Laennec, René-Théophile-Hyacinthe | The invention of the stethoscope

From the Library of Jay Michael Haft

Laennec, René-Théophile-Hyacinthe

De l'auscultation médiate ou traité du diagnostic des maladies des poumons et du coeur ... Paris: J.A. Brosson and J.S. Chaudé, 1819

2 vols, 8vo (210 x 135 mm, uncut). Half-titles, a2 in vol. 1 uncancelled, 4 folding engraved plates plates at the end of vol. 1; stray spots, minor creasing to plates, first plate repaired along fold. In the publisher's plain pink wrappers, printed paper labels to spines, wrapped in additional glassine wrappers; wrappers with just a few closed tears and nicks, slight loss to spines. Housed in matching burgundy slipcases with folding chemises.

First edition, first issue. A landmark work in the diagnoses and diseases of the lungs and heart, announcing the invention of the stethoscope, which "represented the greatest advance in physical diagnosis between Auenbrugger's percussion and Rontgen's discovery of x-rays" (Norman). "Laennec's stethoscope not only increased the relevance of pathological anatomy to bedside medicine, it contributed to a reconceptualization of diseases, from clusters of symptoms ... to products of organic changes detected objectively by physicians. With this tool, Laennec could distinguish between mild and dangerous illnesses, and he could detect signs of disease even when the patient felt entirely well" (DMB 3, pp.757-761). In the work, he also describes a liver condition that came to be called "Laennec's cirrhosis."

Copies in the original wrappers are rare. The present copy belonged to a J. Lamoureux—presumably Jean-Baptiste Lamoureux, a contemporary who authored an 1822 work on pleurisy, the diagnosis of which was greatly facilitated by Laennec's invention.

REFERENCE:

Dibner 129; Norman 1253; Garrison-Morton 2673; PMM 280

PROVENANCE:

J. Lamoureux (calligraphic signature to half-titles) — Christie's Paris, 25 June 2004, lot 106 (undesignated consignor)