Alberti (Michael). - Tractatus de haemorrhoidibus - 1733

Alberti (Michael).
Treatise on Hemorrhoids, in which are the sketches by the renowned Councillor and Archiatrist Stahlii, outlining the true doctrine of hemorrhoids, and the entire hemorrhoidal enterprise treated diagnostically, prognostically, pathologically & practically through special topics… with a prefatory epistolary letter by the illustrious Stahlii addressed to the author, and a verbal and real index.
Halle, Typis & Impensis Orphanotrophei, 1733.
Fort volume in-4° ; 418, 210 pp., [16] pp. approximately of index and errata. Full brown calf of the period, spine with raised bands ornamented with boxes and gilded fleurons, title piece in brown morocco, red edges.

New impression, published after the original edition of 1722, of this important medical treatise entirely devoted to hemorrhoids. Title printed in red and black with a wood-engraved vignette; numerous headbands, historiated initials and tailpieces.
The work gathers several dissertations by Michael Alberti and his master Georg Ernst Stahl. The first part examines the physiological and pathological foundations of hemorrhoidal affections: circulation, internal and external hemorrhoids, feminine forms, excessive or suppressed discharges, atypical manifestations and their relation to longevity. The second studies their relations with menstruation, diseases of the spleen, scurvy, ailments of the head and chest, calculi, gout and colics, then sets forth the regimen and treatments then recommended.
Michael Alberti (1682-1757), physician and professor at the University of Halle, was one of the main representatives of Stahl’s animist school. He here views the disease within the framework of humoral medicine, while giving substantial importance to clinical observation, diet and measured therapy.

Complete copy of the two parts, of the alphabetical index and of the errata leaf. Binding very worn: covers heavily rubbed, corners worn, joints split, caps absent and substantial loss of leather on the back; gilding partially erased. Interior solid; paper uniformly browned, foxing and stains scattered, some old damp marks, without notable impairment to reading.

Rare monograph on early 18th-century medicine, remarkable for its subject and its rich typographic ornamentation.