Browse Exhibits (24 total)
The Complexities of Complexions
The Touchstone of Complexions was actually written in 1576 by the Dutch physician Lemnius Levinus. It was later translated from Dutch to English by Thomas Newton and repunlished in editions like this one from 1633.
The fact that an edition was still printed 60 years later meant that his ideas remained relevant for a long period of time. This, along with other literature of the humors, set a precedent for later works like Burton's The Anatomy of Melancholy.
Through the Opticke Glass
The Opticke Glass of Humors was written by Thomas Walkington, an educated reverend. This is the first in the collection (chronologically) to be on a relatively unscientific topic. At least the subject of bodily fluids and the balance of humors has since been deemed unscientific. Walkington studied and worked as a fellow at Cambridge.
In 1664, this edition was printed in London for G. Dawson.
Useful Science
In 1663, famous British scientist Robert Boyle wrote Some Considerations Touching the Usefulness of Experimental Natural Philosophy. Boyle is famous for many things, including the experimental method and one of the first air pumps. He was greatly inspired by Francis Bacon and other scholars who paved the way into empirical science. During this transitory period of the modern era, “philosophy as a vocation was concerned with the provision of authoritative explanations” (Experimental Philosophy and the Birth of Empirical Science, Ben-Chaim 2004).
This edition was printed in Oxford by Henry Hall, a Printer to the Universe.
Your Horoscope for October
A Concordancy of Years was written in 1615 by Arthur Hopton. It is a book covering some explanation about the seasons, the movement of the heavens (constellations specifically), and other astronomical events. It could be compared to our modern day Farmer’s Almanacs.
Hopton was an astrologer, who some have claimed attended Oxford and stood out as a brilliant mind there. However, he has often been mistaken for another Arthur Hopton that lived during that time, a major figure in Parliament. Thus, the historical facts between the two are often mixed up.
This edition was printed in London by Nicholas Oakes for Thomas Adams.