Janus Cornarius

Janus Cornarius (b. "circa" 1500, d. March 16, 1558) was a Saxon humanist [Carmélia Opsomer and Robert Halleux, “Marcellus ou le mythe empirique,” in "Les écoles médicales à Rome. Actes du 2ème Colloque international sur les textes médicaux latins antiques, Lausanne, septembre 1986", edited by Philippe Mudry and Jackie Pigeaud (Geneva: Librairie Droz, 1991), p. 160.] and friend of Erasmus. [John E.B. Mayor, “Helmreich’s "Marcelli de medicamentis liber",” "Classical Review" 4 (1890) 218–219.] A gifted philologist, [Richard J. Durling, “Girolamo Mercuriale’s "De modo studendi",” "Osiris" 6 (1990) p. 182.] Cornarius specialized in editing and translating Greek and Latin medical writers with "prodigious industry," [P.S. Allen, "Opus Epistolarum Des. Erasmi Roterodami" (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1934), vol. 8 (1529–1530), p. 250.] taking a particular interest in botanical pharmacology and the effects of environment on illness and the body. Early in his career, Cornarius also worked with Greek poetry, and later in his life Greek philosophy; he was, in the words of Friedrich August Wolf, “a great lover of the Greeks.” [“Grosse Liebhaber der Griechen,” p. 137 in "Kleine Schriften in lateinischer und deutscher Sprache" (Halle 1869), vol. 1.] Patristic texts of the 4th century were another of his interests. Some of his own writing is extant, including a book on the causes of plague and a collection of lectures for medical students. [Peter G. Bietenholz and Thomas B. Deutscher, "Contemporaries of Erasmus: A Biographical Register of the Renaissance and Reformation" (University of Toronto Press, 2003), vol. 1, pp. 339–340.]

Life and career

Details of the life of Cornarius are taken in large part from the Latin biography by Melchior Adam in "Vitae Germanorum medicorum" (“Lives of German Physicians,” 1620). [Melchior Adam, "Vitae Germanorum medicorum" (Heidelberg 1620); [http://www.summagallicana.it/lessico/c/Cornarius%20Janus%20-%20Haynpol%20Johann.htm life of Cornarius] excerpted (in Latin).] Cornarius was born Johann or Johannes Hainpol (also named as Haynpol, Heynpul, Hagepol, Hagenbut, and Hagebutte [Discussion of name with Thomas Gloning (in Italian and French) at [http://www.summagallicana.it/lessico/c/Cornarius%20Janus%20-%20Haynpol%20Johann.htm “Cornarius Janus — Haynpol Johann"] .] ), the son of a shoemaker, but adopted his fashionably latinized name by the time he reached age 20. [Peter G. Bietenholz and Thomas B. Deutscher, "Contemporaries of Erasmus" (University of Toronto Press, 2003), vol. 1, pp. 339.] The toponymic "Zuiccaulensis" (“of Zwickau”) is sometimes added. His name may appear as Giovanni Cornario in Italian, [Fortunato Federici, "Degli scrittori greci e delle italiane versioni delle loro opere" (Padua 1828), p. 104.] Jano Cornario in Spanish, [Otis H. Green and Irving A. Leonard, “On the Mexican Booktrade in 1600: A Chapter in Cultural History,” "Hispanic Review" 9 (1941), p. 36.] Jean Cornario in French, [Maximillian Niedermann, "Marcelli De Medicamentis Liber", "Corpus Medicorum Latinorun" vol. 5 (Leipzig 1916), "praefatio" p. xiv, of the handwritten note on the manuscript of Marcellus used by Cornarius.] and Janus Kornar in German. [Friedrich August Wolf, "Kleine Schriften in lateinischer und deutscher Sprache" (Halle 1869), vol. 1, p. 137.]

Cornarius began his education at the Latin school in his native Zwickau. He studied with Petrus Mosellanus at Leipzig, matriculating in 1517 and earning a bachelor of arts degree in 1518. [P.S. Allen, "Opus Epistolarum Des. Erasmi Roterodami" (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1934), vol. 8 (1529–1530), p. 250.] . He enrolled at the University of Wittenberg in 1519, where he earned a master’s degree (1521) and a license in medicine (1523). [Peter G. Bietenholz and Thomas B. Deutscher, "Contemporaries of Erasmus" (University of Toronto Press, 2003), vol. 1, pp. 340.] He thus would have been at Wittenberg when the Zwickau Prophets, an anti-authoritarian Anabaptist movement from his place of birth, attempted to seize power in 1521. They were successfully opposed and rendered ineffective by Martin Luther in 1522. That Cornarius condemned the Anabaptists is clear from his later book on plague, in which he argued that a particular epidemic in Westphalia was sent as punishment from God for their heretical activities. [Vivian Nutton, “The Reception of Fracastoro’s Theory of Contagion: The Seed That Fell among Thorns?” "Osiris" (1990) p. 214.]

After experiencing these political and spiritual upheavals, Cornarius set out on a “soul-searching journey” around Europe, [Sachiko Kusukawa, “Leonhart Fuchs on the Importance of Pictures,” "Journal of the History of Ideas" 58 (1997) p. 424, drawing on Otto Clemen, “Janus Cornarius,” "Neues Archiv für Sächsische Geschichte" 33 (1912) 40–45.] visiting Sweden, Denmark, England, and France. While he was looking for work, he settled for a time in Basel, where he gave lectures on Greek medicine at the University of Basel. There he began his efforts to restore the study of the Greeks, whose works, he believed, had been neglected during the Middle Ages in favor of Arab medical authorities. In 1527–28, he was a physician to Prince Henry of Mecklenberg. [P.S. Allen, "Opus Epistolarum Des. Erasmi Roterodami" (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1934), vol. 8 (1529–1530), p. 250.] Returning to Zwickau in 1530, he established a medical practice and married the first of his two wives; she died not long after. With his second wife, he had four sons. For the remainder of his life he was a physician and professor of medicine as well as a prolific editor and translator. [Peter G. Bietenholz and Thomas B. Deutscher, "Contemporaries of Erasmus" (University of Toronto Press, 2003), vol. 1, pp. 339–340.]

Intellectual milieu

Cornarius came to know the great humanist Desiderius Erasmus while living in Basel, and was encouraged by him to persist with his work in translating Greek texts into Latin; at the time, ancient Greek was little known, but Latin was still in living use as an international language among scholars for such purposes as letter-writing, informational or philosophical essays, and even some literary compositions. [Peter G. Bietenholz and Thomas B. Deutscher, "Contemporaries of Erasmus" (University of Toronto Press, 2003), vol. 1, p. 340.] Erasmus wrote to him around the time Cornarius was resettling in Zwickau, addressing him as "ornatissime Cornari" ("oh-so-refined Cornarius"). Of his translation of Hippocrates, Erasmus effused, "The genius is there; the erudition is there, the vigorous body and vital spirit are there; in sum, nothing is missing that was required for this assignment, confronted happily, it would seem, despite its difficulty." ["Adest ingenium, adest eruditio, adest corpus vegetum et animus vividus; denique nihil deest quod ad istam provinciam quamvis difficilem feliciter obeundam requirendum videatur."] The junior philologist was so pleased by Erasmus's many compliments in this letter that sixteen years later he proudly quoted from it in the introduction to his Latin version of Hippocrates. At the same time, his intellectual independence is indicated by his willingness to set aside the translations of Basil and Galen made by Erasmus in favor of his own. [P.S. Allen, "Opus Epistolarum Des. Erasmi Roterodami" (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1934), vol. 8 (1529–1530), p. 251, note to line 10.]

His work as a philologist was not merely academic or text-oriented, but animated by a commitment to teaching. Melchior Adam wrote that Cornarius “tried to render the Greek physicians into Latin with a translation that was not vague and confusing, but lucid and fully articulated.” ["Conatus est Graecos illos medicos facere Latinos non obscura et perplexa, sed perspicua et explicata translatione".] His goal, as Cornarius himself stated in his commentary on Dioscorides’ "De materia medica", was first to read and hear the author in Greek, and then through translation to enable his medical students to hear and read him in Latin. ["Hoc vero tandem post maximos huc impensos labores, mihi primum ut et legerem illum [Dioscoridem] et audirem contigit: nunc per me etiam aliis rei medicae studiosis continget, si qui forte nostra lingua latine loquentem illum audire, aut legere volent" ("Dioscoridae ... de materia medica", a2v).] A scholar of Byzantine studies took a more dismissive view of Cornarius as one of the “Renaissance humanists, fully confident that dissemination of a revered classical text would better mankind’s lot,” motivated by “a contempt … for the brutish peasant and his slovenly practices.” [John L. Teall, “The Byzantine Agricultural Tradition,” "Dumbarton Oaks Papers" 25 (1971), p. 41.]

Like the physician and botanist Leonhart Fuchs, Cornarius devoted himself to reviving and perpetuating the classical tradition, seeking to restore both the texts and practice of Greek medicine, which they felt had been eclipsed during the medieval era by Avicennism; Cornarius did not, however, reject the study of Arabic texts and seems to have known the language. [Brigitte Mondrain, “Éditer et traduire les médecins grecs au XVIe siècle: L'exemple de Janus Cornarius,” in "Les voies de la science grecque: études sur la transmission des textes de l'Antiquité au dix-neuvième siècle", edited by Danielle Jacquart (Paris 1997), p. 416.] While Fuchs approached Galen’s work on medicinal plants as a methodology, Cornarius, grounded in philology, believed Dioscorides’ knowledge of plants resided in accurately capturing the original author’s voice and words, and the two engaged in a vigorous intellectual debate over the value of illustrations in books. [Sachiko Kusukawa, “Leonhart Fuchs on the Importance of Pictures,” "Journal of the History of Ideas" 58 (1997) p. 426, with reference to Eberhard Stübler, "Leonhart Fuchs: Leben und Werk" (Munich 1928), pp. 102–110.] With his sometime collaborator Andrea Alciati, Cornarius treated the "emblema" or image as a verbal construct, and in his index to Dioscorides refers to his own verbal description of a plant as a "pictura". In his commentary, Cornarius insisted that pictures were of no benefit to readers who had never seen a particular plant "vivam et naturalem" (“alive and in nature”), arguing that the static quality of an illustration was misleading, since plants change according to their environment. Thus he stated: ["Dioscoridae ... de materia medica", a3v; Sachiko Kusukawa, “Leonhart Fuchs on the Importance of Pictures,” "Journal of the History of Ideas" 58 (1997) pp. 424.]

Works

The majority of Cornarius's books were published through the printing house of Hieronymus Froben and Nicolaus Episcopius. For a thorough overview (in French), see Brigitte Mondrain, “Éditer et traduire les médecins grecs au XVIe siècle: L'exemple de Janus Cornarius,” in "Les voies de la science grecque: Études sur la transmission des textes de l'Antiquité au dix-neuvième siècle," edited by Danielle Jacquart (Paris 1997), pp. 391-417.

Cornarius's complete works were listed on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, an index of books prohibited by the Roman Catholic Church promulgated the year after his death. As in the case of several other northern Protestant scholars, general content or scientific controversy was less at issue than religious conviction. Writing that could be regarded as anti-Catholic was held to contaminate other works that might be in and of themselves unobjectionable. [Paul F. Grendler, "Printing and Censorship," in "The Cambridge History of Renaissance Philosophy", edited by Charles B. Schmitt "et al." (Cambridge University Press, 1991), [http://books.google.com/books?id=jJnyxg3xxTEC&pg=PA46&dq=banned+Cornarius+intitle:Cambridge+intitle:History+intitle:of+intitle:Renaissance+intitle:Philosophy&lr=&as_brr=0&sig=ACfU3U0Wr09xv949y7kn4mSSnQid6eRhpA p. 46.] ]

Works are listed below in chronological order of publication, except that editions and translations from the same author are grouped.

*"Universae rei medicae Polytonic|ἐπιγραφή" (“Comprehensive Reference on the Subject of Medicine,” Basel 1529), with a dedication to the citizens of Zwickau for their support during his seven years of study, [Peter G. Bietenholz and Thomas B. Deutscher, "Contemporaries of Erasmus" (University of Toronto Press, 2003), vol. 1, p. 340; P.S. Allen, "Opus Epistolarum Des. Erasmi Roterodami" (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1934), vol. 8 (1529–1530), p. 250.] also known as "Epigraphe universae medicinae" (“Comprehensive Reference on Medicine,” Basel 1534), ["Verzeichniss allen auf der Stadt-Bibliothek in Bern" (Bern 1811), vol. 1, p. 362.] probably intended as the sort of CliffsNotes for medical students that Girolamo Mercuriale disdained. [Richard J. Durling, “Girolamo Mercuriale’s "De modo studendi",” "Osiris" 6 (1990), p. 184.]

*Hippocrates. "Polytonic|ΙΠΠΟΚΡΑΤΟΥΣ ΠΕΡΙ ΑΕΡΩΝ ὙΔΑΤΩΝ ΤΟΠΩΝ. ΠΕΡΙ ΦΥΣΩΝ / Hippocratis Coi De aëre, aquis, & locis libellus. Eiusdem de flatibus" ("Treatise by Hippocrates of Cos on Airs, Waters and Places, and also Winds"; Basel 1529), Greek text and Latin translation; [Frank Hieronymus, [http://131.152.212.24/kadmos/gg/?http://131.152.212.24/kadmos/gg/hi/higg0317.htm “Griechischer Geist aus Basler Pressen.”] ] "Polytonic|ΙΠΠΟΚΡΑΤΟΥΣ ΚΩΟΥ ΙΑΤΡΟΥ ΠΑΛΑΙΟΤΑΤΟΥ … βιβλία ἅπαντα / Hippocratis Coi medici vetustissimi … libri omnes," ("Complete Works of Hippocrates of Cos, Most Ancient of Physicians," Basel 1538); [Frank Hieronymus, [http://131.152.212.24/kadmos/gg/?http://131.152.212.24/kadmos/gg/hi/higg0319.htm “Griechischer Geist aus Basler Pressen.”] ] "Hippocratis Coi … Opera quae ad nos extant omnia" ("The Extant Works of Hippocrates of Cos," Basel 1546), Latin translation. [Peter G. Bietenholz and Thomas B. Deutscher, "Contemporaries of Erasmus" (University of Toronto Press, 2003), vol. 1, p. 340; Frank Hieronymus, [http://131.152.212.24/kadmos/gg/?http://131.152.212.24/kadmos/gg/hi/higg0321.htm “Griechischer Geist aus Basler Pressen.”] ] "De salubri diaeta incerti auctoris liber Hippocrati quondam falso adscriptus" (“A book of unknown authorship, at one time falsely ascribed to Hippocrates, on a healthy diet") was translated by Cornarius and reprinted in the "Regimen sanitatis Salernitanum" (Geneva 1591), pp. 403–410. The transmission of the Hippocratic Corpus is vexed and problematic; Cornarius contributed, albeit with limited success, to 16th-century efforts to “bring order to the chaos.” [L. Guinet, “Emile Littre (1801–1881),” "Isis" 8 (1926), p. 89; see also Jacques Jouanna, “Sur les nouvelles éditions d'Hippocrate au XVIe siècle: Les notes marginales de Janus Cornarius dans l'Aldine de Göttingen d'Hippocrate et leur importance pour l'établissement du texte des ‘Épidémies’ V et VII” in "Homère chez Calvin", Festscrift for Olivier Reverdin (Geneva 2000), pp. 361-370.]

*Dioscorides. "Polytonic|ΔΙΟΣΚΟΡΙΔΗΣ ΙΑΝΟΥ ΤΟΥ ΚΟΡΝΑΡΙΟΥ" ("The Diosorides of Janos Cornarios") / "Pedacii Dioscoridis de materia medica libri sex" ("Six Books by Pedacius Dioscorides on Pharmacology," Basel 1529), Greek edition. [Frank Hieronymus, [http://131.152.212.24/kadmos/gg/?http://131.152.212.24/kadmos/gg/hi/higg0345.htm “Griechischer Geist aus Basler Pressen”] ; Peter G. Bietenholz and Thomas B. Deutscher, "Contemporaries of Erasmus" (University of Toronto Press, 2003), vol. 1, p. 340.] His Latin translation was published in 1557 as "Pedacii Dioscoridae Anazarbensis De materia medica libri V" ("The Five Books on Pharmacology by Pedacius Dioscorides of Anazarbus"), with Cornarius's "emblema" inserted into each chapter ("singulis capitibus adiecta"). The volume also contained his translation of Dioscorides' "De bestiis venenum eiaculentibus, et letalibus medicamentis Libri II" ("Two Books on Beasts that Produce Venom and on Potentially Fatal Drugs"). [Frank Hieronymus, [http://131.152.212.24/kadmos/gg/?http://131.152.212.24/kadmos/gg/hi/higg0347.htm “Griechischer Geist aus Basler Pressen.”] ]

*"Selecta Epigrammata Graeca Latine", "ex Septem Epigrammatum Graecorum Libris" (“Selected Greek Epigrams, Translated into Latin, from Seven Books of Greek Epigrams,” Basel 1529), a compilation with Alciati, who was “not entirely happy” with the work of his collaborator. [Peter G. Bietenholz and Thomas B. Deutscher, "Contemporaries of Erasmus" (University of Toronto Press, 2003), vol. 1, p. 340.] The collection, taken from the Greek Anthology, ranges from early classical love poems and gnomic verses to later Hellenistic invective. The translations and some freer imitations were by eminent Latinists of the day, [H.B. Lathrop, “Janus Cornarius’s "Selecta Epigrammata Graeca" and the Early English Epigrammatists,” "Modern Language Notes" 43 (1928) 223–229.] including Ottmar Luscinius, Thomas More, William Lilye, Erasmus, Johannes Sleidanus, and Caspar Ursinus Velius. [P.S. Allen, "Opus Epistolarum Des. Erasmi Roterodami" (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1934), vol. 8 (1529–1530), p. 499, note 28.] The collection served as a source for the translations or imitations of a number of poets, among them George Turbervile (in English) and Diego Hurtado de Mendoza (in Spanish). [William E. Sheidley, “George Turberville’s Epigrams from the Greek Anthology: A Case-Study of ‘Englishing’,” "Studies in English Literature 1500–1900" 12 (1972) pp. 71–84; Jesus Ureña Bracero, “Diego Hurtado de Mendoza y las selecciones de la "Antología Planudea",” "Florentia Iliberritana" 10 (1999), 303-330, with an English summary, and Irving P. Rothberg, "Hurtado de Mendoza and the Greek Epigrams," "Hispanic Review" 26 (1958) 171–187.]

*Parthenius. "De amatoriis affectionibus liber" (“Book on Erotic Feelings,” Basel 1531); the copy that the 16th-century French poet Ronsard owned survives with the poet’s signature. [Isidore Silver, “Ronsard Comparativist Studies: Achievements and Perspectives,” "Comparative Literature" 6 (1954), p. 153, note 19.] Cornarius's publication of this translation coincides with the period of mourning for his first wife, who died soon after they were married.

*Aëtius Amidenus. "Aëtii Amideni quem alii Antiochenum vocant medici clarissimi libri XVI, in tres tomos divisi" ("Sixteen Books by Aëtius Amidenus, Whom Some Call the Most Distinguished Physician of Antioch, in Three Volumes"), vols. 1 and 3 translated into Latin by the physician Johannes Baptista Montanus of Verona (Basel 1535) and vol. 2 by Cornarius, "De cognoscendis et curandis morbis sermones sex" (“Six Lectures on Diagnosing and Treating Diseases,” Basel 1533), along with a treatise on weights and measures by Paul of Aegina; "Libri universales quatuor" (“Four Books Unabridged,” often known by its Greek name "Tetrabiblos", Basel 1542), Latin translation. [Frank Hieronymus, [http://131.152.212.24/kadmos/gg/?http://131.152.212.24/kadmos/gg/hi/higg0361.htm “Griechischer Geist aus Basler Pressen”] ; Luigi Tartaglia, “Intorno alla traduzione latina di Aezio curata da Ianus Cornarius,” in "Histoire et ecdotique des textes médicaux grecs", Actes du IIe Colloque international Paris 24-26 mai 1994 (= Storia e ecdotica dei testi medici greci: atti del II Convegno internazionale Parigi 24-26 maggio 1994), edited by Antonio Garzya et Jacques Jouanna (Naples 1996).] Only nine of the books of Aetius are extant in Greek, and Cornarius's translation is the sole source for the full sixteen. [Lynn Thorndike, "A History of Magic and Experimental Science" (New York 1923), vol. 2, p. 566.] “De significationibus stellarum ex sermone III Tetrabibli Aetij Amideni caput CLXIV, interprete Cornario” (“Chapter 164, on Interpretational Techniques pertaining to Stars, from the Third Lecture of the Tetrabiblos of Aetius Amidenus as Translated by Cornarius,” was reprinted in the "Vranologion" ("Uranology", or “The Study of the Heavens”) of Denis Pétau (Paris 1630). See also "The Gynaecology and Obstetrics of the VIth century A.D.", translated from the 1542 Latin edition of Cornarius and annotated by James V. Ricci (Philadelphia 1950).

*Marcellus Empiricus. "De medicamentis liber" (“The Book on Drugs,” Basel 1536), "editio princeps" of the Latin text. Cornarius worked from a manuscript written in the mid-9th century that was superior to the one used for the Teubner edition of 1889 but which was thought to have been lost; it was rediscovered in 1913 and used for the 1916 edition of Marcellus published in Teubner's "Corpus Medicorum Latinorum" series. Referred to as the Codex Parisinus, it contains Cornarius's corrections and marginal notes. [George Helmreich, "Marcelli De Medicamentis Liber" (Leipzig 1889), pp. iv–v on Cornarius's edition; John E.B. Mayor, “Helmreich’s "Marcelli de medicamentis liber",” "Classical Review" 4 (1890) 218–219; Maximillian Niedermann, "Marcelli De Medicamentis Liber", "Corpus Medicorum Latinorun" vol. 5 (Leipzig 1916), "praefatio" pp. v–xix on the ms. history; Lynn Thorndike, "A History of Magic and Experimental Science" (New York 1923), vol. 2, p. 576; Ernest Wickerheimer, "Manuscrits latins de médecine du haut moyen âge dans les bibliothèques de France" (Paris 1966), pp. 70–72, cited by Carmélia Opsomer and Robert Halleux, “Marcellus ou le mythe empirique,” in "Les écoles médicales à Rome" (Geneva: Librairie Droz, 1991), p. 161.]

*Galen. "De compositione pharmacorum localium … libri decem" (“Ten Books on the Formulation of Site-specific Drugs,” Basel 1537), Latin translation with commentary; "Opera quae ad nos extant omnia … in latinam linguam conversa" (“The Extant Works of Galen, Translated into the Latin Language,” Basel 1549). [Frank Hieronymus, [http://131.152.212.24/kadmos/gg/?http://131.152.212.24/kadmos/gg/hi/higg0336.htm “Griechischer Geist aus Basler Pressen”] ; Peter G. Bietenholz and Thomas B. Deutscher, "Contemporaries of Erasmus" (University of Toronto Press, 2003), vol. 1, p. 340.] Also of some interest are the marginalia that Cornarius wrote in his personal copy of Galen’s “De constitutione artis medicae” (“On the Foundations of Medical Practice”), the first widely available Greek text of the work, published at Aldine Press in 1525. The notes of Cornarius were published “not entirely accurately” by G. Gruner, "Coniecturae et emendationes Galenicae" (Jena 1789); the book itself is held by the library of the University of Jena. [Stefania Fortuna, “Galen’s "De constitutione artis medicae" in the Renaissance,” "Classical Quarterly" 43 (1993) 302–319, p. 312. ]

*"Geoponica", a Byzantine agricultural treatise, with Greek text edited by Andrés Laguna, usually catalogued as "Constantini Caesaris [Cassii Dionysii Uticensis] selectarum praeceptionum de agricultura libri uiginti" (“Twenty Books Selected from the 'Principles of Agriculture' of Constantinus Caesar,” Basel or Venice 1538), the first complete translation into Latin of a compilation made by an anonymous author for Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus but sometimes identified with the work on agriculture by Cassius Dionysius of Utica. The preface of Cornarius is reprinted in the edition of J.N. Niclas, "Geoponicorum siue de re rustica libri XX" (Leipzig 1781), vol. 1, p. LXXVI ff. [John L. Teall, “The Byzantine Agricultural Tradition,” "Dumbarton Oaks Papers" 25 (1971), pp. 41–42; see also J.M. Olivier, “Le codex Aurogalli des Geoponica,” "Revue d’histoire des textes" 10 (1980) 249-256.]

*Artemidorus. "Oneirokritika" (“Dream Analysis”), published as "De somniorum interpretatione, Libri quinque" (“Five Books on the Interpretation of Dreams,” 1539), Latin translation. [Peter G. Bietenholz and Thomas B. Deutscher, "Contemporaries of Erasmus" (University of Toronto Press, 2003), vol. 1, p. 340; Frank Hieronymus, [http://131.152.212.24/kadmos/gg/?http://131.152.212.24/kadmos/gg/hi/higg0367.htm “Griechischer Geist aus Basler Pressen”] .]

*Basil. "Omnia D. Basilii Magni archiepiscopi Caesareae Cappadociae, quae extant, Opera" (“Complete Extant Works of D. Basilius the Great, Archbishop of Caesara, Cappadocia,” Basel 1540), Latin translation. [Frank Hieronymus, [http://131.152.212.24/kadmos/gg/?http://131.152.212.24/kadmos/gg/hi/higg0451.htm “Griechischer Geist aus Basler Pressen.”] ] Polytonic|"ΑΠΑΝΤΑ ΤΟΥ ΘΕΙΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΜΕΓΑΛΟΥ ΚΑΛΟΥΜΕΝΟΥ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΟΥ / Divi Basilii Magni Opera Graeca quae ad nos extant omnia" (“The Complete Works of the Divine Basil the Great That Survive to Our Day, in Greek,” Basel 1551), Greek edition. [Frank Hieronymus, [http://131.152.212.24/kadmos/gg/?http://131.152.212.24/kadmos/gg/hi/higg0452.htm “Griechischer Geist aus Basler Pressen.”] ]

*Epiphanius of Salamis. "D. Epiphanii Epistola sive liber Ancoratus appellatus, docens de vera fide Christiana" ("The Letter of Decimus Epiphanius, also called the Book of the Anchor, teaching the true Christian faith"), with the "Anacephaleosis, sive summa totius operis Panarij appellati, & contra octoaginta haereses conscripti" ("the Anacephaleosis, or Summation, of the whole work called the Panarium, written to refute 80 heresies"), "Libellus de mensuris ac ponderibus, & de asterisco ac obelo, deque notis ac characteribus in divinae scripturae interpretibus, per Origenem usurpatis" ("a shorter book on measures and weights, and on the asterisk and obelus, and on notations and characters in translations of Holy Scripture, as put into use by Origen," Basel 1543), all in their first Latin translation. [Frank Hieronymus, [http://131.152.212.24/kadmos/gg/?http://131.152.212.24/kadmos/gg/hi/higg0441.htm “Griechischer Geist aus Basler Pressen.”] ] The work is usually referred to in English as the "Panarion". Cornarius's edition is also catalogued as "Contra octoaginta haereses opus, Panarium, sive Arcula, aut Capsula Medica appellatum, continens libros tres" (“A Work Refuting 80 Heresies, Called the Bread-Basket, or the Storage-Box, or the Medical Bag, Containing Three Books”). [Wilhelm Pökel, "Philologisches Schriftseller-Lexicon" (Leipzig 1892), p. 50; Peter G. Bietenholz and Thomas B. Deutscher, "Contemporaries of Erasmus" (University of Toronto Press 2003), vol. 1, p. 340.]

*John Chrysostom. "De episcopalis ac sacerdotalis muneris praestantia, Ioannis Chrysostomi, Episcopi Constantinopolitani cum Basilio Magno dissertatio" ("A distinguished discourse on the service of bishops and priests by John Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople with Basil the Great," Basel 1544), Latin translation. [Frank Hieronymus, [http://131.152.212.24/kadmos/gg/?http://131.152.212.24/kadmos/gg/hi/higg0405.htm “Griechischer Geist aus Basler Pressen.”] ]

*Adamantius. "Sophistae Physiognomicon, id est De Naturae Indicijs cognoscendis Libri duo" ("Sophistic Physiognomy; that is, Two Books on Recognizing the Evidence of Nature," Basel 1544), Latin translation, [Wilhelm Pökel, "Philologisches Schriftseller-Lexicon" (Leipzig, 1892), p. 50.] with a work by Cornarius on alimentation in which he argues against the view of Plutarch. [Frank Hieronymus, [http://131.152.212.24/kadmos/gg/?http://131.152.212.24/kadmos/gg/hi/higg0370.htm “Griechischer Geist aus Basler Pressen.”] ]

*"De rectis medicinae studiis amplectendis" (“Understanding Correct Methods of Medicine,” Basel 1545), a collection of his lectures for medical students in the “propaedeutic” genre. [Richard J. Durling, “Girolamo Mercuriale’s "De modo studendi",” "Osiris" 6 (1990), p. 181.]

*"De conviviis veterum Graecorum", "et hoc tempore Germanorum ritibus, moribus ac sermonibus; … Platonis et Xenophontis symposium" (Basel 1548), introductory treatise on ancient and modern banquets (“On the Banquets of the Ancient Greeks, and the Conventions, Customs, and Conversation of the Germans of Our Own Day”), followed by Latin translations of the "Symposium" of Plato and the "Symposium" of Xenophon; notable as a rare example of a 16th-century account of contemporary dining behavior. [Michel Jeanneret, "A Feast of Words: Banquets and Table Talk in the Renaissance", translated by Jeremy Whiteley and Emma Hughes (University of Chicago Press, 1991) p. 72, note 15; "Verzeichniss allen auf der Stadt-Bibliothek in Bern" (Bern 1811), vol. 1, p. 361; Friedrich August Wolf, "Kleine Schriften in lateinischer und deutscher Sprache" (Halle 1869), vol. 1, pp. 137–138; Jakob Gronovius, "Thesaurus antiquitatum Graecarum", vol. 9, pp. 1–20.]

*"De peste libri duo" (“Two books on plague,” 1551); despite making a case for disease as divine punishment, Cornarius mostly concerns himself with how the plague was spread by corrupted air and by contact with plague-infected bodies. [Vivian Nutton, “The Reception of Fracastoro’s Theory of Contagion: The Seed That Fell among Thorns?” "Osiris" (1990) p. 214; Peter G. Bietenholz and Thomas B. Deutscher, "Contemporaries of Erasmus" (University of Toronto Press, 2003), vol. 1, p. 340.]

*Paul of Aegina. "Totius rei medicae libri VII" (“Seven Comprehensive Books on the Subject of Medicine,” Basel 1556), Latin translation. [Frank Hieronymus, [http://131.152.212.24/kadmos/gg/?http://131.152.212.24/kadmos/gg/hi/higg0357.htm “Griechischer Geist aus Basler Pressen.”] ]

*Plato. "Opera omnia" (“Complete Works,” Basel 1561), also catalogued as "Platonis Atheniensis, philosophi summi ac penitus divini opera (in latinam vertit Cornario)" (“The Works of Plato the Athenian, Greatest and Deeply Inspired Philosopher, Translated into Latin by Conarius”), published posthumously. [David J. Murphy, “The Basis of the Text of Plato’s "Charmides",” "Mnemosyne" 55 (2002) 131–158, especially pp. 154–155; see also G.J. Boter, “The Hassensteinianus of Plato,” "Revue d’histoire des textes" 18 (1988) 215-218.]

elected bibliography

Allen, P.S. "Opus Epistolarum Des. Erasmi Roterodami." Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1934. Letter by Erasmus (in Latin) to Cornarius, vol. 8 (1529–1530), pp. 250–251, with commentary in English.

Bietenholz, Peter G., and Thomas B. Deutscher. "Contemporaries of Erasmus: A Biographical Register of the Renaissance and Reformation." University of Toronto Press, 2003. Entry on Cornarius, vol. 1, pp. 339–340.

Hieronymus, Frank. "Griechischer Geist aus Basler Pressen." Search ( [http://131.152.212.24/kadmos/gg "Wortsuche"] ) Cornarius for links to discussion (in German) of individual works published at Basel, with sample pages of the books in digital facsimile (retrieved July 6, 2008).

Kusukawa, Sachiko. “Leonhart Fuchs on the Importance of Pictures.” "Journal of the History of Ideas" 58 (1997) 403–427. On the intellectual debate between Fuchs and Cornarius, pp. 423–426.

Summa Gallicana. “Cornarius Janus — Haynpol Johann.” [http://www.summagallicana.it/lessico/c/Cornarius%20Janus%20-%20Haynpol%20Johann.htm Discussion] in Italian, with the Latin text of Melchior Adam’s "Vita" (retrieved June 21, 2008).

References