Historisches Wörterbuch der Philosophie

another book on that inexhaustible mine of information, the Salerno Regimen of Health. But never mind; there's a bit for everybody here. The palaeographer will enjoy pitting his skills against those of the editor in transcribing the text. The philologist can compare the Latin with its medieval German translation. The literary historian will benefit from Kurze's discussion of the verse forms used, and the medical historian can find the 153 verses in this fifteenth-century Michelstadt manuscript matched with their counterparts in other major compilations by using the table provided by the editor. There is a good bibliography. The nonspecialist is the best served, as the historical introduction is elementary and uncluttered by footnotes, with the verses translated into modern German for those who need it. An elegantly-produced publication of this sort can excite little criticism of a scholarly nature. The transcription is rarely faulty and, as it is a diplomatic "edition", one expects and receives little in the way of critical apparatus. More disquieting is the thought that this book, well-executed though it may be, will fall below the expectations of the serious scholar and pass over the heads of the general reader. Nonetheless, the book is highly recommended to any collector of the beautiful, well-wrought, historical medical book. Fay Getz Wellcome Institute