Osler Library Newsletter

First printed in 1471, it was in and out of print until at least 1851, and translated from its original Latin into Italian, French, German and (allegedly) Polish. According to Stillwell, it is based on traditional works (Roman, Arabian and medieval), although Piero utilized them critically on the basis of experience on his own estate near Bologna.1 Book 9 includes a section on horses, with notes on the characteristics of good horses, and their care and training. Most of the book is in fact devoted to the symptoms and cure of diseases, much derived from Giordano Ruffo. Reference is made to Varro and Palladius, but not to Xenophon, whose works seems to have been unknown to medievalhorsemen.