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M.C. FRANCÉS Y M.J. ALIAGA ANAL. REAL ACAD. FARM.

publicación. Se justifica documentalmente que la segunda edición no fue más que una
simple reproducción de la primera edición en la que se introdujeron correcciones no
significativas.

Palabras Clave: Farmacopea española.- Real Colegio de Boticarios.- Madrid—Siglo
XVIII.

SUMMARY

The role of the Royal College of Pharmacists of Madrid in the publication of the
Parmacopoeia Matritensis

The Farmacopea Matritense is the oldest of the national pharmacopoeias
published in Spain. It appeared in 1739 officially as the first binding national
pharmaceutical code. Published by the Royal College of Pharmacists of Madrid, the
second edition appeared in 1762, also at the hands of the College, the predecessor to the
Spanish Institue’s Royal Academy of Pharmacy. The Minutes and Documents from its
Archives, its founding Articles and the Pharmacopoeia itself were the basis for this
project.

The Real Tribunal del Protomedicato (the medical profession’s supervisory
body) which was responsible for publication of the Pharmacopoeia, granted the College
of Phamacist of Madrid authority to print the work, although it undertook the
supervision, and assigned the College all the rights for sale, and the proceeds were
invested in the conservation and maintenance of the Corporation’s Botanical Garden in
its headquarters in the street Barquillo.

The College met all the expenses associated with the publication. For the first
edition, in the absence of the necessary funds, the money had to be advanced, and it
secured a loan from a member. The rapidity with which the directors of the College
acted was note worthy. On the other hand, the arrival of the second edition of the
Farmacopea Matritense was delayed so that the plan outlined by the College for it and
approved by the Real Tribunal del Protomedicato was not implemented in full: as a
work which was essential for professional practice, it was a matter of urgency that it be
edited, and it included only the corrections and additions necessary for its earliest
publication. There is documentary justification that the second edition was no more than
a simple reproduction of the first, with insignificant corrections added.

Key words: Spanish pharmacopoeia.- Royal College of Pharmacist.- Madrid.- 18th
Century.

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