Discours ... de la mumie, de la licorne, des venins, et de la peste. Avec une table des plus notables matieres contenues esdits discours

Paris: chez Gabriel Buon, au clos Bruneau, à l'enseigne S. Claude, 1582. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. 1st Edition. Hardcover. 4to (214 x 159 mm). [16], 74 (of 76) leaves, title with printer's woodcut device, 12 woodcut illustrations in text of which 6 full-page; woodcut initials and headpieces. Lacking the separate plate with portrait of the author and text leaf P1 (these bound-in as good facsimilé on old paper); also missing is the final blank T4. Signatures: a4 e4 i4 o2 u2, A-T4 (-P1 -T4). Rebound in 18th century full vellum, original gilt-lettered leather label preserved on spine, sprinkled edges, new endpapers (vellum slightly dust-soiled). All leaves carefully cleaned; title page with paper repair of lower right portion with loss of last word "Roy" in final line (added in ink manuscript), some pages with short upper margin, illustration on f.25r trimmed at fore-margin just into the platemark, a few faint ink marginals. Provenance: illegible signature on final leaf, dated 1674. ----

EXCEEDINGLY RARE FIRST EDITION of Ambroise Pare's discourse against ancient medicine, according to Garrison, successfully disposed of an therapeutic superstition, which was practised by Queen Isabella, the Catholic, of Spain, and the ladies of her Court. Paré was among the first to oppose the medical use of 'mummia' or 'mummy', a substance used in the embalming of mummies.
"On August 31, 1580, a powerful personage, Christophe des Ursains, was wounded in the kidneys by a large pointed stone which his back had fallen on while riding. He was brought back to his castle lifeless, his kidneys, abdomen and thighs bleeding. Treatment did nothing. He was thought to be lost. Ambroise Paré, who lived in Paris, was called in. He was in his seventies at the time, and had a long career as first surgeon to kings. Thanks to him, Christophe des Ursains was saved. Once back on his feet, he was astonished that Paré hadn't used mummy juice to treat the bruises he'd suffered. Mummy juice was said to heal bruises. Paré replied that drinking the flesh of corpses was nothing but a catch-all. Des Ursains then asked him what he thought of unicorn horn, and whether it acted against venoms and poisons as claimed. Again, nonsense," replied Paré. Invited by des Ursains to put his opinion in writing, he published his Discours de la Momie et de la Licorne (Discourse on the Mummy and the Unicorn) in 1582. This pamphlet reveals what the imagination can indulge in: it unveils an insane theory and an unheard-of bestiary. Curiosity is the order of the day. For it is more than a document: a universe of incredible beliefs" (Jean-Michel Delacomptée, presentation for the edition of the Discours de la Momie et de la Licorne published by Gallimard in 2011 in the collection "Le Cabinet des lettrés"). The edition opens with an epistle from the author to Christophe des Ursains, followed by a table and six tribute poems, signed by physicians, surgeons and a secretary to the king: Alexis Gaudin, B. de Mauron, Pierre Pigray and Gabriel de Mynut. The second piece is signed C.V.F. The text is illustrated with 12 beautiful and curious woodcuts, six in the text and six full-page. In our copy the fine copper-engraved portrait of Ambroise Paré by Etienne Delaune is missing; it has been replaced here by an expertly made facsimile reproduction.
This work is in fact extremely rare. We weren't able to trace but a single complete copy at auction in the past 100 years, the CECILE ELUARD-POTTIEE-SPERRY copy which was sold at Christie's in 2015 for GBP 98,500. Two other copies that appeared on the market in the past 50 years were lacking the author's portrait.
References & Bibliography: Adams P-316; Brun, p.267; Brunet, IV, 366 ("rare"); J. Doe, A bibliography of the works of Ambroise Paré. Amsterdam, 1976, no. 24; Tchemerzine V, 39 ("extremely rare"). - Visit our website to see more images!