HOFFMANN, FRIEDRICH. (1669-1742) German physician; experimented with various remedies. He was an influential theorist who systematized medicine.
Manuscript Letter Signed, in Latin, 4 pages, Halle, March 15, 1694.
Hoffmann, one of the most famous doctors of his time, writes this letter to Philipp Mueller, a provost in Magdeburg, who had just consulted with him. Hoffmann answers by summing up for Mueller in a few lines his essential ideas on the art of medicine. "Because moral philosophy is not foreign to me, I consider work in the natural sciences (medicine) as very connected to it. With humans everything that concerns the mind and the body may be reduced to what the doctor knows, and I do not think that any one else may know better the very essence and the functions of the mind than the person who has been immersed in the knowledge of natural things. The mind (head, thinking) is intimately linked to the strength of the body. So weather conditions and the nervous system may influence the mind differently and derange it. For this reason, a doctor must treat at the same time head and body functions, etc." Hoffmann then talks in detail about some medicinal plants (veronica, rosemary, sage) as well as about a therapy that he recommends to strengthen one's hand fingers by using a combination of "balm" (Peruvian balsam) and oil. He finally brings up his writing against the affirmations made by Bontekoe and the School of Chemists, on the subject of certain acid deficiencies in the body, thought to be the origin of all diseases. A superb early letter signed in Latin, "Excellentiss. Nominis Tui Cultor perpetuus Fr. Hoffmann." Letters of Hoffmann, the seventeenth century physician are rare. Very Good (Item ID: 449)
$3,500.00
