ADAM LONITZER

CITY PHYSICIAN AND PUBLISHING DIRECTOR

Adam Lonitzer was born in Marburg in 1528, the son of a well-known classical philologist. He studied philosophy and medicine and was appointed as a mathematics professor in 1553. One year later, he graduated as a Doctor of Medicine and became a city physician in Frankfurt am Main, a position that was held previously by the doctor and natural scientist Eucharius Rösslin Jr. During the same year, he married Magdalena Egenolff, the daughter of book publisher Christian Egenolff. For the first time in 1551/1552, Lonitzer published a book about herbs, under the Latin title "Naturalis historiae opus novum" through this publishing house.

Following Egenolff's death, Lonitzer took over the running of the publishing house and in this role he oversaw several editions of his works. When Lonitzer died in 1586, the physician Peter Uffenbach took over the publication of subsequent editions. The edition shown here, which was printed in Mainz in 1630, was edited by Uffenbach.