I am often asked which is the oldest book held in the History of Medicine Library collection. That honour goes to a small volume containing three books within its vellum cover. These three items are known as 'incunabula'.

Incunabula refers to books published before 1501 - that is, within the first fifty years or so after Gutenberg's invention of the printing press. Often published in Latin, the lingua franca of the day, incunabula translates as 'cradle', referencing the birth of the printing press. These rare and valuable items offer insight into the transition from handwritten manuscripts to typeface printing, which greatly accelerated the dissemination of knowledge, the spread of ideas, and the democratisation of information during the Renaissance. Much like the Internet has in recent decades, the printing press revolutionized the production and distribution of information, highlighting the cultural and technological transformations of its time.

Of the three titles, the first is a mathematical calendar that explains how to calculate the dates of Lent, Easter, and other related religious events. Anianus' 'Compotus cum commento' uses demonstrative woodcuts for calculating these dates, employing the hand as a mnemonic device. By providing a framework for determining important dates in the Christian calendar, it had a ripple effect for agricultural planning. Interestingly, it contains the first printing, in Latin, of the familiar rhyme 'Thirty days hath September...'

It is bound together with two other titles, the second being written by a Roman poet, Publius Vergilius Maro (known as Vergil), who composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature, including the Bucolics (or Eclogues) included here. This unillustrated version was printed in 1494 in Paris. The last of the titles is another calendar, entitled 'Kalendarium' by Regiomontanus (Johannes Mueller von Konigsberg), a German astronomer, mathematician and astrologer, who was an important figure in Renaissance astronomy. The book features wood block diagrams and the dates of lunar and solar eclipses for the years 1489, 1490, and 1491. Individually, it is the oldest book in the collection, printed in 1489. Unfortunately, our copy is quite mutilated with many random squares cut out.

Although not quite a complete book, there is however, another item of incunabula held in the College collection. Consisting of one double-sided leaf, it derives from one of the most famous incunabula ever printed: Liber Chronicarum (Book of chronicles), or, the Chronicle of Nuremberg, as it is known in the English-speaking world (based on where it was published by Anton Koberger in 1493). Compiled and written by physician Hartmann Schedel, the Chronicle was an illustrated history of important events in the Christian world. The College's leaf is numbered CXX and headed with the Latin title 'Sexta etas mundi' (sixth act of the world). It features the lives of Popes Lucius, Stephanius, Sirius, Dionysus and Felix. The reverse side features an early physician named Serapion, who practiced in Alexandria in the 3rd century. The early printers understood the potential of combining illustrations with typeface, and the Chronicle was the most extensively illustrated book of the 15th century - it proved hugely popular with its woodblock images accompanying the text side by side. Thanks to Koberger, Nuremberg would become a powerhouse of printing. At its height, he ran twenty printing presses and sold books all over Europe.

Before coming to the College, this 500 year old leaf was originally a gift from Edward Ford to the ultimate donor, Bryan Gandevia. Both men played an instrumental role in the richness of the College’s collections as seen today.

To explore this richness and gain an insight into all pre-1801 titles held by the Library click here to download a PDF version of Early Medicine: a catalogue of books printed before 1801 held in the History of Medicine Library