Astruc - Tractatus Therapeuticus et Pathologicus - 1748

RARO TREATISE ON MEDICINE BETWEEN THERAPY AND PATHOLOGY
ABSTRACT
An important work of European medicine in the eighteenth century dedicated to the study of diseases and their treatments according to the clinical method of the time. Johannis Astruc, court physician and author of numerous scientific contributions, gathers in this treatise therapeutic and pathological observations grounded in French and international medical experience. The work represents a significant document of the transition between traditional medicine and the rational Enlightenment approach. An eighteenth-century parchment copy with signs of use and handwritten annotations testifying to the circulation of the medical study. A volume intended for collectors of the history of medicine, natural sciences and scientific culture of the eighteenth century.

WHY TO BUY
A treatise documenting the development of pathology and therapy in the eighteenth century.
INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED AUTHOR - Johannis Astruc was a central figure in European medicine, linked to the French academic circles.
HISTORICAL-SCIENTIFIC INTEREST - A work that shows the shift from Galenic tradition to medicine based on clinical observation.
AUTHENTIC EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY EXEMPLAR - Preserved in an era parchment with signs of its reading and ownership history.

MARKET VALUE
The commercial value of eighteenth-century works by Johannis Astruc mainly depends on completeness, preservation, original binding and provenance. Copies in contemporaneous parchment of Latin medical treatises from the eighteenth century are generally sought after by specialized libraries, collectors of ancient medicine and scientific antiques. Indicative valuation for a copy with structural defects but complete: about €450-650.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Floppy parchment binding of the period, with signs of time, abrasions and slight deformations. Frontispiece with an ornate woodcut vignette. Paper with some natural foxing, humidity stains and oxidation marks; brunings and a deterioration zone of the inner lower part near the spine, without significant text loss. Ancient handwritten annotations on the flyleaves, evidence of consultation of the work. Copy with natural foxing in some sections. In old books with a multi-century history, some imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. This listing contains AI Visualizations. Please refer to the original photographs to verify the actual condition of the item. The images are an integral part of the description. Pp. (2); 4nn; 260; (2).

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Tractatus Therapeuticus et Pathologicus.
Venetiis, Apud Thomam Bettinelli, 1748.
Johannis Astruc.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
Johannis Astruc was one of the protagonists of European medicine in the early eighteenth century. Trained in the French scientific tradition, he contributed to the development of clinical medicine through an approach based on symptom observation, disease classification and critical analysis of available therapies. The present treatise brings together two fundamental aspects of eighteenth-century medical practice: pathology, understood as the study of causes and morbid phenomena, and therapeutics, devoted to the choice of remedies. The work reflects the cultural climate of medical Enlightenment, in which the doctor’s direct experience played an increasingly important role compared to the authorities of the past. The copy belongs to the Venetian scientific production of the eighteenth century and testifies to the international diffusion of medical works in Latin, still used as the language of the European scientific community.

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Johannis Astruc (Sauve, 1684 – Paris, 1766) was a French physician, professor at important academic institutions and court physician. He studied medicine in Montpellier, where he came into contact with the French clinical tradition, and subsequently practiced at several European courts. He is remembered especially for his studies on venereal diseases and for his contributions to the history of medicine. His most famous work is the treatise on venereal diseases, but his production includes numerous writings of therapeutic, pathological and historical-medical character.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
The treatise was published in Venice in 1748 at Tommaso Bettinelli, one of the printers active in Venetian scientific publishing in the eighteenth century. The Latin edition was intended for international circulation in academic and professional circles, where Latin remained the main language of medical communication. Astruc’s works enjoyed wide dissemination in European medical libraries, entering the collections of physicians, universities and scientific institutions. Copies preserved with original bindings and signs of reading are particularly interesting for the study of the reception of eighteenth-century medicine.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
Johannis Astruc, Tractatus Therapeuticus et Pathologicus, Venezia, Tommaso Bettinelli, 1748.

CCPB000125452-9.
ICCU – Catalogo del Servizio Bibliotecario Nazionale.
WorldCat – Catalogo internazionale delle biblioteche.
CERL Thesaurus – Consortium of European Research Libraries.
Wellcome Collection – Storical bibliography of medicine.
Norman Library of Science and Medicine – Catalogues of the history of medicine.
Garrison & Morton, A Medical Bibliography.
Osler Library of the History of Medicine, McGill University – Historical catalogs.