The Owl and the Nightingale (Volume 11); An Early English Poem Attributed to Nicholas de Guildford, with Some Shorter Poems from the Same Manuscript (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1844. Excerpt: ... INTRODUCTION. The following tract is appended to a rare work which forms one of the earliest English books in surgery. It is a translation of Lanfranc's " Chirurgia Parva," by John Hall, surgeon. Of the translator little is known. There are no biographical notices of him beyond those which can be gathered from his writings, and from these we learn that he was a surgeon in practice at Maidstone, in Kent, and a " member of the worshipful Company of Chirurgeons." He addresses his book to the members of that body, for protection, as well as to call upon them to unite with him in his endeavours to put down empiricism, and to advance the knowledge of surgeons in general. He appears to have been a man of strong mind, and of great zeal in his profession. A portrait, (wood cut), of which a facsimile is here given, taken when thirty-five years of age, shows that he was born in 1529 or 1530, and is prefixed to the work. Following his "Vera Effigies," is, in seven quatrains: --THE nOOKES VERDICT. As some delighte moste to beholde, Eche newe devyse and guyse, So some in workes of fathers olde, Their studies exercise. Perusing with all diligence Bokes written long before: Wherin they learne experience, To heale both sicke and sore; Which I alowe in dede and werde, In those that understande; For otherwyse it is a sworde Put in a mad mans hande. Let idiotes and betles blynde, Therefore lay me aparte: Leste contrarie myne author's mynde They rudly me perverte. For as the bee doth honie take From every goodly flowre, And spyders of the same doe make Venim that wyll devoure: So all that learned men and wyse To good purpose can use, The rude, that knowledge doe despise, Will ever more abuse. Wherefore all those that use me right I shall increase their fame: And vyle abusers a...