YPEY, ADOLPHUS, Handboek der materies medica, of Aanwijzing der [kenteek]enen en krachten der [voornaam]ste geneesmidde[len voor min]geoefende [liefhebbers] der genees[kunde]. Ook dienende tot bev[ordering] van het gebruik [der] Bataafsche apotheek.

Beschrijving

19th century (?) handwritten transcript of Ypey's medical hand book, 20×16 cm.The first edition was published in 1811, this transcript follows the 2nd edition published in 1818 (Amsterdam, Van Vliet). The author or date of this transcript are not mentioned. Ypey's book contains 22 chapters. In this transcript only chapters 1-8 and part of chapter 9 are present. The text of the 1818 edition is followed closely, with only some variation in spelling. In the last signature, some plants and remedies are skipped. This seems to be a deliberate selection, rather than a mistake in transcribing.

The manuscript contains 9 signatures, varying in size. Each signature is individually sewn. The set of signatures is sewn together with a cord throught the set of signatures at the head and tail of the manuscript. The manuscript has no cover and is heavily damaged and stained. The first and last pages of each signature show the most damage, with the first and last signature being most severely damaged. Some pages are loose, one page is torn in half and the last page is hardly legible.

The manuscript has no pagenumbers, but the signatures are numbered (1-9).

Ypey's medical hand book is quite interesting, with detailed descriptions of various remedies and uses of plants and other natural elements. The chapters are arranged according to different uses of plants and elements. There is for instance a chapter on purgavtives and on vomatives. In his time, there were some medical hand books, but not in the Dutch language, so he decided to write one. Three editions were published: 1811, 1818 and 1830-31.

This particular manuscript was kept in the private library of an apothecary. It seems to have been a transscript of (part of ) Ypey's book for personal use.