Treatise or Reflections Drawn from Practice on Gunshot Wounds.

Treatise or Reflections Drawn from Practice on Gunshot Wounds. LE DRAN (Henri-François) Paris, Charles Osmont, 1740. Duodecimo (12mo), 14 ff + 264 pp. Full brown calf leather binding, spine with 5 raised bands, gilt floral motifs, author and title. Joints and headcaps in very good condition. Light rubbing to the corners. Small. Overall good condition, fresh interior. At the lower right corner of the upper board, there is a small wormhole in the leather without severity. Second edition (the first dating from 1737). This is an important work in the history of 18th-century surgery. It includes observations on different types of wounds and injuries caused by firearms. These are classified by location on the body (wounds to the metacarpus, leg, thigh, bones, etc.). Le Dran was a renowned surgeon, notably at the Hôpital de la Charité in Paris. This treatise presents his practical experience in treating gunshot wounds: bullet extraction, wound care, complications, surgical methods, and observations drawn from real cases. At the time, musket and rifle wounds were a major subject for military surgery. Henri-François Le Dran (1685-1770) taught at the Royal Academy of Medicine in Paris and became a member of the Royal Society in 1745. He is recognized for highlighting the spread of cancers through lymphatic pathways and their nodes. Author of numerous medical publications, the Treatise or Reflections Drawn from Practice on Gunshot Wounds, was highly successful.