Ozar ha-Hayyim, Jacob ben Isaac Zahalon, Venice: Vendramin, 1683

97 leaves  (12 x 8 in.; 305 x 200 mm). [2] 1-93, 95, 94. Title page, lightly stained; small tear; owners’ inscriptions. Three quarter cloth.

 

Vinograd, Venice 1428.

Ozar ha-Hayyim is an encyclopedic treatise on medicine by Jacob ben Isaac Zahalon (1630-1693), reflecting seventeenth-century medical practice. The title page enumerates thirteen discrete sections: 1) bodily hygiene and diet; 2) fevers and their cures; 3) the pulse, color of urine, and condition of the tongue; 4) poison in plants and metals, and appropriate remedies; 5) reasons for and diagnoses of diseases; 6) simple and complex solutions; 7) illnesses of the various parts of the head and remedies; 8) the chest and limbs; 9) internal illnesses; 10) external illnesses; 11) women's illnesses; 12) children's illnesses; and 13) mental illnesses.

The work includes an introduction by Zahalon and two medical glossaries, the first before part one, and the other preceding part seven; the main text is in a question and answer format. Zahalon addresses even the most delicate topics, including a description of the symptoms, causes, and treatments for syphilis, though euphemistically referring to it as the “French Disease.”