Jacob Girard des Bergeries, Le gouvernement de la santé, où sont contenus non seulement les préceptes les plus seurs pour s'y conserver, chacun selon son âge, son tempérament et sa constitution, mais encore plusieurs conseils et remèdes, pour prévenir les maux et les incommodités les plus communes de la vie; avec un traitté de la nature, propriétés, et droit usage de tout ce qui sert de viande, et breuvage en ces quartiers de l'Europe. [Domestic medicine. The governance of health, which contains only the most important precautions for self-preservation, as long as they are old, their temper and their constitution, but also more advice and remedies, to prevent the most common illnesses and inconveniences; with a treatise on the nature, proprieties and correct usage of all that is here used for food and drink in these neighborhoods of Europe] . Octavo: title, (8) leaves, 174 pages. Bound in half morocco (nineteenth century) by Gaillard. Binding worn with some of the covers worn. Trimmed somewhat tightly at the top, and some occasional foxing and staining. FIRST edition. Two copies listed in the US: Yale and Emory. The book is not in the NLM. Jacob Girard des Bergeries (c.1615–1681) was a Swiss physician who studied at the Academy of Lausanne, then at the University of Basel between 1630 and 1633 and then in Montpellier, where he earned his doctorate in 1637. He became rector of the Academy in 1648, and taught courses on medical botany and pharmacy, as well as on dietetics. Le gouvernement de la santé was his first book and it was reprinted the following year with his L'apotiquaire charitable and a work on gout. This collection is listed in the British Library. The author, like his book, is little known, although at least one Swiss monograph has been published about both. Le gouvernement de la santé is divided into three parts: 1. General precepts on healthy living, including chapters on food and drink, on sleep and taking naps, on exercise and rest, and on regular defecation. 2. On attaining good health at different ages, on adolescence and virility, on getting old, and on how seasons affect health. This section also has chapters on pregnancy, and on people who are overweight, who lead sedentary lives, and on those afflicted by gout, depression, colic, and on those living in pestilential areas. 3. This section pays particular attention to diet and covers vegetables and bread, plants and herbs, meats of various kinds, and on the diet and drinking habits of different European countries. Throughout the book Jacob Girard des Bergeries is careful and clear in his descriptions and very prescriptive as well. Wines that are chilled are bad for people with weak stomachs, purging is sometimes to be recommended, blood-letting is very useful as a revitalising procedure, fortified wines should be consumed when raw meats are eaten, meats in general need to be eaten only during certain seasons… and so forth. What to eat, how to eat, when to sleep, when to exercise – the rules governing good health are set down clearly and even dogmatically. Le gouvernement de la santé truly sees people as governors of their own health and ill-health, a remarkably modern approach, although Dr Jacob Girard des Bergeries sees the need for frequent medical and pharmaceutical interventions (syrups, potions, distillations, as described) when illness looms.