Claude Bernard - Introduction à l'étude de la médecine expérimentale - 1865

"The greatest physiologist of modern France". (Garrison)

Claude BERNARD. Introduction to the study of experimental medicine. Paris, London, Madrid, New York, J.-B. Baillière..., 1865.

Octavo: 400 pages + publisher's catalogue. In contemporary red sheepskin. Great copy with a few spots of foxing due, as usual, to paper quality.

First edition, first issue: with printing in five cities. In bright red gilt decorated half shagreen, contemporary binding.

This is a key foundational texts in the history of modern science and medicine. In this first edition, Bernard — a French physiologist — laid out a rigorous framework for applying experimental methods to the study of life processes. Rejecting speculative or purely observational approaches, he argued that medicine must rest on the same empirical and methodological principles that govern the physical sciences. The work articulates a clear philosophy of scientific inquiry, emphasizing controlled experimentation, hypothesis testing, and reproducibility as essential tools for uncovering the laws governing physiological phenomena.

The Introduction not only redefined medical research but also profoundly influenced the broader philosophy of science. Bernard’s insistence on the interplay between theory and experiment anticipated many later developments in scientific methodology. His reflections on the role of the investigator — objective, skeptical, and guided by observation rather than preconceived notions — became a touchstone for scientific integrity. The 1865 first edition thus represents a crucial moment in the transition of medicine from an art grounded in tradition to a discipline based on experimental rigor, shaping the evolution of biomedical science for generations to come.


REFERENCES
DSB II, pp. 26. Garrison & Morton, 1766-501. En français dans le texte n° 288. Heirs of Hippocrates, n° 974. Norman n° 206. Printing and the Mind of Man, n° 353.