The History of Physick; from the time of Galen…
The History of Physick; from the time of Galen, to the beginning of the sixteenth century. Chiefly with regard to practice. In a discourse written to Doctor Mead.
London: J. Walthoe, 1726.
Two volumes, octavo, contemporary panelled calf.
First history of medicine written by an Englishman
Attractive early mixed set of this first history of medicine written by an Englishman, comprising the third edition of the first volume and first edition of the second. Regarding nautical medicine, Friend warns against the quackery regularly deployed in the treatment of venereal diseases amongst seamen. Of special interest is a description of scurvy as a contagion and its spread: Friend maintains it was unknown to the classical Greeks and Arabians, and is effectively a modern scourge. It apparently spread from Portuguese sailors to the Scandinavians, then into continental Europe via Saxony: 'At length, towards 1600, it dispers'd itself through most parts of Europe, and is now become an Epidemical evil.' Although scurvy is described as a contagion, the author ascribes its original cause to the 'sea-diet.'
Attractive early mixed set of this first history of medicine written by an Englishman, comprising the third edition of the first volume and first edition of the second. Regarding nautical medicine, Friend warns against the quackery regularly deployed in the treatment of venereal diseases amongst seamen. Of special interest is a description of scurvy as a contagion and its spread: Friend maintains it was unknown to the classical Greeks and Arabians, and is effectively a modern scourge. It apparently spread from Portuguese sailors to the Scandinavians, then into continental Europe via Saxony: 'At length, towards 1600, it dispers'd itself through most parts of Europe, and is now become an Epidemical evil.' Although scurvy is described as a contagion, the author ascribes its original cause to the 'sea-diet.'
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A popular writer, Freind first conceived the idea for this history while imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1722, where he had been sent for his supposed support for the exiled Stuarts. Freed by his compatriot Richard Mead, Freind went on to complete this work, which is now rightly considered a classic and easily the most accessible and readable history of the period which it studies. Divided into fascinating chapters, and with an index, the work is discursive and broad-ranging. With passages in Greek and Latin.
Attractively, this work includes Freind's hypotheses on the wrack of the Alexandrian library, and while he conventionally attributes the destruction to the Caliph in 642 AD, he writes that many of the works must have been preserved in the hands of scholars, much as happened after the expulsion from Constantinople in 1492.
The second volume includes an appendix of small mixed translations from Arabic and medieval sources, including a life of the Arab physician Gabriel Damascus. The first edition of the first volume must have been quite small, and this work is not uncommonly seen in this mixed state.
Condition Report: Expert recent paper repair to closed tear on one leaf of the text, a very good set in contemporary panelled calf (slightly worn and rubbed), early ms. inscriptions on free endpapers of both volumes.
Price (AUD): $1,850.00
US$1,223.17 Other currencies