Medical Traditions

The series Medical Traditions is devoted to the transmission of medicine in handwritten form throughout world history. Medical traditions result from the codification and relaying of knowledge gained, in most cases, through a centuries-long practice, and are typically attested by an abundant textual corpus spanning a vast geographical area, and equally vast period of time. Medicine is understood here in its broadest sense, with the multiple components that contributed to the healthcare of populations.

Monographs and collective volumes in the series will trace the many extant witnesses of relevant texts and reconstruct their linkages, provide critical editions or diplomatic transcriptions of significant works, or address such themes as the written codification of practical knowledge, the transformation mechanisms at work in the written transmission process, the circulation of information within and between groups, translations and their possible adaptations to local realities, the transition from writing to printing, or the historiography of medical traditions studies.

Medical Traditions publishes original works resulting from innovative, cross-disciplinary research aimed at providing both primary data for further developments and new insights on any facet of the complex process of conveying medical knowledge. It is overseen by an international scientific board, bringing together specialists from different disciplines involved in the study of textual and medical traditions.