Galen of Pergamum (AD 129--c. 210), physician and philosopher, anatomist, logician, clinical and pharmacological theorist and researcher, and personal doctor to the emperor Marcus Aurelius, was the most influential and versatile medical author of the Graeco-Roman world. Galen: An Anthology provides the most comprehensive range of his medical, philosophical, and autobiographical works in English, each accompanied by a brief introduction and explanatory notes. Grouped by themes, the selected texts encompass the scope and variety of Galen's work, from the nature of his medical practice to the content of his philosophical theories. This anthology includes revised translations of Galen's most accessible and interesting shorter works alongside fresh translations of excerpts from the most important longer ones--texts which are in many cases inaccessible or out of print. The translations rely on the latest scholarly research, and in the case of several works, on the findings of a recently discovered manuscript. The writings cover Galen's anatomical studies, physiological and philosophical theories, clinical practice, and the dramatic events of his high-profile career as physician to the imperial family at Rome. A voluminous author, Galen also reveals a variety of fascinating details on everyday life in the Roman world, including dietary practices, education, literary and intellectual culture, doctor--patient relationships, and bitterly conducted medical rivalries. A general introduction by the volume's editor gives a summary of Galen's work and intellectual contribution, discussing his position in the scientific and literary culture of his time and his immense legacy from antiquity down to today.
Edited by:
P. N. Singer (Honorary Research Fellow Honorary Research Fellow Birkbeck University of London)
Imprint: Oxford University Press Inc
Country of Publication: United States [Currently unable to ship to USA: see Shipping Info]
Dimensions:
Height: 233mm,
Width: 161mm,
Spine: 39mm
Weight: 735g
ISBN: 9780190641405
ISBN 10: 0190641401
Pages: 568
Publication Date: 20 August 2025
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Acknowledgments Translator's note Introduction Further reading Chronology Maps Note on texts and editions SECTION I. Life, Books, and Medical Career 1. Freedom from Distress 2. My Own Books 3. The Order of My Own Books 4. Prognosis (abridged) 5. Anatomical Procedures (excerpts) 6. An Exhortation to Study the Arts SECTION II. Scientific Theory and Methodology 7. My Own Doctrines 8. The Best Doctor is also a Philosopher 9. The Best Method of Instruction 10. Sects for Beginners 11. The Art of Medicine SECTION III. Human Bodies: Composition, Physiology, Embryology 12. The Elements according to Hippocrates (excerpts) 13. Mixtures (excerpts) 14. The Function of the Parts of the Human Body (excerpts) 15. The Doctrines of Hippocrates and Plato (excerpts) 16. The Shaping of the Embryo SECTION IV. Health, Diet, and Lifestyle 17. Best Constitution and Good Condition 18. Health (excerpts) 19. The Thinning Diet 20. The Exercise with the Small Ball SECTION V. Diagnostic and Clinical Practice 21. The Pulse for Beginners 22. Affected Places (excerpts) 23. Simple Drugs (excerpts) SECTION VI. Soul and Body 24. The Soul's Dependence on the Body 25. The Affections and Errors of the Soul List of People Mentioned Bibliography Index
P. N. Singer is an Honorary Research Fellow at Birkbeck, University of London. His publications include several volumes in the Cambridge Galen Translations series; Time for the Ancients: Measurement, Theory, Experience; Mental Illness in Ancient Medicine: from Celsus to Paul of Aegina (co-edited with Chiara Thumiger) and The Oxford Handbook of Galen (co-edited with Ralph Rosen)
Reviews for Galen: An Anthology
In this work of outstanding scholarship, Singer has compiled in one volume his translated versions of Galen's medical, philosophical, and autobiographical writings, originally written in Greek. Singer collates these writings of Galen with a very useful, erudite introduction and explanatory notes throughout the text.Particularly useful for the reader is the index of brief descriptions of people mentioned in the text. The bibliography will be useful to researchers in the field, and its index is comprehensive. Singer is to be congratulated on this magisterial scholarly volume about one of the most important medical figures of the last millennium. * Arpan K. Banerjee, Hektoen Onternational *
