The Surgical Works, or Statement of the Doctrine and Practice of P. J. Desault by Xavier Bichat. Translated from the Original, by Edward Darrell Smith. 2 volumes. COMPLETE

xiii, 1 leaf [Directions to the binder], 512 pp, 8 plates; vi, 1 leaf, 308 pp, plates 9-12. Original full leather. Signature of former owner Willard P. Gibson (dated 1829) on each title page. Signature of former owner B. LaRocque (dated 1839) on each front flyleaf. Text browned. Bottom corner of p. 285 in Vol. II soiled. Very Good. This copy does NOT have any library markings. First Edition in English of Vols. 2 and 3 of Desault's Oeuvres chirurgicales. Diseases of the Soft Parts and Diseases of the Urinary Passages. Austin 654. Garrison-Morton 5580 (citing 1st French ed., 1798-1803). Garrison-Morton 4165.02: "With Chopart, Desault founded urological surgery, and was one of the first to have a clear understanding of urological disease." "In the latter part of the [18th century] century the leading surgeon in Paris was Pierre Joseph Desault, who became surgeon of the Hôtel Dieu in 1788, and soon had a crowd of students following his public clinic, the like of which had never been seen before. . . . He was the first teacher of surgical anatomy in the modern sense of the term, made many improvements in the treatment of fractures, and contributed largely to the perfecting of surgical technique. He wrote almost nothing, but his pupil, Bichat, gave the substance of his teachings in Oeuvres chirurgicales (3 vols., 1798-1803" (Billings, History and Literature of Surgery, p. 62). "As an anatomist, Desault was little concerned with research but intensely devoted to its teaching as an essential preparation for surgical practice. As a surgeon, on the contrary, he made very many additions to the knowledge of pathology, and to treatment. New techniques, and, particularly, new instruments were devised to meet special problems. He published a Treatise on Surgical Diseases, together with his friend Chopart, but this book gave him little pleasure because of the minor role he had played in its preparation and also because his knowledge and ideas had become greatly expanded with his subsequent enormous clinical experience. Desault also started a Journal de Chirurgie . . . which presented his views in articles written by his most distinguished pupils. . ." (Zimmerman & Veith, Great Ideas in the History of Surgery, pp. 363-365). NOTE ABOUT PHOTOS OF PLATES: I can supply photos of all the plates, upon request.…