Darren Sutherland
Specialist
The Medical and Franklin Library of Dr. William von Valtier
Lot 43
LAENNEC, RENE THEOPHILE HYACINTHE. 1781-1826. De l'auscultation mediate ou traite du diagnostic des maladies des poumons et du coeur, fonde principalement sur ce nouveau moyen d'exploration. Paris: J.-A. Brosson andJ.-S. Chaude, 1819.
22 June 2023, 12:00 EDT
New YorkUS$15,000 - US$25,000
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LAENNEC, RENE THEOPHILE HYACINTHE. 1781-1826.
De l'auscultation mediate ou traite du diagnostic des maladies des poumons et du coeur, fonde principalement sur ce nouveau moyen d'exploration. Paris: J.-A. Brosson andJ.-S. Chaude, 1819.
2 volumes, 8vo (206 x 125 mm). Half-titles, fol. a*2 in vol. I cancelled, 4 engraved folding plates. Small manuscript correction, probably by the author, to p. 152, vol. I. Contemporary half calf, green vellum corners, smooth spines gilt, edges sprinkled green calf chemises, matching slipcase. Some minor staining. Binding with minor wear to joints and extremities.
Provenance: Meriadec Laennec (1797-1837), the author's cousin, editor of the third edition (1831) of De l'auscultation mediate (author's presentation inscription dated September 1819 on title of volume I: "Patrueli fratri Meriad. Laennec quo vidit et quorum pars fecit, dedit R. T. Laennec"); Dr. E. Bonamy of Le Grand Pressigny, Indre et Loire (autograph letter dated 11 March 1923, regarding his proposed sale of this copy laid in); John Farquhar Fulton (1899-1960), neurophysiologist, medical book collector and bibliographer (autograph letter dated 21 September 1924, addressed to Dr. William Syndey Thayer, requesting his opinion of the presentation inscription, with the latter's reply, confirming its authenticity; joined to these letters are 2 ALSs from Henry Burton Yardley to Fulton, dated 16 January and 22 January 1927, thanking Fulton for sending him a reproduction of the inscribed title-page of the present volume, describing a Laennec medal cut for the centenary of the author's death, and relaying news of Kiebs, Osler's widow Lady Osler and other members of the scientific book-collecting world laid in); Haskell F. Norman (bookplate; his sale, Christie's New York, Part 3, 29 October, 1998, lot 1157).
FIRST EDITION, EXTRAORDINARELY FINE PRESENTATION COPY OF LAENNEC'S LANDMARK STUDY OF DISEASES OF THE CHEST, second state, with cancel leaf a*2. "Laennec's invention of the stethoscope, which he announced in his Treatise on mediate auscultation, provided the first adequate method for diagnosing diseases of the thorax, and represented the greatest advance in physical diagnosis between Auenbrugger's percussion (see lot 22) and Röntgen's discovery of x-rays. Laennec used his new tool to study the sounds made by the movements of the heart and lungs..." (Norman). The four folding plates illustrate Laennec's stethoscope (a short wooden tube). "Laennec was considered the greatest teacher of his time on tuberculosis. Indeed, it was in elaboration of his investigation of the disease that he invented the stethoscope..." (Garrison). Laennec died of tuberculosis, presumably contracted from one of his patience, at the early age of 45. Dibner Heralds 129; Garrison-Morton-Norman 2673; Norman 1254; PMM 280.
2 volumes, 8vo (206 x 125 mm). Half-titles, fol. a*2 in vol. I cancelled, 4 engraved folding plates. Small manuscript correction, probably by the author, to p. 152, vol. I. Contemporary half calf, green vellum corners, smooth spines gilt, edges sprinkled green calf chemises, matching slipcase. Some minor staining. Binding with minor wear to joints and extremities.
Provenance: Meriadec Laennec (1797-1837), the author's cousin, editor of the third edition (1831) of De l'auscultation mediate (author's presentation inscription dated September 1819 on title of volume I: "Patrueli fratri Meriad. Laennec quo vidit et quorum pars fecit, dedit R. T. Laennec"); Dr. E. Bonamy of Le Grand Pressigny, Indre et Loire (autograph letter dated 11 March 1923, regarding his proposed sale of this copy laid in); John Farquhar Fulton (1899-1960), neurophysiologist, medical book collector and bibliographer (autograph letter dated 21 September 1924, addressed to Dr. William Syndey Thayer, requesting his opinion of the presentation inscription, with the latter's reply, confirming its authenticity; joined to these letters are 2 ALSs from Henry Burton Yardley to Fulton, dated 16 January and 22 January 1927, thanking Fulton for sending him a reproduction of the inscribed title-page of the present volume, describing a Laennec medal cut for the centenary of the author's death, and relaying news of Kiebs, Osler's widow Lady Osler and other members of the scientific book-collecting world laid in); Haskell F. Norman (bookplate; his sale, Christie's New York, Part 3, 29 October, 1998, lot 1157).
FIRST EDITION, EXTRAORDINARELY FINE PRESENTATION COPY OF LAENNEC'S LANDMARK STUDY OF DISEASES OF THE CHEST, second state, with cancel leaf a*2. "Laennec's invention of the stethoscope, which he announced in his Treatise on mediate auscultation, provided the first adequate method for diagnosing diseases of the thorax, and represented the greatest advance in physical diagnosis between Auenbrugger's percussion (see lot 22) and Röntgen's discovery of x-rays. Laennec used his new tool to study the sounds made by the movements of the heart and lungs..." (Norman). The four folding plates illustrate Laennec's stethoscope (a short wooden tube). "Laennec was considered the greatest teacher of his time on tuberculosis. Indeed, it was in elaboration of his investigation of the disease that he invented the stethoscope..." (Garrison). Laennec died of tuberculosis, presumably contracted from one of his patience, at the early age of 45. Dibner Heralds 129; Garrison-Morton-Norman 2673; Norman 1254; PMM 280.
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