Details
FERNEL, Jean Franois (ca. 1497-1558). De luis Venereae curatione perfectissima liber. Antwerp: Christophe Plantin, 1579.
8o (154 x 91 mm). Collation: A-H8 i4. 68 leaves. (Small hole on blank portion of title, slight gutter worming on title and preliminaries, some light browning). Modern calf antique. Provenance: Johannes Baptista Gama (contemporary "et amicorum" inscription on title).
VERY RARE FIRST EDITION. This posthumously published treatise on w syphilis was written between 1556 and 1558, around the time Fernel was treating Francis I for syphilis. Fernel was the first to observe that the disease was not infectious but contagious, entering the body only through a wounded surface. He introduced the precise descriptive term "lues venera" for the disease and stated that syphilis had been introduced to Europe from the New World. He was critical of the traditional treatment with mercury for the disease. This copy contains the letter at end from Victor Giselinus to Martin Everart, "De hydrargyri usu aliorum item doctorum virorum sententiae" reset on four leaves in the final gathering (a possibly earlier issue exists with this letter in a final gathering of 8 leaves, including an errata leaf and a blank). Garrison-Morton 2374; Norman 786.
8o (154 x 91 mm). Collation: A-H8 i4. 68 leaves. (Small hole on blank portion of title, slight gutter worming on title and preliminaries, some light browning). Modern calf antique. Provenance: Johannes Baptista Gama (contemporary "et amicorum" inscription on title).
VERY RARE FIRST EDITION. This posthumously published treatise on w syphilis was written between 1556 and 1558, around the time Fernel was treating Francis I for syphilis. Fernel was the first to observe that the disease was not infectious but contagious, entering the body only through a wounded surface. He introduced the precise descriptive term "lues venera" for the disease and stated that syphilis had been introduced to Europe from the New World. He was critical of the traditional treatment with mercury for the disease. This copy contains the letter at end from Victor Giselinus to Martin Everart, "De hydrargyri usu aliorum item doctorum virorum sententiae" reset on four leaves in the final gathering (a possibly earlier issue exists with this letter in a final gathering of 8 leaves, including an errata leaf and a blank). Garrison-Morton 2374; Norman 786.