Observations Diverses, Sur La Stérilité, Perte De Fruict, Fécondité, Accouchements Et Maladies Des Femmes Et Enfants Nouveaux Naiz.
Paris: Melchior Mondiere, 1626. 3rd Edition. 8vo. Original Calf. Full mottled calf, raised bands with gilt decorations on the spine showing plant motifs. Original spine label. Minor wear at head of spine and outer corners of boards. Handwritten title page, Observations, Livre Premier: [18], 227, [5 - table]; Observations, Livre Deuxiesme: [ 8 - handwritten pages], 3-108; Recit Veritable De La Naissance De Messeigneurs Et Demesles Enfans De France: 111 - 256; Observations Troisiesme Livre: [viii], 67, [3 - table]. Two engraved portraits. Louise Bourgeois (1563-1636), of Paris, was the most famous midwife of the time. She attended Marie de Medici, Queen to Henri IV, assisting at the birth of the future Louis XIII and their 5 other children between 1601 and 1610. Towards the end of this time, she published in1609 the first book on midwifery written by a woman, covering fertility, women's and children's diseases, childbirth and obstetrics. The work has been hugely important in getting recognition for women's roles in midwifery, enduring down the centuries. A very nice copy in the original binding of the four parts of this very important early work complete with the portraits of Bourgeois and Marie de Medici. An expanded edition of the original was published in 1617 and this one later, in 1626. Scarce outside institutional libraries. Good. Item #017347
Price: $6,190.25 NZD