Dall’«Antidotarium Bononiense» di Ulisse Aldrovandi alla farmacopea nazionale postunitaria: la lunga storia di un difficile rapporto tra scienza e politica

Abstract

In the course of the sixteenth century, the need arose to systematize a rapidly evolving stream of pharmacological knowledge led to the publication of numerous pharmacopoeias approved by local authorities. Among the most appreciated and long-standing antidotari is the Antidotarium Bononiense, a project dear to the Bolognese Ulisse Aldrovandi, a text that would remain in use in some pre-unification Italian states until the beginning of the nineteenth century, and one which would inspire many of subsequent pharmacopoeias. The present work analyzes the contents of some of the most well-known Italian pharmacopoeias and suggests their rereading. It is argued that these works are of great historical and contemporaneous value for reconstructing the evolution of pharmaceutical sciences, as well as analyzing the complex (and still unresolved) rapport that exists between politics and science in cases where a state must define the politics of health.