The Lorsch Pharmacopoeia comprises 75 calf parchment sheets measuring 32 × 22.5 cm, densely written in a single column with 32 to 33 lines. Originally, the codex consisted of 107 sheets (the losses occurred after the early medieval period but before 1611). The medical-pharmaceutical manuscript proves to be a systematically arranged compendium, designed as a reference work for the practical everyday work of a monastery physician, as well as an introductory textbook without an independent surgical part. The main section (starting from sheet 17) consists of a collection of 482 recipes of Greek-Roman tradition. It describes the ingredients, production, and application of the drugs. Embedded in this (pharmacographical) recipe collection, which contains both short recipes (
Receptarium) and full recipes (called "Antidotarium"), are treatises on the history of medicine and medical ethics. Direct sources that can be identified include the "Physica Plinii" (6th/7th century),
Byzantine medicine, and writings from the 7th century by the so-called "Aurelius Aesculapius" or Aurelius-Escolapius or Esculapius (
De acutis passionibus by Aurelius, or
Caelius Aurelianus, and
De acutis et chronicis morbis by Aesculapius,). Indirectly (via Byzantine medicine), the codex also incorporated works of
Dioscorides (
De Materia Medica, a pharmacographic herbal) and
Galen, as well as (via the
Physica Plinii) the "
Medicina Plinii," which originated in the 4th century. The individual text comprises:
Preface: Defence of the art of medicine (Defensio artis medicinae) In the preface (folio 1r to 5r), the art of healing is defended against the reservations of notable Christians who saw it as an impermissible interference with the divine plan of salvation. The argumentation of this defense or justification of medicine aims to define medical practice as a commandment of Christian-mandated charity. For this purpose, the author relies on authoritative Christian texts of his time.
Poem (Versus seu Carmina) Following on folio 5r are verses about
Cosmas and Damian, which continue and supplement the theme of defending medicine discussed in the preface. Various sources such as Isidore and
Marcellus Empiricus are drawn upon, with the authoritative figures of Hippocrates and Galen placed on a similar level alongside the saints Cosmas and Damian. This segment essentially constitutes a medicinal ordinance in verse form. The author demands, as part of his medicinal-political concerns, that medical art should be accessible not only to the wealthy but equally to the poor. It is also recommended to use not only expensive medicinal plants and drugs from the Orient but, to reduce costs, equally effective local medicines as well.
Introduction to medicine (Initia medicinae) This component on folio 6r deals with the history of medicine, anatomy and the
Hippocratic Oath.
The Questions of Aristotle (Problemata Aristotelis) A
Pseudo-aristotelian collection of medical advice in question and answer form, on folios 6v to 7v.
Representatives of literary genres closely associated with astrological literature. These writings on medicine in the monthly or annual cycle include on folio 8r, among other things, "Critical Days" (Dies incerti, the newer form of "Rejected Days") and "
Egyptian Days" (
Dies aegyptiaci, the older form of the month-related "Rejected Days") as a contribution to prognosis, as well as dietetically relevant texts on the monthly drink (
Hippocras or
lûtertranc), and additionally, in the 2nd recipe book on folio 38v to 41v, on a Four Seasons Drink ("Lautertrank") and Twelve Month Rules (
Regimen duodecim mensium).
Substitution list (Antemballomena sive De succedaneis) On folios 8v to 17r, pharmacological and pharmaceutical treatises are found. At the start, alternatives for many medicinal drugs are listed fragmentarily as a quid-pro-quo drug exchange list (
antemballomena).
Table of contents (Conspectus curationum capitulationibus V comprehensorum) A nearly complete directory of all the recipes contained in the work (table of contents for the compounded medicines in the five books that follow,
capitulationes) can be found on folios 9r to 15r.
Greco-Latin glossary (Hermeneumata sive Glossarium pigmentorum vel herbarum) A list of medicinal drugs with Greek and Latin synonyms is written down as a directory of simple medicines (pigmenta vel herbae) or herbal glossary on folios 15v to 17r.. Before the following collection of recipes, humoral pathological excerpts from Vindician's instructional letter to Pentadius are listed as page-fillers on folio 17r.
Recipe collection (Curationes capitulationibus V comprehensae) Divided into five books, a total of 482 recipes of varying complexity are found on folios 17v to 70v. These therapeutic-pharmaceutical recipe books particularly deal with dosage forms such as potions, electuaries, pills, plasters, compresses, suppositories, ointments, and oils. Some sections of this
Materia Medica focus on the extraction or production of medicinal substances like sulfur and verdigris, the origin of spices like pepper and ginger, or the manufacturing and storage of medicines in general. Among the recipes, there are some highly innovative methods for that time, such as the use of
cardiac glycosides (scillaren from the
sea onion) for circulatory stabilization (folio 31v), the psychiatric use of
St. John's wort, or an antibiotic treatment (with mold from dry cheese, folio 31v) for deep wounds and ulcers. The recipes also include the use of camphor. The books of the recipe collection (Folio 17v to 70v): • Book 1 (folio 17v to 22v): primarily based on
Galen, a scientific tradition of
antidotes • Book 2 (folio 22v to 42v): contains excerpts ordered by indications (therapeutic indications) and from head to toe, allegedly (according to the author, folio 35v) taken from a writing by the physician Caelius Aurelianus, from the Physica Plinii, as well as various tables and short treatises. Folio 23r contains a table with the units of measurement and weights used in the recipes. • Book 3 (folio 43r to 50v): partly organized by therapeutic indications, short recipes and interspersed antidotes • Book 4 (folio 51r to 56v): primarily involves purging of bad humors with short and full recipes, and pharmacognostic-pharmaceutical treatises partly based on Dioscorides (Three pharmacographical chapters on spices, short treatise (folio 54v) on medicine weights and medicinal measures, Galenic treatise on the preparation or production of simple medicinal substances) • Book 5 (folio 57r to 71v): a systematic text unit consisting of four sections (Antidotarium, purging recipes, ointment recipes, medicinal oils)
The Anthimus Letter (De observatione ciborum epistula ad Theodericum regem Francorum) Folios 72r bis 75r contain a letter from the doctor
Anthimus to the Frankish king
Theuderich I., which deals with healthy diet. == Scholarly significance ==