In 'Crocologia – A Detailed Study of Saffron, the King of Plants', Sally Francis and Maria Teresa Ramandi present the first translation into English of Johann Ferdinand Hertodt’s seminal 1671 work 'Crocologia', a book uniquely devoted to the medical uses of saffron. Hertodt discusses saffron’s origin, related species, cultivation, selection, properties and lists all its pharmaceutical preparations. Hertodt then journeys through diseases of the human body, presenting saffron-containing formulae for their treatment.
The two authors complement the translation with a biography of Hertodt, and detail saffron’s botany, current production, uses, its changing reputation as a drug, and review findings from new medical research. There is a full Glossary, and translation of a contemporary animadversion of 'Crocologia' by Hertodt’s rival, Wenzel Maximilian Ardensbach.
Author(s): Sally Francis, Maria Teresa Ramandi, Johann Ferdinand Hertodt
Series: Brill’s Studies in Intellectual History, 319. Brill’s Texts and Sources in Intellectual History, 22
Publisher: Brill
Year: 2020
Language: English
Pages: 334
City: Leiden
Acknowledgments
Figures
Introduction
1. 'Crocologia' and Its Author
2. Saffron
3. Saffron in Orthodox European Medicine after 'Crocologia'
4. Conclusion
Notes on Our Translation Methods
Translated Text
Frontispiece, Title Page, Dedications, and Cabalistichon
Chapter I. Etymology and Description of Saffron
Chapter II. Attributes, and Species, of Saffron
Chapter III. Native Place, and Time When [Saffron] Emerges and Flowers
Chapter IV. Cultivation of Saffron
Chapter V. Selection of Saffron
Chapter VI. Properties of Saffron
Chapter VII. Uses of Preparations of Saffron
Chapter IIX. Diseases of the Brain
Chapter IX. Diseases of the Eyes
Chapter X. Diseases of the Ears
Chapter XII. Diseases of the Teeth and the Tongue
Chapter XIII. Diseases of the Chest
Chapter XIV. Diseases of the Heart
Chapter XV. Diseases of the Stomach
Chapter XVI. Diseases of the Intestines
Chapter XVII. Diseases of the Liver
Chapter XVIII. Diseases of the Spleen
Chapter XIX. Diseases of the Kidney and Bladder
Chapter XX. Diseases of Women
Chapter XXI. Fevers
Chapter XXII. Diseases of the External Parts
Chapter XXIII. The Mechanical Uses of Saffron
Questions Concerning Saffron
Illustration of Different Kinds of Crocuses, and Explicative Table
Appendix 1. Hertodt’s References
Appendix 2. Animadversion on Hertodt’s 'Crocologia' by Wenzel Maximilian Ardensbach (1671)
Appendix 3. Glossary
Crocologia, Our References
Index
