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an old book with two red leather covers sitting on top of each otheran old black and white drawing of different types of shells
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1610 - Zoology – Herpetology – Ophiology
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Estimate €360 - €500
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Description
Zoology – Herpetology – Ophiology Fontana, Felix Treatise on the venom of the viper, on American poisons, on cherry laurel and on certain other plant poisons. 2 vols. With 10 folded plates. Florence, 1781. XXVIII, 328 pp., XI, 373 pp. 4°. Decorative speckled calfskin bindings of the period with floral gilt decoration on the spine and 2 spine labels on each volume (spines professionally restored in the style of the period and barely noticeable; edges slightly rubbed). Haeser II, 586 – Sabin 24988 – Wellcome III, 37. – First French edition of Fontana’s significant scientific and medical magnum opus on animal and plant poisons. The Italian physiologist and naturalist Felice Fontana (1730–1805) is regarded as one of the pioneers of experimental toxicology. In his extensive studies, based on systematic experiments, he dealt in particular with viper venom, South American arrow poisons, the cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus) and other plant poisons. The ten multi-folded plates illustrate the experimental apparatus, anatomical observations and natural history specimens. Fontana’s work marks an important step away from speculative notions about poisoning towards an empirical and experimental investigation of its effects. At the same time, it is of great significance for the history of 18th-century physiology, pharmacology and toxicology. - “The quality of Fontana’s scientific achievement is evident from his first work, on irritability and sensitivity, a subject he continued to pursue so intensely as to earn Haller’s praise in 1767 … The research on the movement of the iris (1765) and on viper venom (1767, 1781) is closely linked to irritability” (DSB V, 55–57). - Mostly with some foxing in the margins, but overall very well-preserved and clean copies. Zoology. – Herpetology – Ophiology – 2 vols. Decorative speckled calf bindings of the period with a floral gilt spine and two spine labels on each (spines professionally renewed in the style of the period and barely noticeable; edges slightly rubbed) - First French edition of Fontana’s important magnum opus in the natural and medical sciences on animal and plant poisons. The Italian physiologist and naturalist Felice Fontana (1730–1805) ranks among the pioneers of experimental toxicology. In his extensive investigations, based on systematic experiments, he focused in particular on viper venom, South American arrow poisons, cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus) and other plant poisons. The ten large folding plates illustrate the experimental apparatus, anatomical observations and natural history specimens. Fontana’s work represents a significant shift away from speculative ideas about poisoning towards an empirical, experimental study of its effects. It is therefore also of considerable importance for the history of eighteenth-century physiology, pharmacology and toxicology. – Mostly foxed in the margins, but overall very well-preserved and clean copies.
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About the sale Valuable books, prints, historical photographs
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Auction time 10/24/2026 at 10:00 AM
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