SEMMELWEIS, Ignaz Philipp (1818-1865). Die Aetiologie, der Begriff und die Prophylaxis des Kindbettfiebers . Pest, Vienna and Leipzig: C. A. Hartleben's Verlags-Expedition, 1861. 8 o (225 x 144 mm). (Occcasional light foxing.) Original boards, original printed gilt lettered title label on spine (label chipped, extremities slightly rubbed); morocco-backed folding case. Provenance : Med. Chirurg. Gesellschaft zu Donaueschingen (19th-century inkstamp on verso of title). FIRST EDITION of Semmelweis's complete account of his epoch-making discovery of the etiology, contagiousness and means of prevention of puerperal fever. "Semmelweis, pioneer of antisepsis in obstetrics, was the first to recognize that puerperal fever is a septicaemia" (Garrison-Morton). After 1850 Semmelweis published a few short accounts in Hungarian medical journals of his discovery of the infectious cause of the deadly disease and his successful prevention of it in his clinic in Vienna through strictly enforced hand-washing with chlorinated limewater, but it was not until 14 years after his initial discovery that he published this complete exposition of his conclusions and prophylactic method. "In spite of his having marshaled overwhelming evidence to support his contention that the disease could be spread by attending physicians, his ideas were vehemently opposed by nearly every prominent physician of his day. A notable exception was Oliver Wendell Holmes who had earlier published a paper on the contagiousness of puerperal fever" ( Heirs of Hippocrates ; see lot 1128). (Semmelweis and Holmes were unaware of each other's work.) The rejection of his work has been variously attributed to Semmelweis's abrasive personality, lack of well-placed allies, unclear prose, and excessive use of statistical tables. "Most important, however, was the lack of a good explanation for Semmelweis' empirically derived procedure, a development made possible only through the ensuing work of Pasteur" (DSB). His theories were ignored until the 1880s and 90s, when "a return was made to the asepsis of Semmelweis as against Lister's antisepsis" (PMM). A FINE COPY OF ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT MEDICAL RARITIES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. Garrison-Morton 6277; Grolier Medicine 72A; Heirs of Hippocrates 1851; PMM 316b2; Waller 8830; Norman 1926.
SEMMELWEIS, Ignaz Philipp (1818-1865). Die Aetiologie, der Begriff und die Prophylaxis des Kindbettfiebers . Pest, Vienna and Leipzig: C. A. Hartleben's Verlags-Expedition, 1861. 8 o (225 x 144 mm). (Occcasional light foxing.) Original boards, original printed gilt lettered title label on spine (label chipped, extremities slightly rubbed); morocco-backed folding case. Provenance : Med. Chirurg. Gesellschaft zu Donaueschingen (19th-century inkstamp on verso of title). FIRST EDITION of Semmelweis's complete account of his epoch-making discovery of the etiology, contagiousness and means of prevention of puerperal fever. "Semmelweis, pioneer of antisepsis in obstetrics, was the first to recognize that puerperal fever is a septicaemia" (Garrison-Morton). After 1850 Semmelweis published a few short accounts in Hungarian medical journals of his discovery of the infectious cause of the deadly disease and his successful prevention of it in his clinic in Vienna through strictly enforced hand-washing with chlorinated limewater, but it was not until 14 years after his initial discovery that he published this complete exposition of his conclusions and prophylactic method. "In spite of his having marshaled overwhelming evidence to support his contention that the disease could be spread by attending physicians, his ideas were vehemently opposed by nearly every prominent physician of his day. A notable exception was Oliver Wendell Holmes who had earlier published a paper on the contagiousness of puerperal fever" ( Heirs of Hippocrates ; see lot 1128). (Semmelweis and Holmes were unaware of each other's work.) The rejection of his work has been variously attributed to Semmelweis's abrasive personality, lack of well-placed allies, unclear prose, and excessive use of statistical tables. "Most important, however, was the lack of a good explanation for Semmelweis' empirically derived procedure, a development made possible only through the ensuing work of Pasteur" (DSB). His theories were ignored until the 1880s and 90s, when "a return was made to the asepsis of Semmelweis as against Lister's antisepsis" (PMM). A FINE COPY OF ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT MEDICAL RARITIES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. Garrison-Morton 6277; Grolier Medicine 72A; Heirs of Hippocrates 1851; PMM 316b2; Waller 8830; Norman 1926.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
