Bidspirit auction | [SCIENCE AND MEDICINE] - FERRARI

[SCIENCE AND MEDICINE] - FERRARI Ognibene (XVIth century) - First And Sole Edition. A Pioneering Illustrated Treatise Of Paediatrics - Ferrari, Ognibene. De arte medica infantium, libri quatuor. [bound with:] Ferrari, Ognibene. ”De arte infantium aphorismorum particulæ tres.” Brescia: Vincenzo Sabbio for Francesco & Pietro Maria Marchetti, 1577. 2 works bound together in-4to (190 x 135 mm), 19th century stiff vellum, handwritten titles at spine, pp. [12], 195, [1] for the first work; ff. 10, [1] for the second work. Woodcut printer’s device at title-pages, woodcut initials. Five charming engravings in the text, including a self-operated breast pump for harvesting milk, a device for training children to walk, a potty-training toilet, and a helmet made to protect the child’s head from injury. Extremely rare first and sole edition of Ferrari’s notable work on infant care, bound together with Ferrari’s collection of aphorisms on pediatric subjects. «In 1577 Ognibene Ferrari of Verona, Italy, proposed that the home be ‘child-proofed’; offered designs for developmentally appropriate walkers, potty chairs, and helmets; and argued that 'the greatest care must be taken that he does not see terrifying pictures, nor should the one who has charge of him shew himself to him with a stern look on his face, lest he cause him fright, and so through depression and overmuch grieving he be ill affected» (Review of Nurturing Children: A History of Pediatrics in JAMA, Nov. 1, 2000). Divided into three parts, the treatise covers the management of wet nurses; the care and feeding of the newborn; and the diseases of children. The treatise is bound together with De arte medica infantium aphorismorum, a list of 273 aphorisms by Ferrari on the care and diseases of children based on the writings of Hippocrates and Galen but with a number of additions from contemporary sources. Provenance: 1. Some ancient annotations. 2. Bookplate of Libreria Rappaport. 3. Ex-libris Sommaruga. References: Still, History of Paediatrics, p. 149-151: «[Ferrari] refers to the inadequacy of earlier writings and proposes to deal with the subject in more detail [...] In his introductory remarks Ferrarius makes the suggestion that a baby from the day of its birth should be placed under the supervision of a man trained in the art of preserving health: a step towards the modern Infant Welfare scheme [...] The three parts of his book deal with the management of the nurse and her milk, the care and feeding of the new-born, and diseases of children. He keeps very close to the Greek and Arabian writers [...] He subdivides skin diseases to a greater degree, and introduces a chapter on burns, a subject which figures frequently in books on affections of children during this and the next two centuries [...] His book is illustrated [...] he figures an appliance for preventing the child from injuring its head [...] Ferrarius was by no means inclined to regard either moral or physical influences as outside the scope of the physicians». and p. 155: «His aphorisms are based partly on Hippocrates and Galen, but partly also on much more recent writers, as can be seen from the quaint mixture of the more modern superstitions with ancient teaching and some sound common sense». Norman, 787: «the illustrations are of interest [...] as they show two commonly used child-training devices of the past-the running stool, ancestor of the present-day walker, and the chair stool, which held infants in a sitting position». Norman 788 (Aphorisms). Durling 1494 and 1496. Waller 3006 and 3007; Wellcome 2227 and 2228; Adams F-288 (the second work). The only copy recorded in auction in the last century is the Norman copy, sold at Christie’s in 1998. •⁠> This lot is located in and ships from Italy. An Italian export license is required prior to shipment, which may cause delays. The Auction House will take care of the export license at no cost to the buyer. Import duties and taxes in the destination country are the buyer's responsibility.