FERNEL, JEAN FRANÇOIS. 1497-1558.


Medicina. Paris: Andreas Wechel, 1554. 3 parts in one volume. Folio (337 x 219 mm). Woodcut portrait, numerous woodcut initials, woodcut printer's device at end. Rebound in vellum, with old reverse vellum pasted over (binding tight). Provenance: Irwin J. Pincus (his sale, Christie's New York, 12 June 2004, lot 107). FIRST EDITION OF "THE FIRST SYSTEMATIC TREATISE ON PATHOLOGY, which also introduced the names for the sciences of pathology and physiology" (Garrison-Morton). In the second part, entitled "Pathologia," Fernel provided the first systematic essay on the subject, methodically discussing the diseases of each organ. "Fernel was the first to describe appendicitis, endocarditis etc. He believed aneurysms to be produced by syphilis, and differentiated true from false aneurysms. He was physician to Henry II of France. The first section of the above work is the second edition of Fernel's classic treatise on physiology" (Garrison-Morton); Adams F-248; Garrison-Morton 2271; Durling 1459; Norman 785; see PMM 68 note; Waller 2993.