Libro de los medicamentos simples

"Livre des simples médecines (The book of simple medicines) of the Russian National Library, St Petersburg, is a remarkable codex not only because of its outstandingly beautiful illustrations but also because it is the culmination of European medieval knowledge of the animal, vegetable and mineral substances used to cure or relieve disease. This knowledge originated in classical antiquity. The books on medicine in Greek of that period were recuperated in Europe by means of indirect Latin translations from Arabic with the addition of remedies from the Islamic world. These translations were begun in the 11th century, initially in the city of Salerno. Working on such translations in the mid 12th century was Matthaeus Platearius, the physician to whom De medicinis simplicibus (“On simple medicines”), the most important and influential Salernitan compendium on this subject, was attributed. The codex housed in St Petersburg was produced in France in the late 15th century for Count Charles of Angoulême and his wife Louise of Savoy. It consists of 220 pages divided into five parts: herbs and flowers, trees and their gums and resins, metals and minerals, animal products and other matters. I