France

1666 CE

#6822

La chymie charitable et facile, en faveur des dames.

A book on practical chemistry, pharmacology and medicine written for the common reader by French autodidact Marie Meurdrac, La chymie charitable et facile, en faveur des dames, was the first treatise on chemistry writ…

1667 CE

#5450

Histoire générale des Antilles habités par les Français. Tom. 1.

Du Tertre, a priest, described (pp. 81, 99, 423) the outbreaks of yellow fever at Guadeloupe in 1635, 1640, and 1648.

1667 CE

#2013

Lettre … touchant deux expériences de la transfusion faites sur des hommes.

The first transfusion of blood into a human was performed by Denis on June 15, 1667; he transfused lamb’s blood into a youth. For a partial translation, see Geoffrey Keynes’s Blood transfusion (Bristol, 19…

1668 CE

#6147

Des maladies des femmes grosses et accouchées.

The outstanding textbook of the time. Mauriceau, leading obstetrician of his day, introduced the practice of delivering his patients in bed instead of in the obstetrical chair. It was to Mauriceau that Hugh Chamberlen…

1668 CE

#1481.1

Nouvelle découverte touchant la veüe.

Discovery of the blind spot in the retina, the existence of which Mariotte deduced from his experiments investigating the fate of light rays striking the base of the optic nerve. Facsimile reprint in J. Brons, The bli…

1669 CE

#1378.1

Discours sur l’anatomie du cerveau.

In this remarkably prescient argument for, and critique of, anatomical research into brain function Stensen opposed Descartes (No. 574) arguing that it was idle to speculate about cerebral function when so little was …

1671 CE

#13629

De l'usage du caphe, du the, et du chocolate.

The Library of Congress attributes this anonymous work to Philippe Sylvestre Dufour, but characterizes Jacob Spon as the "supposed author." They also state as follows: "Attributed also to Jacob Spon. cf. Paris. Bibl. …

1671 CE

#10124

Voyage des pais septentrionaux: Dans lequel se void [sic] les moeurs, maniere de vivre, & superstitions des Norweguiens, Lappons, Kiloppes, Borandiens, Syberiens, Samojedes, Zembliens, & Islandois, enrichi de plusieurs figures.

Translated into English as A new voyage into the northern countries being a discription of the manners, customs, superstition, buildings, and habits of the Norwegians, Laponians, Kilops, Borandians, Siberians, Samojed…

1671 CE–1676 CE

#295

Mémoires pour servir à l’histoire des animaux. 2 vols.

Perrault was the leader of a team of comparative anatomists that included Guichard Joseph Duverney, Jean Pecquet, Moyse Charas and Philippe de la Hire; they were often called the “Parisians” in contemporar…

1676 CE

#61

Opera. 6 vols.

Besides giving early accounts of scarlatina and rubella, Sennert added to the knowledge of scurvy, dysentery and alcoholism. He was an able clinician and also a believer in witchcraft. His Opera was first published in…

1679 CE

#7208

Dissertation sur les dents.

The third publication in French on dentistry, primarily plagiarized from Martinez (No. 3668.2). Martin was apothecary to Louis I, Prince of Condé, a prominent Huguenot general and founder of the House of Cond&e…

1679 CE

#10958

Les nouvelles descouvertes sur toutes les parties de la medecine. Recueillies en l'année 1679.

Blégny edited the first medical periodical published in the vernacular. To begin with it reported only the transactions of a medical society that Blégny organized. The periodical continued only until 168…

1681 CE

#13139

Pharmacopoea persica ex idiomate persico in latinum conversa. Tafsir-i murakkabat-i qarabadin-i parsi [-i Muzaffar b. Muhammad as-Sifa`i] ba-dast-i Angelus Karmelit.

The editor, Joseph Labrosse, "was born in Toulouse in 1636 and entered a Carmelite order, taking the name of Fr. Angelus of St Joseph. In 1662 he went to Rome and studied Arabic for two years before travelling to Isfa…

1682 CE

#14336

Traité de la lithotomie ou de l'extraction de la pierre hors la vessie.

In Tolet's day lithotomy was one of the major and most dangerous of operations. Tollet provided explicit directions for the operation in children as well as adults of both sexes. He particularly stressed the need for …

1683 CE

#12045

Description générale de l'Hostel Royal des Invalides établi par Louis le Grand dans la Plaine de Prennelle près Paris. Avec les plans, profils & elevations de ses faces, coupes & appartemens.

A deluxe folio work with numerous full-page engravings illustrating the architecture, floor plans etc. of the Hôtel des Invalides by its administrator, who signed the dedication "L.J.D.B." Designed by Lib&eacute…

1683 CE

#1545

Traité de l’organe de l’ouie; contenant la structure, les usages et les maladies de toutes les parties de l’oreille.

The first scientific account of the structure, function and diseases of the ear. Du Verney showed that the bony external meatus develops from the tympanic ring and that the mastoid air cells communicate with the tympa…

1684 CE

#1725

La doctrine des rapports de chirurgie, fondées sur les maximes d’usage et sur la disposition des nouvelles ordonnances.

De Blégny explained the obligation of surgeons to report any suspicion of crime, and explained how to prepare expert opinion for presentation before the court.

1684 CE

#1379

Neurographia universalis.

Vieussens, professor at Montpellier, was the first to describe the centrum ovale correctly. The publication of the above work threw new light on the subject of the configuration and structure of the brain, spinal cord…

1685 CE

#6148

La pratique des accouchemens soutenue d’un grand nombre d’observations.

Portal’s important treatise included his demonstration that version could be done with one foot. He also taught that face presentation usually ran a normal course. English translation, 1705.

1685 CE

#11128

Traité des maladies particulières aux pays orientaux, et dans la route, et de leurs Remèdes. Par M.C.D.D.E.M.

At the age of 17, Dellon, who is sometimes referred to as Gabriel Dellon, embarked as second surgeon aboard the ship La Force. He arrived at Darman, in the Portuguese Indies, in 1673, where he was doctor to Luis de Me…

1687 CE

#13624

Le bon usage du the, du caffe, et du chocolat pour la preservation & pour la guerison des maladies.

Digital facsimile from Biodiversity Heritage Library at this link.

1688 CE

#7955

Remèdes contre les cours de ventre.

"The remedy here treated of is ipecacuanha: although its antidysenteric virtues had previously been made known in 1649 by the writings of Piso and Marggraf [No. 2263.1] it was left to Helvetius, about forty years subs…

1691 CE

#12692

Le vie de monsieur Descartes. [par Adrien Baillet].

An early separately published biography of a contributor to the history of the life sciences. Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.

1692 CE

#12982

Le cabinet de la Bibliothèque de Sainte-Geneviève. Divisé en deux parties. Contenant les antiquitez de la religion des Chrétiens, des Egyptiens, & des Romains, des tombeaux, des poids & des medailles; des monnoyes, des pierres antiques gravées, & des minéraux; des talismans, des lampes antiques, des animaux les plus rares et les plus singuliers, des coquilles les plus considérables, des fruits étrangers, & quelques plantes exquises.

Father Du Molinet's "cabinet" incorporated the major part of Fabri de Peiresc's collection. The first part of this work, extensively illustrated with engravings, described antiquities: Christian, Egyptian and Roman; f…

1693 CE

#9541

Description des plantes de l'Amerique.

Digital facsimile from Botanicus at this link.

1693 CE

#4298

Lettre écrite à Monsieur le Chevalier Guillaume de Waidegrave …contenant une dissertation physique sur la continuité de plusieurs os, à l’occasion d’une fabrique surprenante d’un tronc de squelette humain, où les vertebres, les côtes, l’os sacrum, & les os des iles, qui naturellement sont distincts & separés, ne font qu’un seul os continu & inseparable.

First description of ankylosing spondylitis. The British Museum copy of the title page of this work has been mutilated, apparently deliberately, in two places; the author’s surname may originally have appeared a…

1694 CE

#11975

Elemens de botanique, ou methode pour connoître les plantes.

Though Tournefort's classification was completely artificial, and neglected some important divisions established by earlier botanists, and was a step backwards in systematics, the text was so clearly written and well …

1694 CE

#1827.1

Histoire générale des drogues….

Pomet became chief druggist to Louis XIV. His work was considered the most complete materia medica of the time. It also covered non-botanical drugs. Digital facsimile from bibdigital.rjb.csic.es at this link. English …

1695 CE

#5574

La chirurgie complète.

This “quiz-compend” passed through eighteen editions. Among other things it mentions the use of vitriol buttons for checking hemorrhage and the mode of manual compression used at the Hôtel-Dieu. Engl…

1700 CE

#2448.2

De la géneration des vers dans le corps de l’homme.

The first medical parasitology text– an exhaustive study of the parasites of man, the diseases associated with them and their treatment. Andry’s views were often ahead of his time. Unlike most of his conte…

1700 CE

#11894

Observations sur la maniere de tailler dans les deux sexes pour l'extraction de la pierre, pratiqué par Frere Jacques. Nouveau system de la circulation du sang pour le trou ovale dans le foetus humain, avec les réponses aux objections qui ont été faites contre cette hypothese.

"Méry became closely associated with the comparative-anatomical work led by Claude Perrault and J.-G. Duverney. As a member of this group, Méry made contributions to their joint publications, in which ea…

1703 CE

#14121

L'art de faire les raports en chirurgie, où l'on ensiegne la pratique, les formules & le stile le plus en usage parmi les chirurgiens commis aux rapports; avec un extrait des arrest, statuts & reglemens faits en consequence.

Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link. (Thanks to Webb Dordick for this reference.)

1703 CE

#9542

Nova plantarum Americanarum genera.

Digital facsimile from the Biodiversity Heritage Library at this link.

1704 CE

#68

Opera omnia medico-practica et anatomica.

Baglivi, Professor of Anatomy at Rome, had a short but brilliant career. He wrote Praxis medica and De fibra motrice, and originated the so-called “solidar” pathology; he also devoted much time to experime…

1705 CE

#4300

L’art de guérir les maladies des os. Ou l'on traite des luxations & des fractures, avec les instrumens necessaires & une machine de nouvelle invention pour les reduire: ensemble des exostoses & des caries, des anchyloses, des maladies des dents, & de la charte ou rachitis, maladie ordinaire aux enfans.

Petit was the first director of the Académie de Chirurgie, Paris. He is particularly remembered for his work on bone diseases. He invented the screw tourniquet, gave the first account of osteomalacia, and was f…

1706 CE

#9471

Nouvelles découvertes sur le cœur, expliquées dans une lettre écrite à Monsieur Boudin ....

The first description of “Vieussen’s valve,” “Vieussens’s ring,” and the “Thebesian veins” of the heart. "These ‘ducti carnosi’ were ultimately named ‘…

1707 CE

#5575

Cours d’opérations de chirurgie, de demonstrées au Jardin Royal.

Dionis taught operative surgery at the Jardin-du-Roi, Paris, a famous training ground for surgeons. English translation, London, 1710.

1709 CE

#5825

Traité de la cataracte et du glaucoma.

Brisseau was the first to demonstrate the true nature and location of cataract. His book was reprinted in facsimile, 1921.

1712 CE

#301

Sur les diverses reproductions qui se font dans les écrevisses, les omars, les crabes....

Réaumur showed that crustaceans replace their lost limbs, a fact until then disputed.

1714 CE–1725 CE

#13449

Journal des observations physiques, mathematiques et botaniques, faites par l'ordre du roi sur les côtes orientales de l'Amerique meridionale, & dans les Indes occidentales, depuis l'année 1707, jusques en 1712. 3 vols.

Includes in vols. 2 and 3: Histoire des plantes medecinales qui sont le plus en usage aux royaumes de l'Amerique meridionale, du Perou & du Chily, : composée sur les lieux par ordre du Roy, dans les anné…

1717 CE

#12271

Relation d'un voyage du Levant fait par ordre du Roy: Contenant l'histoire ancienne et moderne de plusieurs isles de l'Archipel, de Constantinople, des côtes de la mer Noire, de l'Arménie, de la Géorgie, des frontières de Perse et de l'Asie mineure. Avec les plans des villes & des lieux considérables; La genie, les moeurs, le commerce & la religion des différens peuples qui les habitent; et l'explication des médailles & ses monuments antiques. Enrichie de descriptions & de figures d'un grand nombre de plantes rares, divers animaux; et de plusieurs observations touchant l'histoire naturelle.

Digital facsimile of the 1717 edition from BnF Gallica at this link. Translated into English, London, 1718 as: A Voyage into the Levant: Perform'd by Command of the Late French King. Containing The Antient and Modern …

1721 CE

#10651

Relation des différentes espèces de peste qui reconnaissent les orientaux, des précautions & des remèdes qu'ils prennent pour empêcher la communication & le progrès; et ce que nous devons faire à leur exemple pour nous en préserver, & nous en guérir.

Gaudereau worked as a missionary in Turkey, Armenia, Persia, and India, facing plague outbreaks several times. In Turkey he almost succumbed to the plague, himself, but was cured using local remedies. These remedies a…

1721 CE

#6150

Traité complet des accouchemens.

Mauquest de la Motte applied podalic version to head presentations. English translation, prepared at the suggestion of William Smellie, 1746.

1722 CE

#5827

Nouveau traité des maladies des yeux.

Records the removal of a cataract “en masse” from a living subject. English edition, 1741. Digital facsimile of the 1722 edition from Biu Santé at this link.

1727 CE

#4282.1

Traité de l’opération de la taille.

François Colot was the last and best-known member of the Colot family, itinerant lithotomists.

1728 CE

#3671

Le chirurgien dentiste, ou traité des dents. 2 vols.

Pierre Fauchard has been called the “Father of Dentistry”; his comprehensive and scientific account of all that concerned dentistry in the 18th century is one of the greatest books in the history of the su…

1730 CE

#3421

De motus hemorrhoidalis, et fluxus hemorrhoidum.

An early work specifically on hemorrhoids.

1730 CE

#4283

Parallèle des différentes manières de tirer la pierre hors de la vessie.

Le Dran, famous French lithotomist, improved the operation of lithotomy. Murphy credits him for originating the lateral lithotomy usually attributed to Cheselden, whose method he discusses. Le Dran was one of Haller&r…

1732 CE

#1314

Exposition anatomique de la structure du corps humain.

The foramen between the greater and lesser sacs of the peritoneum (described on pages 352-65), is named after Winslow. His Exposition is distinguished as being the first book on descriptive anatomy to discard physiolo…

1734 CE–1742 CE

#304

Mémoires pour servir à l’histoire des insectes. 6 vols.

Réaumur’s greatest work describes the appearance, habits and locality of all the known insects except the beetles, and includes 267 plates. Posthumously published: Tome VII: Histoire des fourmis, (Paris: …