SYPHILIS

Syphilis

Book Summary

This critical edition of the Neo-Latin poem "Syphilis," by the Veronese physician Girolamo Fracastoro, offers the reader a work that transcends the history of medicine to delve into Renaissance literature. The reader will find a foundational text that gave a name to a disease and, through its verses, recounts the discovery of the remedy guaiacum. Beyond its scientific value, the work is a literary milestone that revitalized didactic poetry and laid the foundations for Americanist epic, serving as a model for future Columbian epics. It is an essential read for understanding the confluence of science, literature, and the anguish of a Europe devastated by an unknown epidemic.

What is it about?

The work is presented as a didactic poem that addresses the emergence and spread of a new and deadly disease that plagued Europe between the 15th and 16th centuries. Fracastoro, devastated by the loss of loved ones, found in poetry a vehicle to describe the ailment and offer hope. The poem not only baptizes the disease as "syphilis" but also discloses the therapeutic virtues of guaiacum, or holy wood, presented as an effective remedy. The work is structured into several books, highlighting especially the third, known as the "Columbeida," which narrates the voyage of Columbus and is considered the germ of Neo-Latin Americanist epic. Through his verses, the author combines the medical knowledge of the time with classical poetic tradition, creating a unique text that reflects the anguish, despair, and search for relief of a society facing an unprecedented health crisis.

Main Topics

• History of medicine and epidemiology: Fracastoro's work is a milestone in the understanding of contagion and the origin of diseases, laying the foundations of modern epidemiology.
• Renaissance didactic poetry: The poem revitalizes this classical genre, using meter and poetic narrative to convey scientific and moral knowledge.
• The syphilis epidemic in Renaissance Europe: The work reflects the social, medical, and psychological impact of a new and devastating disease.
• Americanist epic and the discovery of America: The "Columbeida" of Book III is a foundational text that narrates the voyage of Columbus and its connection to the arrival of the disease in Europe.
• Philology and textual criticism: This critical edition offers a rigorous analysis of the Neo-Latin text, including variants and annotations.

Who is it recommended for?

This book is aimed at a specialized public and readers with a deep interest in the history of medicine, Renaissance literature, and classical philology. It is especially relevant for students and researchers of literary studies of the period 1500–1800, historians of science, and lovers of scholarly poetry who seek to understand the roots of the Americanist epic. It will also be of great value to those interested in the history of epidemics and their cultural representation.

What this book contributes

• Access to a critical and annotated edition of a fundamental Neo-Latin poem, with rigorous philological work that allows for a deep understanding of the original text.
• Understanding of the literary origin of the name of a historical disease and its sociocultural context in Renaissance Europe.
• An interdisciplinary vision that connects the history of medicine, literature, and the history of the discovery of America through a key work.
• Knowledge of the work of Girolamo Fracastoro, a seminal figure in both epidemiology and the revitalization of didactic poetry.

Technical Specifications

• Author: FRACASTORO, GIROLAMO; NAVARRO ANTOLIN, FERNANDO
• Publisher: Editorial de la Universidad de Huelva
• Language: lat
• Topic: LITERARY STUDIES: C. 1500–C. 1800, LITERARY STUDIES: POETRY AND POETS
• Collection: BIBLIOTHECA MONTANIANA
• Binding: Paperback
• Date of publication: June 2025
• Number of pages: 552
• Weight: 1802 g

Editorial Assessment

This is an edition of great academic value that recovers a pivotal text for the cultural history of the West. Fracastoro's work is an exceptional testimony to how literature can shape the understanding of a health crisis and, at the same time, inaugurate an epic genre. This critical edition, with its philological apparatus, becomes an indispensable tool for specialists, but it also offers the educated reader the opportunity to delve into a poem that is, at once, a medical document, a literary work, and a reflection on the human condition in the face of the unknown. Its weight and length indicate an exhaustive research effort, typical of a reference academic edition.