Details
LANCISI, Giovanni Maria (1654-1720). De subitaneis mortibus libri duo. Rome: Francisco Buagni, 1707.
4o (232 x 170 mm). Half-title, title-page with engraved arms of Pope Clement XI, woodcut initials and tailpieces (some occasional browning and foxing). Contemporary vellum, spine lettered in an early hand, speckled edges (a few stains to upper cover).
FIRST EDITION of a work that "laid the foundation for a true understanding of cardiac pathology" (Garrison-Morton). In 1706 Pope 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 dilation of the heart, and to various kinds of valve defects" (DSB). Garrison-Morton 2731; Heirs of Hippocrates 687; Norman 1273; Wellcome III, p. 441.
4o (232 x 170 mm). Half-title, title-page with engraved arms of Pope Clement XI, woodcut initials and tailpieces (some occasional browning and foxing). Contemporary vellum, spine lettered in an early hand, speckled edges (a few stains to upper cover).
FIRST EDITION of a work that "laid the foundation for a true understanding of cardiac pathology" (Garrison-Morton). In 1706 Pope 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 dilation of the heart, and to various kinds of valve defects" (DSB). Garrison-Morton 2731; Heirs of Hippocrates 687; Norman 1273; Wellcome III, p. 441.