Enchiridion medicinae by Georg Henisch (1549-1618)

Georg Henisch (1549-1618), a native of Bardejov, for all of his life as a teacher at St. Anne's Grammar School in Augsburg, Germany. He was a very prolific polyhistor, publishing spiritual and occasional poetry, works on medicine, mathematics, rhetoric, dialectics, astronomy, linguistics and geography, editions of some ancient authors, and several translations. In 1573 he issued the pharmaceutical guide Enchiridion medicinae, which presents medications and remedies for individual health problems without any further comment on their effects and usage. However, this guide had a precursor, published in Paris in 1571, but with no mention of the author, and it is not certain that Henisch produced it. The text is de facto identical, there are only minimal variations, but the second edition has a longer title, it is extended with an introduction and the final part containing some prescriptions. In 1571, when the first edition was issued, Henisch was just 22-years old, and in 1573 he was still only 24, so in his case life experience cannot be taken into account. Comparison of the work with contemporary medical literature has shown that Enchiridion medicinae is not an original work, but a compilation of three works by other authors: De materia medicinali et compositione medicorum by G. Rondelet from 1556, a commentary to Galen´s Quos, quibus quando purgare oporteat by the French author Sebastien Coquilitus Scipio from 1553, and the book Lilium medicinae by Bernard de Gordon from 1550. Key words: Georg Henisch • pharmacy in the 16th century • pharmaceutical handbook Enchiridion medicinae.