The reception of French encyclopedic medical dictionaries in Spain: The Diccionario de fiebres esenciales (1819), a work of translation and adaptation by Lorenzo Sánchez Núñez

Abstract

Medical encyclopedism arose in the second half of the 18th century in France and England, from where they expanded to other countries over the course of the 19th century, where it reached its highest expression. In Spain, however, the number of encyclopedic dictionaries published was considerably lower compared to other countries. The rise of medical research in the 19th century in France greatly influenced Spain through specialized publications that had a major impact and were immediately translated. This entailed the reception and inevitable assimilation of scientific and technical innovations, as well as their terminology. In this paper we shall analyze the Diccionario de fiebres esenciales by Lorenzo Sánchez Núñez. As its author explains, the work constitutes a translation of the article “Fièvres” in the Dictionnaire des sciences médicales, the first encyclopedic dictionary of Medicine published in France. Our objective is to address the issue of the French influence on the development of Spanish medical encyclopedism through an analysis of the translation and adaptation of this huge lexicographical French work carried out by Lorenzo Sánchez in 1819.