The 11-volume On the Mixtures and Powers of Simple Drugs by 2nd-century Greek physician Galen, with its ancient guidelines for pharmacology, was standard reading for centuries in the medical profession. Now one of the earliest translations has been digitally reassembled, potentially providing new insights into the origins of modern medicine.
Only one library from the classical world is known to have survived along with its texts: the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum, which was ravaged by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 CE. Ever since its discovery in 1754, archaeologists have attempted to crack open the villa’s carbonized texts with knives, chemicals, and unrolling machines, all with little success and often irreversibly destructive results. Last week, researchers finally revealed a technique for reading the interiors without destroying the fragile scrolls.
The Vatican and Oxford Launch an Ambitious Digital Archive of Ancient Texts
Page from the Stamp.Ross.283 (1478), held by the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (via digi.vatlib.it)