An Interactive Annotated World Bibliography of Printed and Digital Works in the History of Medicine and the Life Sciences from Circa 2000 BCE to 2022 by Fielding H. Garrison (1870-1935), Leslie T. Morton (1907-2004), and Jeremy M. Norman (1945- ) Traditionally Known as “Garrison-Morton”

15961 entries, 13944 authors and 1935 subjects. Updated: March 22, 2024

D'AMATO, Cintio

1 entries
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Nuoua, et vtilissima prattica di tutto quello ch'al diligète barbiero s'appartiene: E particolarmente del cauar sangue ....

Naples: Ottavio Beltrano, 1632.

An extensively llustrated manual published specifically for barber surgeons, published in the vernacular, and instructing them in the art of bloodletting and phlebotomy, embalming dead bodies, curing headaches, and various other medical skills that barbers of the time practiced. He also provides detailed illustrations of the veins and arteries that are significant for bloodletting, followed by various engravings depicting phlebotomy procedures, including a bloodletting procedure on the tongue. The Barber holds the tip of the tongue before cutting underneath it. In the concluding chapters D'Amato describes various concoctions of salves and herbal pharmaceuticals to whiten teeth, cure inflamed gums, and to generally keep the teeth clean and free of tartar. This suggests that barber surgeons also acted as dentists.

The Naples publisher, Ottavio Beltrano, must have taken a major interest in publishing for the niche market of Italian barber surgeons. Only six years earlier Beltrano published the illustrated manual by Tiberio Malfi. Because d'Amato's book was less-expensively produced, and was more narrowly focused on technique rather that "culture", it is possible that Beltrano issued it with the idea of having a less expensive alternative to the work by Malfi.



Subjects: DENTISTRY, SURGERY: General › Barber Surgeons, Manuals for, THERAPEUTICS › Bloodletting