Dom Alexandre Nicolas - Dictionnaire botanique et pharmaceutique - 1768

The Botanical and Pharmaceutical Dictionary (the 1768 edition is highly sought after) is a classic reference work attributed to Dom Alexandre Nicolas (often indicated by the initials *** or Dom Nicolas).

Botanical and Pharmaceutical Dictionary, containing the principal properties of minerals, plants, and animals in common use, with pharmaceutical preparations, internal and external, the most employed in medicine and surgery, by *** (Dom Alexandre Nicolas) in Paris, at P. Fr. Didot the Young, 1768 - VIII pp, 629 pp, (25) ff of tables - Half bound, corners worn - in-12 - 11 x 17 cm.

Condition: Top cap missing, one hinge cracked for 2 cm, hinges solid, two corners dulled, covers rubbed, spine with raised bands adorned with gilded fleurons (title piece missing), rare foxing, ex-libris stamp "Grévin docteur médecin"; a correct exemplar of this highly sought work.

Work illustrated with a folding plate presenting the chemical characters of the time.

Content: A work primarily on pharmacy: Although it bears the name “botanical,” the book focuses far more on medicinal applications, drugs, and remedies than on rigorous or scientific descriptions of plants.

• Three broad kingdoms covered: It catalogues the properties and preparations arising from:

• plants (medicinal and “simple” plants),

• minerals,

• animals used medically (such as cantharides, the beaver, etc.).

• It provides the detail of galenic and pharmaceutical preparations (powders, ointments, infusions, etc.) employed in medicine and surgery in the eighteenth century.