Dionis/La Faye - Cours d’opérations de chirurgie - 1740

DIONIS, PIERRE ET LA FAYE, GEORGE DE. — COURSE OF OPERATIONS IN SURGERY (PARIS, D'HOURY, 1740. 4th AUGMENTED EDITION). Paris: d'Houry, 1740. 8vo. Contemporary full calf, spine with gold tooling. A highly sought-after edition presented by George de La Faye, augmented with important technical remarks and new plates of surgical instruments. Pierre Dionis, protected by Louis XIV and surgeon to the royal family, was the first to give demonstrations of operative anatomy in French at the Jardin du Roi (today the Jardin des Plantes). His Course of Operations revolutionized surgical practice by lifting it from mere apprenticeship to an exact science taught publicly. The work surveys the full range of procedures of the era: trepanation, lithotomy (cutting for the stone), amputations, reduction of hernias, cataract operations and obstetric surgery (notably the cesarean operation). Copy in its period binding, full brown marbled calf. The spine with raised bands retains a handsome gilt on the compartments, but shows pronounced wear and significant skin losses on the back and covers (epidermizations, peeling, and small gaps of leather along the joints and at the caps). Binding nevertheless remains well held. Interior in fine condition on laid paper, well complete with the frontispiece of the amphitheater and the plates of surgical instruments of remarkable clarity. Until Dionis, surgery was considered a manual trade of secondary rank, performed by barber-surgeons. By creating his public course of operative anatomy at the Jardin du Roi before hundreds of students (scene immortalized by Scotin’s engraving), Dionis laid the foundations for the Royal Academy of Surgery.

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