached to his works and their place in the contemporary medical curriculum, the attitude of the scholar-physicians to the task of translation, and their contribution towards the new medical terminology. A necessary task preliminary to any such investigation is the exhaustive listing of printed translations and editions, for the existing bibliographies are far from adequate. It is hoped that the present census, based on the holdings of just under a hundred libraries.