Synonyma apothecariorum – nieznana tradycja leksykonów przyrodoznawczo-medycznych. Charakterystyka, dzieje, recepcja w Polsce
Synonyma Apothecariorum – An Unknown Tradition of Natural History and Medical Lexicons. Characteristics, History, Reception in Poland

Summary/Abstract: 219-246The principal aim of this article is to introduce to the Polish reader a lesser-known type of lexicon of natural history and medicine, described in foreign literature as Synonyma apothecariorum. Due to the widespread nature of these works, as well as the emergence of several variations of them, I employ the term “tradition” to refer to them. The Synonyma apothecariorum are medical and natural history lexicons originating from Central and Eastern Europe (Germany, the Czech lands, Poland) containing up to approximately 4,500 entries, systematically arranged according to unusual principles. Specifically, these lexicons employ both an alphabetical and a thematic organization. The thematic structure is characterized by a peculiar, proto-systematic classification of species, as found in medieval natural history dictionaries, which manifests in the division of the material into thematic blocks– general (the three Aristotelian kingdoms) and specific (classification according to the properties of substances). The alphabetical system, in turn, intertwines with the thematic organization and is determined by two methods of division into ‘major’ sequences and smaller blocks, corresponding to the thematic categories. This approach is almost entirely unprecedented in medieval natural history literature. The whole is complemented by thematic indexes (with numerical references), facilitating navigation through the chapters. The Synonyma apothecariorum also received an independent and creative reception in Poland. A testament to this is the manuscript ms225 from the Chapter Archives at Wawel, which I have discussed extensively. Given its size and the thematic richness of this lexicon, which far exceeds the general standard of Synonyma apothecariorum, it can be considered the most refined variant of this tradition. In this article, I aim to present this text in the context of the broader history of the Synonyma apothecariorum and demonstrate its significant nature. I provide a general analysis of the structure of the texts and outline the proto-systematic classification of species present within them. I present in detail the characteristics of this tradition and its origins, based on the available facts, as well as the uniqueness of its Polish representative and the newly emerging research perspectives related to these findings.

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