538J. George Bate. (1608-1669) 

    Title page of 'Pharmacopoeia Bateana: or, Bate’s dispensatory' by William Salmon, published in London, 1694. Contains details about the content and purpose of the book.

    Pharmacopoeia Bateana: or, Bate’s dispensatory. Translated from the second edition of the Latin copy, published by Mr. James Shipton. Containing his choice and select recipe’s, their names, compositions, preparations, vertues, uses and doses, as they are applicable to the whole practice of physick and chyrurgery: the Arcana Goddardiana, and their recipe’s intersperst in their proper places, which are almost all wanting in the Latin copy. Compleated with above five hundred chymical processes; and their explications at large, various observations thereon, and a rationale upon each process. To which are added in this English edition, Goddard’s drops, Russel’s pouder, and the emplastrum febrifugum: those so much fam’d in the world; as also several other preparations from the Collectanea chymica, and other good authors. By William Salmon, professor of physick.

    London: for S. Smith and B. Walford, at the Prince’s Arms, St. Paul’s Church-yard, 1694.    $2,200

     Octavo, 17 x 11 cm. Signatures: A7B-Z 8Aa-Zz8 Aaa-Ppp8[qqq]4 Qqq-Rrr4

    §Leaves (signature3K if you will) Kkk1-8 is made up of 16 leaves printed on one side only then put together creating pages which are thicker that all of the others in the book, and giving the feeling the pages are split.

    Close-up view of an opened vintage medical book displaying text about herbal and chemical remedies, with pages showing signs of wear.
    A split signature. [leaf]

    Published posthumously by his colleagues and students for the first time in London in 1688, it was then gradually increased with additions of other authors. Bate’s work, being posthumous and collected by others (Shipton, etc.), and translated by William Salmon, who was not a licensed physician in the College of Physicians (he called himself “Professor of Physick”), seems to raise questions about legitimacy and medical authority. The text remained in vogue until the middle of the eighteenth century. This is the first edition to have the Arcana Goddardiana. There is one Plate, is an engraving of a chamber designed for heating antimony, an element often used in powdered form in medicines and cosmetics facing p. 475, engraved by F.H. van Hove 

    Engraving of a chamber designed for heating antimony, featuring multiple apparatus including a large spherical vessel and smoke emissions.

    This copy is bound in contemporary boards recently rebacked in an amateur way.

    A close-up view of the spine of a vintage book bound in tan leather with visible ribbed accents.

    Bate graduated with an M.D. from St Edmund Hall, Oxford in 1637. Three years later while thought to be a Puritan, yet he treated Charles I in Oxford. In the Interrgenum he was physician to Oliver Cromwell and his family. At the restoration he became physician to Charles II, Bate, as a physician and one of the founding Fellows of the Royal Society, was deeply involved in the empirical study of medicine and natural philosophy.

    The Pharmacopoeia Bateana not only provides insight into the medical practices of the time but also serves as a historical document illustrating the evolution of pharmaceutical knowledge. This volume is a structured approach to pharmacology and reflects the empirical and systematic methodologies of 17th-century medical practitioners. 

    The first deals with internal remedies, the second with external compounds. There is also a guide to the chemical and medicinal symbols used in the text. This work is an exhaustive compendium of herbal and chemical remedies. Every imaginable drug and disease are treated, and a long and detailed index at the end of the text, to make it easier to find information on any given malady or cure. Here is the table of contents

    • Book I: Preparations
    • Chapter I: Of Waters
      • Includes remedies such as Aqua Aluminosa (Alumed Water), Aqua Animalis (Animal Water of Horsedung), Aqua Antiphthisica (Water against Phthisicks), Aqua Antiscorbutica (Water against the Scurvy), and others.
    • Chapter II: Of Spirits
      • Details various spirituous preparations.
    • Chapter III: Of Oyls Distilled
      • Covers distilled oils and their applications.
    • Chapter IV: Of Balsams Distilled
      • Discusses balsamic distillations.
    • Chapter V: Of Essences or Powers
      • Explores concentrated essences and their uses.
    • Chapter VI: Of Elixirs
      • Provides formulations for elixirs.
    • Chapter VII: Of Tinctures
      • Includes various tinctures and their preparations.
    • Chapter VIII: Of Extracts
      • Discusses extracts and their medicinal properties.
    • Chapter IX: Of Magisteries and Arcanums
      • Covers magisteries and arcanums in medical practice.
    • Chapter X: Of Salts
      • Details the use of salts in medicine.
    • Chapter XI: Of Liquors
      • Includes various medicinal liquors.
    • Chapter XII: Of Wines

    Wing B1088 which has title “Pharmacopœia Bateana: or, Bate’s dispensatory.” :Arber’s Term cat.; II 478; Cushing B157 (1694 ed.); Wellcome II, p. 113 (1694 ed.);Heirs of Hippocrates No. 495.

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