1377 - Bilguer, J.U.

Bilguer, J.U. Treatise on the Very Rare Practice, or the Almost Complete Avoidance, of Amputating Human Limbs. Berlin, Wever 1761. 484 (correctly: 304) pp. Contemporary half-leather binding with handwritten title label. (Some signs of wear). Waller 1052. Cf. Blake, p. 48 (only the 2nd ed., 1767). - A precursor to conservative surgery! - First German edition, published in the same year as the Latin edition and translated by the author himself. - The work had a beneficial effect during an era when amputation was all too common, “by providing actual proof that a great many injuries to the limbs, which according to previous principles had been subject to the amputation knife, could be cured by conservative means” (Hirsch-H. I, 536). - Bilguer (1720–1796) was Frederick II’s chief surgeon; he gained a European reputation with this work. - Endpaper with 2 name stamps in red and black; title page verso with a contemporary signature; binding stained. Interior only slightly browned.