P. Alpini de medicina aegyptiorum. Libri quator. & Iacobi Bontii in Indiis Archiatri, de medicina indorum. Editio ultima.
Paris: Gulielmi Pele, 1646. Two works in one. 4to. [xii], 150, [25]; 39, [1] ff. Title in red and black, decorative woodcut on dedication, 3 full-page plates and 2 text illustrations. Nineteenth century boards, re-backed; interior is lightly toned throughout, with occasional spots and a small tear in the lower blank margin not affecting text. From the library of A. Gabriel Pouchet, with a stamp on recto of first blank leaf. Generally an excellent copy. Item #12644
First appearance of both treatises together. The present work is essentially the 1645 edition (printed by Nicolaus Redelichuysen) with a cancel title. The first book represents Alpini's best-known and most important medical work, a comprehensive account of Egyptian medical practice, and among the earliest accounts of non-European medicine. Of special interest is his introduction of moxa (mugwort) to European medical practice. The second book, on the medicine of the East Indies, was based on de Bondt's research in Java. It is divided into four sections: criticisms of Garcia de Orta's treatise on Asian materia medica; health and diet in the East Indies; Indian methods of treatment; and observations from autopsies. His treatise includes the first modern descriptions of cholera, beri-beri, tropical dysentery, and yaws, making it "a milestone in the history of medicine."
Price: $2,500.00