Catalogue Number 12 - Susanne Schulz-Falster

collected edition was published, the present Recueil de Pieces curieuses. It contained
the Discours which he had originally written for Victor Amadeus II.
Now it was dedicated to Charles of Bourbon, King of Naples, in the hope
that he would reign over the whole of Italy and free it from papal oppression.
Incidentally this is also the Wrst clear statement of the idea of Italian
unity in the eighteenth century.
The volume also contains his Histoire abrégée de la profession sacerdotale ancienne,
summing up the discussions of the role of the priests of the past century.
This was followed by Nazarénus et Lycurgus mis en parallèle, which made even
more explicit the ideas contained in the Discours. The Wnal section is of particular
importance as it contains the Wrst translation of Swift’s Modest Proposal
for Preventing the Children of poor People in Ireland, from being a Burden to their
Parents or Country, one of his most savage and powerful tracts.
Conlon 36:632; Brunet IV, 1086; ESTC t95245 (British Library, National Library
of Ireland and Bibliotheque Mazarin only), L’Illuminismo Italiano alla
Fondazione Feltrinelli, 436; Teerink 680.
The Diseases of the Ruling Classes
65 RAMAZZINI, Bernardo. De Principum Valetudine Tuenda.
Commentatio Bernardini Ramazzini. Patavvii, Typgraphia Jo:
Baptistae Conzatti, 1710. £4000
4to, pp. [xvi], 160; title vignette and decorated initials; occasional light
browning, and light dampstain to gutter margin at head, unobtrusive
and never getting anywhere near the text; uncut in the original buV
limp boards, eighteenth century spine covering with paste-paper;
corners bumped; sowing strengthened; a very good copy.
First edition, uncommon, of Ramazzini’s study of occupational diseases, in
fact a companion volume to his earlier and better known De Morbis
ArtiWcum (1700), where he concentrated on the diseases of manual workers.
In this work he concentrates on the occupational diseases incurred by
those who work with their brains rather than their hands, the diseases of
princes, government oYcials, and their advisors. He treats all physical aspects
that inXuence the life and health of princes, such as air, food, drink,
sleep, digestion etc, before concentrating on the psychological aspects, such
as the pressure of government, the responsibility, and life at court. Interestingly
he argues that a combination of these factors are likely to produce
psychosomatic symptoms. Ramazzini warns against the interference from
medical practitioners, who are most unlikely to properly diagnose the complaints.
Rather Wttingly for today’s society he concludes with the motto that
advice on the well-being of princes is not only useful for them, but also for
their subjects.
Throughout Ramazzini backs up his Wndings with reference to medical
authorites, and refers in particular to the earlier studies by Marsilio Ficino,
De studiorum sanitate, 1489 and V. Fortunato Plembio, De Togatorum
valetudine tuendo, 1670.
susanne schulz-falster rare books catalogue twelve
His work was published to Europe-wide acclaim, and an edition printed
in Leipzig followed in 1711, and another one in Uppsala in 1712, with
Italian editions in 1713 and 1717, and an anonymous French translation in
1724.
Di Pietro 65; Blake, p. 370; Wellcome IV, p. 468; see Francesco Carnevale, La
Salute dei Principi ovvero come difendersi dalle malattie e dai medici, Florence, 1992, p.
202 for bibliography, a study of the text and its gestation; RLIN and OCLC also
record copies at the University of Chicago, Oklahoma, and the New York Academy
of Medicine.
Economics, Public Administration, and the Law
66 RATHLEF, Ernst Lorenz Michael. Auserlesene
Abhandlungen über Gegenstände der Policey, der Finanzen und
der Oekonomie gezogen aus den Jahrgängen des Hannoverischen
Magazins. Erster Band [-Dritter Band]. Hannover, Helwing,
1786–1788. £1800
Three volumes, 8vo, pp. 528; 532 (vere 530) with 2 printed folding
tables; 368, last 4 leaves folding; woodcut head- and tail-pieces and
initials; very lightly and evenly browned; contemporary half calf over