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LANCISI, Giovanni Maria (1654-1720). De subitaneis mortibus libri duo. Rome: Francesco Buagni, 1707.
4° (238 x 175 mm). Half-title, probably the third state of the title with engraved arms of Clement XI, woodcut initials and tailpieces. (Aa1 with long but clean marginal tear, a few light spots, one or two very faint waterstains.) Contemporary vellum, manuscript title on spine (a few light stains on front cover). Provenance: inscription on pastedown partly removed.
FIRST EDITION of a work that 'laid the foundation for a true understanding of cardiac pathology' (Garrison-Morton). In 1706 Clement XI asked Lancisi, the pontifical physician, to investigate a mysterious outbreak of sudden deaths in Rome. Without elucidating the cause of the near-epidemic, Lancisi dealt masterfully in the present work with cardiac pathology in general, demonstrating 'that sudden deaths were often due to hypertrophy and dilatation of the heart, and to various kinds of valve defects' (DSB). He also 'gave the first description of valvular vegetation, and included in his book a historical survey of the literature and a classification of the cardiac diseases then recognized'. Leibowitz's History of coronary heart disease (Berkeley 1970, pp.74-75) suggests that Lancisi's work 'must be the first epidemiological study of a non-communicable condition'. Norman 1273; Garrison-Morton 2731; Heirs of Hippocrates 687; Wellcome III, p.441.
4° (238 x 175 mm). Half-title, probably the third state of the title with engraved arms of Clement XI, woodcut initials and tailpieces. (Aa1 with long but clean marginal tear, a few light spots, one or two very faint waterstains.) Contemporary vellum, manuscript title on spine (a few light stains on front cover). Provenance: inscription on pastedown partly removed.
FIRST EDITION of a work that 'laid the foundation for a true understanding of cardiac pathology' (Garrison-Morton). In 1706 Clement XI asked Lancisi, the pontifical physician, to investigate a mysterious outbreak of sudden deaths in Rome. Without elucidating the cause of the near-epidemic, Lancisi dealt masterfully in the present work with cardiac pathology in general, demonstrating 'that sudden deaths were often due to hypertrophy and dilatation of the heart, and to various kinds of valve defects' (DSB). He also 'gave the first description of valvular vegetation, and included in his book a historical survey of the literature and a classification of the cardiac diseases then recognized'. Leibowitz's History of coronary heart disease (Berkeley 1970, pp.74-75) suggests that Lancisi's work 'must be the first epidemiological study of a non-communicable condition'. Norman 1273; Garrison-Morton 2731; Heirs of Hippocrates 687; Wellcome III, p.441.
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