Essai historique...: 4 unnumbered pages, 28, 288 pages, 4 unnumbered pages.
The Essai historique sur la médecine en France (1762) by Jean-Baptiste-Louis Chomel offers a detailed historical overview of the development of medicine in France, particularly centered on Paris and the Faculty of Medicine. It traces the origins and institutional evolution of the faculty, highlights key figures in French medical history, analyzes major epidemics and public health responses, and discusses advancements in anatomy, surgery, and pharmacology. Written in the Enlightenment era, the work combines rational historical analysis with lingering Galenic and Hippocratic influences, providing a valuable snapshot of French medical thought just before the rise of modern scientific medicine.

Sur le scorbut: xi, 245 pages, 2 pages, 9 pages.
Jacques LeMeilleur’s Traité sur le scorbut, first published in Latin in 1770 and translated into French by M.Giraud of Besançon is a comprehensive sevenchapter work analyzing scurvy through the lens of existing medical literature—from its causes, diagnosis, prognosis, and effective treatments, to prevention measures and postmortem findings. Le Meilleur critically engages with theories of scurvy etiology (notably disputing Pringle's “bad air” hypothesis) and aligns himself with James Lind in recommending healthy, fresh foods—especially vitamin C–rich plants like lemon juice, orange juice, watercress, sorrel, and chervil—for both cure and prevention. Giraud’s preface mourns Le Meilleur’s early death and highlights the author’s detailed observations, grounded in dissections of scurvy victims, while the appended list of recommended plants foreshadows modern nutritional science.

Bound in lovely contemporary full calf, in fine condition.