Treatise on Dislocations and Fractures of the Joints

Description:

7th edition. Plates engraved by C.J. Canton, depicting anatomical details, dislocations, methods of manipulation and surgical supports.

Sir Astley Cooper (1768-1841) was a pre-eminent London surgeon, professor of comparative anatomy at the Royal College of Surgeons from 1813-1815, vice-president of the Royal Society, a member of the court of examiners of the college in 1822, where he served as president twice, in 1827 and 1836, and author of a number of influential medical works. In his published works, he paid particular attention to high-quality illustrations, drawn by a succession of artists that he himself employed. (ODNB). Sir d'Arcy Power, referred to this important work in his paper, 'Epoch-Making Books in British Surgery', British Journal of Surgery Vol. 17 (1930) stating that 'Sir Astley Cooper's Treatise on Dislocations and Fractures of the Joints was the English classic until the American surgeons introduced manipulation in place of pulleys and until the whole subject was revolutionized, first by the discovery of X-rays and afterwards by the enormous experience gained during the European War. The book, a large quarto.… first appeared in 1822, and is dedicated in a grateful preface to the students of St. Thomas’s and Guy’s Hospitals. It ran through ten editions and was published at the price, of £1 11s. 6d. It is still worth reading, partly for the detailed accounts of the cases it contains and partly because it recalls the difficulties which surgeons experienced at a time when anæsthesia was unknown.'

Condition

4to, cont. half leather, marbled boards, rubbed/scuffed, some wear to joints. Scattered foxing. Lacking Plate I and caption sheet to Plates II and XXIX; Plates XXIX to XXXIV bound out of order preceding the rest of the plates. Ownership stamp of Charles Lakin, physician surgeon, 179, Belgrave Gate, Leicester, to title page. ex libris inkstamp of J.R. Kirkup FRCS to front pastedown. Kirkup is a retired orthopaedic surgeon with an interest in the history of medicine and historical surgical instruments. He was honorary curator of the Hunterian Museum's instrument collection.