La Mascalcia Di Lorenzo Rusio Volgarizzamento Del Secolo Xiv.: Della Cura De' Cavalli (Italian Edition)

"De medicina equorum, by Giordano Ruffo, farrier to Frederick II (1194-1250), Holy Roman Emperor and King of Sicily.

An early witness in a single, later 13th-century hand to the foundation text of medieval equine medicine, composed soon after the Emperor's death, in either Latin or Italian. The format of the text and evidence of the script suggest an early copyist's exemplar.

There follows a table of fifty-seven chapter headings on accidents and specific diseases although the text finishes at the end of chapter 55; the last few words have been erased and the word finis inserted in a later hand."


The language part of this book makes it a challenge. It is a hand written script/cursive text. The Latin, French, Italian hand and style all make this is a very difficult read. Although it seems the content could be quite interesting, the difficult nature of reading this is a challenge in itself.

The title at the top of the page is a link to Amazon to obtain a paperback copy of the book. The quote provided is a paraphrased summary from the The Library at Wellcome Collection.  They have the text digitized and available for download.