Barthélemy Alary - La Guerison Assuree des Fievres - 1685

Paris: Chez l’Auteur, sur le Pont St. Michel, vis-à-vis le Quay des Augustins, au Page du Roy, 1685. 1st. Contemporary full mottled calf, raised bands, gilt floral tooling on spine (worn, some cracking). This rare late 17th-century French medical book is a treatise on the treatment of fevers — specifically tertian and quartain fevers (what we today would recognize as malarial or cyclical fevers). Written by Barthélemy Alary, apothecary of Grasse in Provence, the text offers a “Provençal remedy in tablets,” which Alary claims can cure tertian fevers in two days and quartan fevers in four. The book also includes guidance on proper regimen, diet, and application of remedies, as well as justifications of their efficacy “par Privilege du Roy,” showing it was approved for circulation by royal medical authorities. This work represents both early modern pharmacy and the intersection of provincial medical knowledge with official royal sanction. Covers: Heavy wear to mottled calf leather, abrasions, scuffing, loss at corners and spine ends.

Spine: Raised bands with faded gilt tooling; losses to leather at head/foot. Structurally holding but fragile.

Interior: Marbled pastedowns. Foxing and toning throughout, some old handwritten marginalia. Pages are generally legible and complet