Antonio Corvi was the founder of the Corvis „ dynasty since

Antonio Corvi was the founder of the Corvis „ dynasty since 1685; his grandson,
Antonio Corvi (1748-1796), was an apothecary in Piacenza where, in 1788, he
established his activity in the same building where it is still today in the centre of
the town.

He also started to collect all the most scientific and up-to-date works about
pharmacy, so laying the foundations of a really enlightened science.

we can find an outstanding list of texts about the pharmaceutical science in in the
XVIII century …
A science that takes into account the latest
discoveries about chemistry

On their arrival in 1796 the French marked a turning point in Italy also in the
scientific field …
The complete collection of the “Annales de chimie” kept in the Farmacia Corvi
Library is an evidence of this trend.

Antoine Laurent Lavoisier, the
founder of the magazine
“Annales”, was the author of the
well-known Traité Elémentaire de
Chimie.

This work was published in Italy in
1791 and received a warm welcome
by the scientific audience …
it had been masterfully translated
by Vincenzo Dandolo, a great Italian
chemist
Corvi Library, Piacenza: LAVOISIER A.L.,
Trattato Elementare di Chimica, voll. 2,
Zatta A., Venezia,1791 (trad. V. Dandolo).

Corvi Library, Piacenza: MORVEAU M.M.
de “Esame delle Affinità Chimiche”, Zatta A.,
Venezia, 1791.
In the same year another important work
was published in Venice: the translation of
“Méthode de nomenclature chimique” by
the famous Louis Bernard Guyton de
Morveau,

Corvi Library, Piacenza: BOME‟ A., Chimica
Sperimentale e Ragionata, Pezzana F., Venezia,
1781.
Besides, the collection includes a
translation of “La chimie expérimentale et
raisonnée” by Antoine Baumé, a master
apothecary from Paris.

“Elementa Chemiae” by Herman
Boerhaave, even though it was written in
1724, represented nevertheless a guide to
chemistry

Corvi Library, Piacenza: BOERHAVE H.,
Elementa Chemie, Venetia, S. Colati, 1737.
Of course this work, a milestone of
chemical science, is part of Corvi
Library .

When Nicolas Lémery died in 1715 at the age of 70, as many as 13 editions of his best
known “Cours de Chimie” had already been printed: …
the edition dated 1697 forms part of the concerned library.
Corvi Library, Piacenza: LEMERY N.,
Cours de chymie,E. Michallet, Paris, 1697.

As you know Lèmery was the author of a milestone for
pharmaceutical science: the “Pharmacopée Universelle” published in
Paris in 1697.

Obviously our library can boast this work .
Corvi Library, Piacenza: LEMERY N., Pharmacopée Universelle, Laurent D‟Hour,
Paris, 1716. LEMERY NICOLÒ, Farmacopea Universale, Bertella e Perlini, Venezia,
1767.

Twenty years earlier Moyse Charas,
a famous French apothecary,
published a weighty volume about
medicaments titled “Pharmacopée
Royale”.

Corvi Library, Piacenza: CHARAS
MOSIS, Pharmacopoea Regia Chymica, L.
Dofour, Geneve, 1684.
The Latin version of this work,
which is part of Corvi Library,
was published some years
later in Geneva.

Corvi Library, Piacenza: JUNCKERO J.,
Conspectus Formularum Medicarum, Hertz G.,
Venezia, 1727.
At almost the same time, another
important work circulated throughout
Europe: it was the “Conspectus
Formularum” by Johan Juncker,
professor at the Royal Frederic
University ...

Corvi Library, Piacenza: DIOSCORIDE ANAZARBEO,
Della Materia Medica, trad. Montigiano, Firenze, 1547.
As everybody knows,
the pharmaceutical
tradition is strictly
connected with the
officinal herbs and these
are in their turn strictly
connected with
Dioscorides‟ De Materia
Medica, a text that could
not be missing in our
library.

Corvi Library, Piacenza: DIOSCORIDE ANAZARBEO,
Della Materia Medica, trad. Ruellio, Firenze, 1547.

Corvi Library, Piacenza: LINNE‟ C. , Systema
Vegetabilium, Delamolliere , Falque, Lugduni
Bernuset, 1796.
Pharmaceutical botany became little
by little a real, lively and dynamic
science.
Linnaeus‟ monumental work can be
found in our library ...

Corvi Library, Piacenza: MORANDI J. B. ,
Historia Botanica Practica, seu Plantarum quae
ad usum Medicinae pertinent, Petri Francisci
Malatestae, Mediolani, 1744.
“Historia Botanica Practica” by Giovanni
Battista Morandi is perfectly in line with
this new vision of the vegetable kingdom

This text can be found in our
library: it is the first edition
dated 1744, a wonderful in
folio volume ...

Corvi Library, Piacenza: BONNET C.,
Contemplazione della Natura, Giovanni Vitto,
Venezia, 1781.
The library can also boast
a valuable copy of Charles
Bonnet‟s “Contemplazione
della Natura” translated
and commented by
Spallanzani.

Corvi Library, Piacenza: SPALLANZANI L.,
Fisica Animale e Vegetabile, G.M. Benaglia
(Bassaglia), Venezia, 1782.
We can also find a fully
exhaustive booklet about
“Fisica Animale e Vegetale”
published by Spallanzani in
1782.

Corvi Library, Piacenza: ANTIDOTARIUM
BONONIENSE, Leli e Volpe, Bologna, 1750.
This official pharmacopeia
exerted a great influence on
the new pharmaceutical
culture

Corvi Library, Piacenza: ANTIDOTARIUM
MEDIOLANENSE, J.B. Ferrarium, Mediolani,
1668.
The Antidotario Milanese (Milanese
Pharmacopeia) was another very
important code …

Corvi Library, Piacenza : RICETTARIO
SANESE, Bindi L.B., in 4°, 2 voll. Tomo I (XVIII,
2, 370 pp.), Tomo II (4, 254, XXXVII pp.), Siena,
1777.
Moreover, Corvi Library includes
another modern, practical and
exhaustive work: the Ricettario
Sanese.

Corvi Library, Piacenza : PHARMACOPOEA
AUSTRIACO PROVINCIALIS, J.T. Trattern,
Viennae, Caes. Reg. Aulae, 1774.
Towards the end of the XVIII
century, the political and cultural
trends of the Duchy of Parma e
Piacenza had a stronger Austrian
influence to the detriment of the
French one.

Corvi Library, Piacenza : CALESTANI
GEROLAMO, Delle Osservationi, De Franceschi,
Venezia, 1580.
The official Pharmacopeias, because
of evident legal reasons, did not at
all deal with the therapeutic
aspects, on the contrary, the
independent pharmacopeias, not
tied to legal obligations …
they became little by little real
practical reference handbooks

Corvi Library, Piacenza : DONZELLI G.,
Teatro Farmaceutico Dogmatico e Spagirico, G.
Valvasente, Venetia, 1696.
Giuseppe Donzelli‟s “Teatro
Dogmatico e Spagirico” is an
exeple of it

Corvi Library, Piacenza : QUERCETANO G.
(DUCHESNE),La ricchezza della Riformata
Farmacopea, S. Curti, Venezia, 1684.
The “Farmacopea Riformata” by
Joseph Duchesne, also known as
Quercetanus is an other exemple

Corvi Library, Piacenza : PLENCK G.B.,
Farmacia Chirurgica, N. Pezzana, Venezia, 1786
The “Farmacia Chirurgica” (Surgical
Pharmacy) by Joseph Plenck, that
can be found in our library,
represents a typical example of
practical handbook concerning this
particular aspect of “materiamedica”.

Corvi Library, Piacenza : CAPELLO G.B.,
Lessico Farmaceutico Chimico, A. Graziosi,
Venezia, 1769.
During the XVIII century this
kind of practical medical
treatises had a really large
circulation; the “Lessico
Farmaceutico Chimico” by
Giovanbattista Capello, was
an analogous text.

So, these are all the scientific works that Antonio Corvi, apothecary in Piacenza
during the XVIII century, bequeathed his descendants who – by the way –
continued to enlarge their legacy with other important texts that can still be found
in the library of Corvi pharmacy.