A Compendius System of the Theory and Practice of Modern Surgery, Arranged in a New Nosological and Systematic Method, Different From Any Yet Attempted in Surgery. In the Form of a Dialogue

1792. Presumed first edition. 352 pp. plus a 19 page index and 1 page of errata. This copy is lacking the table that should be bound in after page 12. The author of this work was President of the Chirurgo-Physical Society and member of ther American Physical Society of Edinburgh, societies that I believe later became the Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh. He wrties in his preface that he "hopes the work will be found useful to all who wish to be possessed of a complete, concise, and comprehensive system of modern surgery, as he presumed it exhibits in a very small compass a more extensive knowledge of the Art of Surgery than can be found in any publication of its size that has yet made its appearance in this country. The book is bound in contemporary full leather boards with remains of a leather label on the spine. The boards are scuffed with some expected staining and soiling and the front board is detached. There is wear with some damage and a little loss to the leather on the edges of the boards and around the corner tips. The leather on the rear board is split down the spine and the board is now only held in place by the cords. The leather on the spine is worn with pieces missing from both spine ends and much of the title pabel is missing. The contents are largelty clean although there is soiling and some inscriptions on the endpapers. The first and last few pages, including the title page, have light to moderate foxing and there is a also scattered foxing elswhere within the book and some odd marks from finger smudges, etc. A few page have pencil written notes or marks. As mentioned above, the table that should be bound in after page 12 is missing. Overall, this copy is probably best regarded as being a reading and reference copy but is suitable for a professional repair.…