P R E F A C E.

I believe there will be many who, upon seeing this first volume of Galen’s works, might accuse me of audacity and even rashness. Indeed, for a man of my advanced age to undertake the edition of an author known for such a vast abundance of writings as we find in Galen, some will judge me as someone who trusts too much in his own strength. They may say I am nourishing a hope for a life longer than the fates allow. Karl Gottlob Kühn was sixty-seven years old when this first volume was published in 1821. The "complete works" eventually spanned twenty-two volumes, a task that occupied him until his death in 1840. Although I feel that such a criticism is not entirely without merit, the thought of my late stage of life and the sheer magnitude of the work could not turn me away from my plan to publish Galen’s writings. On the contrary, these thoughts spurred me to pursue the task more eagerly. I am most certainly convinced that if I am taken from human affairs, someone else will appear to not only carry on this labor I have started but also, with better fortune, successfully bring it to completion. original Latin: "me humanis rebus erepto." This is a common euphemism for death. Kühn is acknowledging that he might not live to see the end of the project.