Withering, William

Estimate

2,000 - 3,000 GBP

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Description

An Account of the Foxglove, and some of its medical uses: with practical remarks on dropsy, and other diseases. Birmingham: M. Swinney, 1785
paper

FIRST EDITION, 8vo (208 x 125mm.), half-title, folding hand-coloured engraved plate, contemporary tree calf, [Garrison-Morton 1836; Henrey 1505; Hunt 676; Norman 2255], inkstamps of the John Crerar Library (withdrawn), plate with some wear at folds, strengthened and very slightly cut close, binding rebacked and a bit worn

Catalogue Note

“Withering was one of the greatest medical botanists and his book is a pharmacological classic. Before his time, digitalis was a widely used folk remedy, occasionally mentioned in the folk literature, but it was due to him that correct dosages were established and the action of digitalis in dropsy and on the heart became generally recognised” (Garrison-Morton).