Specimen edfectuum aeris in humano corpore Latine reddidit, atque additionibus, auctariisque illustravit, ornavit, auxit P. F. Fortunatus De Felici

Neapoli [Naples, Italy]: Excudebat Joseph Raymundi. Very Good. 1753. First Edition Thus. Hard Cover. (12), 335 (1 errata) pp pages; Mid-eighteenth century sprinkled brown calf, raised bands and decorative gilt stamped decoration in spine panels with red title label, edges of the text block stained red. The dedication copy of the Latin edition of Dr. John Arbuthnot's last book -- [An essay concerning the effects of air on human bodies, London, printed for J. Tonson in the Strand, 1733]. With the bookplate of the dedicatee of this 1753 first Latin edition -- Niccolò Fraggianni. A full page engraved portrait of Fraggianni is included facing the text of the dedication of this edition to him. The binding displays some insect damage along portions of the outer gutter margins, and at the red leather titling slip on the spine. Internally, there is some minor damage, which gets progressively less apparent, to the front endpapers, the half title and title page. At the rear, there is similar damage to the endpapers, but just a tiny hole in the gutter margin of the errata leaf. There is also a modest damp tide mark to the blank bottom margins of the final twenty pages. Dr. Arbuthnot was born in Scotland and in early life, by training and habit of mind, thought of himself as a mathematician. He came to London in 1691, the year his father, a non-conforming Scottish minister, had died. In London the following year, Arbuthnot published 'Of the Laws of Chance' -- more or less a translation from the Latin text of Christiaan Huygens's 'De ratiociniis in ludo aleae.' This is widely thought to have been the first work on probability published in English. Arbuthnot became the tutor to a well-born son of a member of Parliament, follwed his charge to Oxford where he met many eminent figures of the time -- including Isaac Newton and Samuel Pepys. Arbuthnot felt that he would benefit in life by the formal possession of an advanced degree, but did not have the necessary financial backing to spend years as a student. Thus impelled by circumstances, he set what I believe must be an all-time speed record for obtaining an earned doctoral degree. He returned to his native Scotland, entrolled as a doctoral student in medicine at the University of St. Andrews on 11 September 1696. On that busy day, Arbuthnot defended seven theses dealing with medical subjects -- and was awarded his doctorate before that same day had come to a close. Arbuthnot used this new medical degree along with what must have been a vast repertoire of conversation and helpful advice to take advantage of a chance meeting to become physician to Prince George, and then to his wife, Queen Anne. For ten years he moved in higher and higher circles, eventually becoming a member of the Royal household. And even after Queen Anne died without arranging for the continuing support of Dr. Arbuthnot and her other inner staff, he never strayed far from the various London circles of power and high achievement. Today, he is probably best remembered as a founder of the "Scriblerus Club" -- with his friends Pope, Gay, Swift, Thomas Parnell, Harley and Bolingbroke. Because Arbuthnot became famous among these friends for ducking credit as author of a number of poems and satires and his numerous contributions to the works of others. Certainly, few would dispute that Arbuthnot had a major influence on Swift's "Gulliver's Travels -- which he saw in various manuscript drafts -- during which he almost certainly influenced its satirical portrayal of the Royal Society (the real version of which Arbuthnot had been made a member in 1704). The traditional notion is that this book was not particularly important in the history of medicine since, while the idea of "fresh air" is both pleasant and beneficial -- the air could hardly manage to carry pathogens responsible for spreading major disease. When Fielding Garrison wrote his pioneering American history of medicine in 1913, he mentions Dr. John Arbuthnot in his survey of the English Eighteenth century, and treats him as the creator of "John Bull" -- friend to Swift and Pope, and, incidentally, physician to Queen Anne.. And it was not until four years after Garrison's death that scientists first were able to "see" a virus using the newly developed electron microscope. Naples became a center for publication of medical books in Latin during the eighteenth century. The translator of this text into Latin, Fortunatus del Felic held the chair of experimental physics and mathematics at Naples University.. He expanded his Lain text on a local point of interest. Dr. Arbuthnot's 1733 English text -- Section XVII of the first chapter -- refers to the "mortiferous Stream in the Grotto del Cane near Naples." The 1753 Latin text contains 8 full double columns of notes on four pages devoted to the nature and literature of this unusual place, ranging from classical times forward. Moreover, since the grotto represents one of earth's most unusually concentrated exhalations of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, there is more potential interest in Dr. Arbuthnot's fascination for this location and what it might meanfor the earth and life on the planet in the twenty-first century than might have been the case a century ago when this eighteenth century book was usually dismissed by historians of medicine and science as a relatively minor work. Through this Latin translation, Fortunato Bartolomeo de Felice (1723 – 1789), also known as the second Comte de Panzutt, attracted the attention of Albrecht von Haller -- who influenced Felice to move to Swizerland, where he eventually became one of the most important publishers of his time. More about the status of this copy as "the" dedication copy. While it sometimes occurs that the dedicatee of a book has many copies to distribute to friends and colleagues, it really does appear that this copy has a unique status. We can find no other copies in library catalogues of copies in which the distinctive bookplate of Niccolò Fraggianni is reported. Moreover, there is an ink inscription about the history of our copy following the death of Fraggianni in February of 1763. "Quondam, / Nunc Aloysii Ranatila Scarpacci / Philosophiae et Medicinae Doctoris / 1768." .