Pensieri E Nuovo Metodo Per Rendere Inefficaci I Veleni Della Vipera E Del Morso Del Can Rabbioso.
Pisa, R. Prosperi 1795.
8vo (191 x 116 mm.). 59p.
Contemporary mottled sheep-backed and tipped marbled boards (rubbed, corners bumped), flat spine, gilt-lettered red leather label, edges marbled red, blue and green, green silk marker.
Only Edition of this study of rabies, snake venom and smallpox, noting similarities and differences between the first two, for which Pucciardi seeks a broadly applicable antidote. The Pisan physician musters local case studies, ancient authorities and contemporary monographs and journal articles (some two dozen sources) to investigate the efficacy of washing the wound with soap, sucking out the viral saliva or venom, scarification, and so on. He reports the findings of his own experiments and proposes human saliva and gastric juices be tested on the smallpox virus in varying doses to see if the results can be transferred to rabies. His other three books also address the commonweal — the Pisa municipal smallpox vaccination program, the city’s air quality and its soil health. I have found three copies in the U.S. In good condition, finely printed on very thick paper. Several leaves preserve the blind chase mark in the lower margin. A quire of four blank leaves of the same paper stock as the edition are bound after the text.
¶Blake, 18th Century Printed Books in the National Library of Medicine 365; Wellcome Historical Medical Library IV: 446.
Price: $950.00