Abstract
This article examines skin and disease in early modern medicine through the writings of the little-known Bohemian physician Jan Jessen (1566– 1621). In 1601, Jessen published De cute, et cutaneis affectibus, a set of twenty-one theses dedicated to the question of whether skin disease existed. In considering Jessen and his relationship to a broader world of writing, this article makes three arguments. First, it suggests that, contrary to existing historiography, the question of skin disease was a common sixteenth-century concern. Second, it posits a pro-fessional channel for this concern, which arose from surgery and disease, rather than from anatomy and physiology. Finally, rather than positioning Jessen at the forefront of discovery, I suggest his text functions as a representative case study. It allows us to see material change in medicine within a stable Galenic framework.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 1 |
| Pages (from-to) | 179-214 |
| Number of pages | 36 |
| Journal | Bulletin of the History of Medicine |
| Volume | 94 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Early online date | 1 Jun 2020 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jun 2020 |
Keywords
- Disease
- French pox
- Holy Roman Empire
- Jan Jessen
- Skin
- Surgery
- Technique
- Vernacular print