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Auction archive: Lot number 920

BEAUMONT, William (1785-1823). Experiments and Observations on the Gastric Juice, and the Physiology of Digestion . Plattsburgh: F.P. Allen, 1833.

Auction 29.10.1998
29 Oct 1998
Estimate
US$10,000 - US$15,000
Price realised:
US$51,750
Auction archive: Lot number 920

BEAUMONT, William (1785-1823). Experiments and Observations on the Gastric Juice, and the Physiology of Digestion . Plattsburgh: F.P. Allen, 1833.

Auction 29.10.1998
29 Oct 1998
Estimate
US$10,000 - US$15,000
Price realised:
US$51,750
Beschreibung:

BEAUMONT, William (1785-1823). Experiments and Observations on the Gastric Juice, and the Physiology of Digestion . Plattsburgh: F.P. Allen, 1833. 8 o (218 x 134 mm). 3 wood-engraved text illustrations. (Some foxing throughout.) Contemporary sheep (rebacked, old mend to back cover, some wear to corners and edges); in half morocco drop-back box. Provenance: William Dunlap possibly the Canadian physician William Dunlop (1792-1848) (author's presentation inscription, title page: "To Wm. Dunlap Esqr. with the respects of the Author"); Samuel Smith Purple, M.D. (1822-1900), a founder of the New York Academy of Medicine and collector of early American medical publications (signature dated 1845 on flyleaf and p. 9, blind stamps); Brooklyn NY, Library of the Medical Society of the County of Kings (bookplate). FIRST EDITION, PRESENTATION COPY of "the most important study of digestion before Pavlov" (Garrison-Morton). Alexis St. Martin, a French-Canadian voyageur, "had a hole blown into his stomach by the accidental discharge of a musket loaded with duck shot. The permanent gastric fistula or 'window' that this wound left in St. Martin's abdomen enabled Beaumont to make the first accurate scientific study of the physiological processes of gastric digestion. ... His researches established the presence and role of hydrochloric acid in the stomach, the temperature of the stomach during digestion, the movement of the stomach walls, and the relative digestibility of certain foods, all findings that revolutionized current theories of the physiology of digestion" (Grolier Medicine ). Experiments and observations on the gastric juice was printed in Plattsburgh, New York, where Beaumont had once practiced medicine, probably because the author thought the work could be done more quickly and cheaply there. According to a letter of 4 December 1833 from Beaumont to Surgeon-General Joseph Lovell, the dedicatee, the first edition consisted of 1000 copies, although Beaumont's nephew later claimed that 3000 copies had been printed. Most of the first edition had the Plattsburgh imprint, but there was a smaller second issue with the imprint "Boston: Lilly, Wait, and Company." 50 copies of the Plattsburgh issue were bound in sheep as presentation copies. AN EXCEPTIONALLY FINE COPY. Dibner Heralds of Science 130; Garrison-Morton 989; Grolier American 38; Grolier/Horblit 10; Grolier Medicine 61 (this copy exhibited); Heirs of Hippocrates 1141; Charlotte H. Peters and John F. Fulton, "William Beaumont's letter to his New Haven bookseller, Hezekiah Howe, with a bibliographical description of the editions of Beaumont's book," Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine , vol. 6, 1933, pp. 9-17; Osler 1972; Sparrow Milestones of Science 19; Waller 805; Wellcome II, p. 123; Norman 152. [ With :] Autograph letter in the third person, dated Washington, 13 January 1834, presenting a copy of Experiments and Observations to Prof. Jones and apologizing for the delay in dispatching it. The recipient may have been the Dr. Jones of Columbian College whom Beaumont thanked in the preface to the work. (2)

Auction archive: Lot number 920
Auction:
Datum:
29 Oct 1998
Auction house:
Christie's
New York, Park Avenue
Beschreibung:

BEAUMONT, William (1785-1823). Experiments and Observations on the Gastric Juice, and the Physiology of Digestion . Plattsburgh: F.P. Allen, 1833. 8 o (218 x 134 mm). 3 wood-engraved text illustrations. (Some foxing throughout.) Contemporary sheep (rebacked, old mend to back cover, some wear to corners and edges); in half morocco drop-back box. Provenance: William Dunlap possibly the Canadian physician William Dunlop (1792-1848) (author's presentation inscription, title page: "To Wm. Dunlap Esqr. with the respects of the Author"); Samuel Smith Purple, M.D. (1822-1900), a founder of the New York Academy of Medicine and collector of early American medical publications (signature dated 1845 on flyleaf and p. 9, blind stamps); Brooklyn NY, Library of the Medical Society of the County of Kings (bookplate). FIRST EDITION, PRESENTATION COPY of "the most important study of digestion before Pavlov" (Garrison-Morton). Alexis St. Martin, a French-Canadian voyageur, "had a hole blown into his stomach by the accidental discharge of a musket loaded with duck shot. The permanent gastric fistula or 'window' that this wound left in St. Martin's abdomen enabled Beaumont to make the first accurate scientific study of the physiological processes of gastric digestion. ... His researches established the presence and role of hydrochloric acid in the stomach, the temperature of the stomach during digestion, the movement of the stomach walls, and the relative digestibility of certain foods, all findings that revolutionized current theories of the physiology of digestion" (Grolier Medicine ). Experiments and observations on the gastric juice was printed in Plattsburgh, New York, where Beaumont had once practiced medicine, probably because the author thought the work could be done more quickly and cheaply there. According to a letter of 4 December 1833 from Beaumont to Surgeon-General Joseph Lovell, the dedicatee, the first edition consisted of 1000 copies, although Beaumont's nephew later claimed that 3000 copies had been printed. Most of the first edition had the Plattsburgh imprint, but there was a smaller second issue with the imprint "Boston: Lilly, Wait, and Company." 50 copies of the Plattsburgh issue were bound in sheep as presentation copies. AN EXCEPTIONALLY FINE COPY. Dibner Heralds of Science 130; Garrison-Morton 989; Grolier American 38; Grolier/Horblit 10; Grolier Medicine 61 (this copy exhibited); Heirs of Hippocrates 1141; Charlotte H. Peters and John F. Fulton, "William Beaumont's letter to his New Haven bookseller, Hezekiah Howe, with a bibliographical description of the editions of Beaumont's book," Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine , vol. 6, 1933, pp. 9-17; Osler 1972; Sparrow Milestones of Science 19; Waller 805; Wellcome II, p. 123; Norman 152. [ With :] Autograph letter in the third person, dated Washington, 13 January 1834, presenting a copy of Experiments and Observations to Prof. Jones and apologizing for the delay in dispatching it. The recipient may have been the Dr. Jones of Columbian College whom Beaumont thanked in the preface to the work. (2)

Auction archive: Lot number 920
Auction:
Datum:
29 Oct 1998
Auction house:
Christie's
New York, Park Avenue
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