Paracelsus (Theophrastus Bombastus) Opera Omnia Medico-Chemico-Chirurgica, tribus voluminibus comprehensa. Editio novissima et emendatissima ad Germanica & Latina exemplaria accuratissime collata, 3 vol. in 2, first Tournes edition, half-title, engraved portrait frontispiece and title vignette to vol.1, some light foxing, titles in red & black, woodcut initials, head- & tail-pieces, and illustrations, contemporary Dutch vellum, blind-stamped centre-pieces, rubbed with some dark spots to boards, joint to vol.1 split but holding firm, [Caillet 8283; Heirs of Hippocrates 215; Wellcome IV, 293], folio, Geneva, for Joan. Antonii, & Samuel De Tournes, 1658.

⁂ First Tournes published edition, 'the best and most complete edition of Paracelsus' collected works' (Neville), complete with the often-lacking portrait after Tintoretto.

Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim (c.1493-1541), who wrote under the pen name Paracelsus, was a Renaissance pioneer of medicine, an astronomer and alchemist. As native of Switzerland, he was educated in Basel, Vienna, and Ferrara, and travelled extensively throughout Europe during his life as an itinerant physician. He is credited with establishing the role of chemistry in medicine, and is often referred to as the "father of toxicology." His most known legacy is his record of the first clinical descriptions of syphilis and epilepsy, and his advocation of the humane treatment of the mentally ill in an era when they were believed to be possessed by demons.