This attractive scroll begins with three large figures of the human body — front, rear, and side views — with locations of acupuncture points (red dots) and moxibustion locations (black dots). Each of the acupuncture pressure points are labeled in manuscript with their names. The moxibustion points are also labelled but with notes giving their locations. The three images are delicately painted with flesh colors and black hair. The anterior view depicts the 21 bones of the spine. Many of these are numbered with references to specific organs. Again, pressure points are displayed.

These illustrations are derived from the Ling-shu [the “Vital Axis”], a rare collection of dissertations on moxibustion and acupuncture, written in about the second century BCE, which “formed [along with the Su Wen] the theoretical basis of classical Chinese medicine…the Ling-shu…discusses mainly therapy — mostly centered on medicinal prescriptions, but also including physical therapies such as bonesetting and breathing exercises, and stimulation treatments such as acupuncture, moxibustion and massage.”–Sugimoto & Swain, Science & Culture in Traditional Japan, p. 85. More

Woodcut printer’s device on title. 4 p.l. (last leaf a blank), 79 pp. Small 8vo, somewhat later vellum over boards. Bologna: J. Rubrius, 1564.

First edition of an extremely rare book in which Aranzi (1530-89), professor of anatomy at Bologna, describes his discovery of “the ductus venosus of the fetus that runs to the umbilical cord.”–Castiglioni, A History of Medicine, p. 428. He was the first to state the maternal and foetal circulations were separate, and found the highly oxygenated blood supply was connected from the placenta through the ductus venosus to the foetal circulation.

“His De Humano Foetu was an important book…he was the first to maintain that the maternal and foetal circulations are separate, but he naturally did not, and could not, speak of circulations, since he lived before Harvey. Nor could he have proved his point satisfactorily with the means then at his command, and, as we shall see, it was to take another century before the proof was given. Apart from this valuable contribution to embryology, Arantius gave some admirable anatomical descriptions of the foetal membranes.”–Garrison, A History of Embryology, p. 105. More

1 p.l., v-xliv, 543 pp.; 1 p.l., [3]-829 pp. Two vols. 8vo, cont. sheep (corners worn, head of spine of Vol. II a bit chipped), spines gilt, red morocco lettering pieces on spines, a.e.g. Paris: Barrois, 1763.

The sale catalogue of one of the most important and largest of all private book collections, especially strong in medicine and natural history; Peignot states (p. 97) “ce catalogue est un des plus considérables qui existent.” Falconet (1671-1762), French court physician, was a book collector for more than seventy years and this catalogue contains 19,798 lots (the library comprised about 60,000 books; many... More

2 p.l., xxiv, 171 pp. 8vo, cont. red morocco (a few minor defects to extremities), triple gilt fillet round sides, arms in gilt on each cover of the dauphin Louis de France (1729-65), son of Louis XV, spine richly gilt, a.e.g. Paris: G. Martin, 1759.

The very uncommon sale catalogue of the library of La Vigne de Frécheville (1695-1758), first doctor to Queen Marie Leszczynska, wife of King Louis XV, and physician to Maria Josepha, second wife of the dauphin Louis de France. This copy bears the arms of the dauphin, Marie Lezsczynska’s son, and the father of three kings... More

Fine added engraved title (a little cropped at foot), woodcut plate between pp. 14 & 15 in the first part (T4), & numerous woodcuts in the text (two slightly cropped). 5 p.l. (incl. added engraved title), 112, [16], 121-142, [3], 150-192 pp. Small 4to, cont. calf (a little rubbed), red morocco lettering piece on spine. London: R. Mab, 1634.

First edition and quite uncommon on the market; this is “the first comprehensive illustrated English book on waterworks and hydraulic machinery. It also includes sections on drawing, painting, recipes, and folk remedies, as well as one on fireworks and incendiary devices largely derivative of earlier English and continental works... More

2 p.l., [iii] - lxiii, [1], 125, [I] pp., one leaf of ads, 3 pp. 8vo, modern half-morocco & marbled boards. London: L. Hanford, for J. Johnson, 1800.

First edition. In this collection of correspondence to and from Beddoes, we sense his growing disenchantment with the fact that his proposals to treat maladies such as venereal disease with nitrous acid were not adopted in England. He begins his "Preliminary Discourse": "Of all enterprises in which a medical writer can engage there is none perhaps so hazardous as the attempt to establish an opinion which shall infringe upon the prescriptive right of mercury to be employed... More

78 pp. 8vo, modern half-morocco & marbled boards, a.e.g. Bristol: Biggs & Cottle for J. Cottle, 1798.

“Second edition, corrected and enlarged” (1st ed.: 1797); a rare book. In 1797, Beddoes was asked to give a series of lectures for students covering the foundations of anatomy and medicine. In the foreword he writes, “the purpose of this course will be to exhibit the structure of the human body, in a manner neither superficial nor tedious, to explain the functions of the parts as far as they have hitherto been investigated, to illustrate by specimens the principal deviations of these parts from their... More

Text in double columns. Woodcut initials & woodcut device on last page. 124 leaves. Folio, modern binding using old vellum boards with new spine, corners, & endpapers (several small diminishing wormholes in the first few leaves, lower blank corner of title-page damaged & neatly restored). Venice: Giunta, 1521.

Sixth edition (the first five are all incunables) of the Practica or Lilium medicinae, the principal work of one of the medical luminaries of the Middle Ages. Bernard of Gordon (ca. 1258-1318), of Scottish descent but born in France, was a professor at Montpellier from 1283 to 1307. He spent his entire teaching career at Montpellier and... More

[bound with]:

—. [Drop-title]: Anaesthetic Agents, their Mode of Exhibition and Physiological Effects. Extracted from the Transactions of the Am. Med. Ass., Vol. I. 18 pp. N.p.: n.d. More

(Reprinted from) The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal. Vol. XXXV, no. 16, November 18, 1846. Pp. [309]-316. 8vo, stitched as issued (slightly browned). [Boston: ?December, 1846].

First separate issue of the first account of surgical anesthesia. Morton was unwilling to disclose any details of ether, his new anesthetic agent, until he could obtain a patent. Bigelow convinced him to change his mind early in Nov. 1846 when an amputation was performed. Bigelow then wrote an account of several operations, with remarks on the history, chemistry and physiology of ether, which was published in The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal.

The article was first reprinted in the Boston Daily Advertiser for Nov. 19th, 1846. The present paper, the first separate issue published a few weeks after the original appearance, cannot be termed an offprint, as the type had been reset, and the final seven controversial paragraphs referring to the patent were omitted. More

viii, 391, 8 pp. of publisher’s ads. 8vo, orig. cloth (extremities worn). Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1854.

First edition of Bigelow’s writings on a variety of medical subjects. Bigelow (1786-1879), was a botanist-physician who taught at Harvard University. In the chapter “On the History and Use of Tobacco,” he discusses traditional uses of tobacco as a sedative and quasi-anesthetic.

Good copy. More

Eight folding engraved plates & 2 folding printed tables. Tables in the text. 2 p.l., xxxii, [6], 228 pp.; 6 p.l., 232 pp. Two vols. Small 8vo, cont. green morocco, sides decorated in gilt, spines richly gilt, red morocco lettering pieces on spines, a.e.g. Paris: Durand, 1745.

First edition and a very fine and pretty set of this important work which greatly influenced later evolutionary opinion. Copies in contemporary morocco are rare.

“This pioneering work on experimental entomology incorporates Bonnet’s most important discovery — parthenogenetic reproduction — based on his study of aphids. Bonnet used the result of this and other discoveries as a.... More