Pharmaceutical Literature in the Library of the Kuks Hospice I. A Contribution to the History of the Hospital Pharmacy of the Brethern of Mercy Called „The Pomergranate“ at Kuks

Overview

During the research of the history of the Baroque pharmacy of the Merciful Brethern at the Kuks Hospice (Eastern Bohemia), established in 1743, and its professional standard, pharmaceutical literature was found at the preserved hospice library. The present author first focused on the existence of basic, obligatory literature: dispensatories, tariffs of medicaments, and juridical literature (pharmaceutical laws). There survived a small number of these books because many books were destroyed during various wars. The following dispensatories (pharmacopoeias) were found: Dispensatorium pharmaceuticum Austriaco-Viennense 1729/1738, Dispensatorium Regium et Electorale Borusso-Brandenburgicum 1744, Dispensatorium pharmaceuticum Pragensae renovatum 1750, Pharmacopoea Austriaco-provincialis 1774, 1775, 1790, 1794 (including a critical commentary by Z. G. Huszty 1797), The Military Dispensatory 1795, Pharmacopoea Austriaca 1812, 1814 and 1855. There are a few books of the tariffs of medicaments (only from 1795, 1816 and 1866) and juridical literature. These dispensatories (and their occurrence) will be useful for an analysis of laboratory preparation and supplying this pharmacy. A few illustrations of pharmaceutical literature, found bookplates, and a print of a painting of Count F. A. Sporck are attached.

Key words:
Kuks hospice-pharmacy – F. A. Sporck (1662–1738) – Merciful Brethren – librarypharmaceutical literature