ἰατρικὰ ἀπορήματα, καὶ φυσικὰ προβλήματα — Paris 1540/1541

Ἀλεξάνδρου Ἀφροδισέως ἰατρικὰ ἀπορήματα, καὶ φυσικὰ προβλήματα. — (Colophon:) Ἐν τῇ τῶν παρισίων ἐνεχαράχθη, χορηγίᾳ καὶ δαπανήμασιν Ἐμώνδης Τουσανῆς, τῆς χήρας γυναικὸς Κοῤῥάδου Νεοβαρίου τοῦ βασιλείου τυπογράφου. ἔτει ἀπὸ τῆς θεογονίας a’φ’μ’, θαργηλιῶνος μηνός.

Paris, Émonde Toussain, April/May 1540

Bound with: Alexander Aphrodisias [i. e. Cassius Medicus]. Problemata … – Parisiis 1541

Paris, [Émonde Toussain], 1541

First separate edition of the Greek text

8vo (128 x 84 mm). α-η⁸ θ¹⁰ (θ10 blank): (66) leaves. Latin ed.: a-k⁸ (k8 blank): 78, (2) leaves.

17th century calf, upper joint starting.

 

Ed. by Jean Davion and Jacques Toussain. In the Latin edition Davion has added printed marginalia, and the problemata are numbered 1 to 152 in book I, and 1 to 134 in book II. The marginalia in the Latin text are not only corrections of Gaza’s translation – Theodori Gazae interpretationem a mendis quamplurimus vindicavi (leaf 2 verso) – but also explanations of obscure  terms or passages (et quae mihi ipse visus est obscurius vel alienus exposuisse, ego illa conatus interpretari facilius aut magis apte, in margine ex opposito modice ac parce annotare operae pretium duxi). In brackets Davion has added phrases omitted by Gaza; he also added problems not in Gaza’s translation (Gaza has 147 and 130). 

He edited the Greek text mainly from the Aldine edition (Aristotle, Opera, vol. 4/2, 1497) with a few corrections – „ex paucis quibusdam fragmentis exemplaris manu scripti“. In the Greek edition the problemata of part II are numbered α‘-ος‘ (1-76), those of part I are not numbered (Aldus 1497 part I: α‘-ρμβ‘ (142), part II: α‘-ος‘).

The additional problemata in Book II of the Latin translation are taken from Ps.-Alexander Aphrodisias, Problemata III and IV, see CTC I 128, the first sections of the so-called Supplementary Problems.

Provenance: Contemporary annotations (marginal and interlinear) on δ2-8, i. e. paragraphs 93-116 in book I. I have no idea why these particular sections are annotated: Why do wine and water cause both joy and madness when given to feverish patients at the wrong time, since they are opposites? Why do women, eunuchs and children raise their voices? Why do infants suffer from head infections and dropsy, known as sycosis, in summer? Why are round ulcers difficult to heal? Why is honey, which is the sweetest of all, felt bitter by those who suffer from a disease? Why do eyes meet briefly during sexual intercourse? – just to give a few..

BP16 110069 (Greek ed.), 110070 (Lat. ed.); Renouard V 98 & 99; Adams A-692, A-694; Hoffmann I 438; CTC I 134.

Problemata:

„The collection of Medical Puzzles and Natural Problems (ἰατρικὰ ἀπορήματα, καὶ φυσικὰ προβλήματα) has been transmitted to us under the name of Alexander of Aphrodisias, though its authorship is today contested on grounds of both philosophical background and date. The collection comprises an assortment of medical-naturalist problems divided into two books. Findings its model in the pseudo-Aristotelian Problemata, the collection formed an integral part of a vibrant tradition of medical-naturalist problemata literature in the Graeco-Roman imperial era, which included works such as Plutarch’s Naturales Quaestiones, the so-called Supplementa Problematorum, and the iatrosophist Cassius‘ Medical Problems. Its significance lies not only in the testimony to the role problemata played in the transmission of medical and matural scientific knowledge during the Roman Empire, but also in the fact that, almost uniquely for ancient medical-naturalist problemata-literature, both its books are introduced by lengthy prefaces, which yield rich insights into the theory and intellectual aims of medical-naturalist problemata in ths period …“ (M Meeusen e. a., The Preface to Pseudo-Alexander of Aphrodisias Medical Puzzles … in: Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 61 (2021) 110-140).