"With unprecedented clarity and care, Gianna Pomata brings an important text in the history of scientific authorship to the attention of modern-day readers. Published in Spain in 1587 under the name of Oliva Sabuco, True Philosophy of Human Nature, of which The True Medicine is part, was soon thereafter claimed to be the work of her father’s pen. Since the beginning of the 20th century approaches to the text have often focused uncritically on the authorial controversy, providing polarized irreconcilable interpretations. Pomata, however, explores the wider context of production and reception of True Philosophy with analytical sophistication, making it inseparable from the authorial question and tracing the most reliable historical understanding to date of this influential text. Her English translation flows accurately while avoiding anachronism and will surely become standard reference for anyone interested in the cultural history of female authorship or early modern medicine and science."

Montserrat Cabré, Universidad de Cantabria, Spain

"One of the first printed medical texts to be attributed to a female author, The True Medicine (1587) is radically innovative in its rejection of contemporary medical theory for a more pro-feminist physiology and cosmology. Although Pomata does not conclusively solve the puzzle of whether this fascinating and influential work was written by Oliva Sabuco or her father, she offers a masterly review of the evidence. This splendid translation, together with its authoritative introduction and annotations, will be of the greatest interest to scholars and teachers in the history of science and medicine, women's history, and early modern studies."
 

Katharine Park, Harvard University