Alberti (Michael). - Tractatus de haemorrhoidibus - 1733

Alberti (Michael).
Treatise on hemorrhoids, in which certain sheets by the celebrated Dn. Consil. and Archiatri Stahl, presenting the true doctrine of hemorrhoids, are prefixed as a foundation, and the whole hemorrhoidal affair is treated diagnostically, prognostically, pathologically & in practice through very special theses… with a prefatory epistolary note by the illustrious Stahl to the author, and with a verbal and real index.
Halae [Halle], Typis & Impensis Orphanotrophei, 1733.
Fort volume in-4° ; 418, 210 pp., [16] pp. approximately of index and errata. Full brown vellum of the period, spine with gilt decorated cords and ornaments, 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 brings together several dissertations by Michael Alberti and his master Georg Ernst Stahl. The first part examines the physiological and pathological foundations of hemorrhoidal diseases: circulation, internal and external hemorrhoids, feminine forms, excessive or suppressed flux, atypical manifestations and relationships with longevity. The second studies their relations with menstruation, diseases of the spleen, scurvy, diseases of the head and chest, calculi, gout and colics, and then explains the then-recommended regimen and treatments.
Michael Alberti (1682-1757), physician and professor at the University of Halle, was one of the leading representatives of Stahl’s animist school. Here he considers the disease within the framework of humoral medicine, while giving considerable weight to clinical observation, regimen, and measured therapeutic approaches.

Complete copy of both parts, the alphabetical index, and the errata leaf. Binding very worn: boards heavily rubbed, corners worn, joints split, headpieces missing and significant leather loss to the spine; gilding partly faded. Interior solid; paper uniformly browned, foxing and stains scattered, some old damp stains, with no notable impairment to readability.
Rare specialized monograph on early 18th-century medicine, remarkable for its subject and its richly typographically ornamented presentation.