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UNIDENTIFIED : SUPERB 1788 HANDWRITTEN MANUSCRIPT TREATISE ON THE CURE AND TREATMENT OF TETANUS BY DAZILLE ADDRESSED TO AND WITH HOLOGRAPH NOTE BY EDME-CLAUDE BOURRU ESTEEMED FRENCH DOCTOR, DEAN OF THE FACULTY OF MEDICINE IN PARIS AND ORATOR AT FUNERAL OF GUILLOTIN

Folio - over 12" - 15" tall. On offer is a super 20 page manuscript treatise, dated 1788, on tetanus and its treatment. This essay is a commentary on the works written by Jean Barthélemy Dazille, (1732-1812), famed doctor of tropical medicine whose 'Observations générales sur les maladies des climats chauds', being his distinguished work while doctor of the King in Saint-Domingue, Port-au-Prince, Haïti. He is also the author of a treatise on the 'Observations of Negroes diseases'. Dazille 'was a pioneer in the study of the health conditions and diseases of black slaves in the Americas, perhaps the first of its kind', (Garrison et Morton 1601.1). Also J.B. Blake p.110 and the Wellcome Library p. 438. Further reference see: Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine by Walter L. Pyle Book, pages 941,1030). This beautifully written, though not without the author's errors and corrections in places, document has been addressed to the Faculty of Medicine of Paris and its Dean the esteemed Edme-Claude Bourru (1737-1823), famed 18th century French doctor, [a coin with his likeness was minted], author of numerous treatises on venereal disease and presenter of the funeral oration of Guillotin, [another famed physician more noted for his facilitating the death of humans than of their health.] Bourru shows his appreciation by way of a lengthy handwritten signed note at the very end of the treatise congratulating the author's work about Dazille. Four other members of the faculty autograph other comments. Chapters to the treatise include; Observations, Causes, Children and Tetanus, How to Prevent Tetanus, How to Prevent Tetanus in Children, Pregnancy and Labor and what follows, +++ In fine condition with hardly a fault though a very small round puncture hole that started in the rear and runs through to the front but hardly affects more than a word or two of the text. Otherwise clean and fresh. Folio-sized, rough-edged rag paper with cord to bind. Superb collectible associating two significant doctors and a major disease on the cusp of the French Revolution. What follows is an abstract for further reference of Dazille's observation of slaves that presents part of his contribution to the study of tropical disease; "Population growth among slaves depended both on the policies of the masters and the reactions of the slaves. The policies varied considerably between periods, places and different types of production. While the early French settlers encouraged reproduction in slave families, the development of sugar cane cultivation resulted in changing priorities from reproduction to production, as the price of slaves fell. From the 18th century onwards, a policy based on a combination of "humanism and self-interest" developed, which was influenced by the slavers themselves. Although reproduction was again encouraged, it was no longer based on marriage and the family, even after the abolition of slavery: the target of this policy was in fact the woman herself, not the couple or the family grouping. Confronted with this policy, the slaves often resisted; they refused to marry, have children, or tolerate the domination by male slaves or by masters who practised infanticide. To put an end to this resistance, the settlers resorted to penal sanctions and physical torture." Provenance: The Sir Thomas Phillipps Collection MS 28473.. Book Condition: Very Good. Binding: Manuscript

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