Historiae morborum observationibus auctae et clarissimorum virorum consultationibus atque epistolis illustratae, auctore Francisco Roncalli Parolino Very large and heavy folio: 287 pages with portraits and frontispiece. A lovely clean copy, beautifully printed on high quality thick paper. Bound in contemporary hard vellum: excellent condition but note small defect on the edge of the front cover. Francesco Roncalli Parolino (1692 - Brescia, 1763/ 1769). Born in Brescia in 1692, he was sent to Padua to complete, under Antonio Vallisneri, the studies he had begun under the direction of his father. His works and his successes in practical medicine soon acquired him a great reputation. While several European academies rushed to admit him into their fold, he obtained the title of Count of Poland and the honors of court physician in Madrid. in red and black with engraved vignette, frontispiece engraved by Marc'Antonio Dal Re based on a design by Francesco Monti, portrait of the dedicatee designed by Felicita Sartori from a painting by Rosalba Carriera and engraved by Carlo Orsolini, portrait of the author engraved by Francesco Zucchi (slight halo on the upper corner of the first leaves.) Contemporary parchment binding with supra libros by the dedicatee Frederick Christian of Saxony (1722-1763), son of Augustus of Poland, gold title within a cartouche on the spine, marbled edges. Important provenance and with beautiful plates by Marc'Antonio Dal Re, Carlo Orsolini and Francesco Zucchi. First and only edition of this important medical work by the famous Brescian doctor and poet Count Francesco Roncalli (Brescia, 1692 1763 or 1769), The author distinguished himself for various works of a medical nature including, in addition to the one presented here, "Medicina Europae" and "Nosocomium locupletatum". Widely appreciated as a doctor and scholar, he was called to the Spanish court, becoming the personal doctor of the King of Spain and for his medical merits he was also awarded the title of Count of Poland by the Prince of Saxony Federicus Christianus, King of Poland and Great Elector. Passionate about botany, he also wrote a famous work dedicated to the flora of Brescia "Plantarum in agro Brixiano situs, et vires". De Renzi (vol V, pp. 148 and 554) writes thus of Roncalli: "...he was a learned and very industrious doctor, and acquired much fame for having conceived and completed a very useful plan in that time: that of collecting the reports of Europe's leading doctors on the medicine of their countries, indicating the topographical conditions, the endemic or most frequent diseases and the most commonly used methods of treating medicine". The work presented here deals in the form of Latin descriptions and problems dealing with such afflictions as aneurysms, skin diseases, epilepsy, melancholy, hypochondria, apoplexy, scrofula, myopia, syphilis, asthma, tumors, lumbago, nephritis, various gynecological diseases, etc. The work is considered an excellent summary of the medical thought of the time. Among the corresponding authors of the "Epistles" are the great doctors of the time such as Paolo Valcarenghi, Carlo Francesco Cogrossi, Andrea Pasta, Giovanni Battista Morgagni, Giovanni Battista Mazzini, Antonio Leprotti and others. Rappaport 387 who describes the work as very important; see also Blake, 387; Osler, 3830: "I know no work of exactly the same lines".