HELMONT (Jean-Baptiste van) Ortus medicinæ. Id... Lot 39

HELMONT (Jean-Baptiste van) Ortus medicinæ. Id est, initia physicæ inaudita. Progressus medicinæ novus, morborum ultionem, ad vitam longam. Amsterdam, Ludovicum Elzevirium [Elzevier], 1652; 2 parts in one large vol. in-8, brown basane, gilt fillet on boards, spine ribbed with gilt fillets, brown title-piece, [contemporary binding], epidermal damage, missing headpieces, corners dull. Elzevirian second edition (the second part is marked third edition), published by his son François-Mercure. Frontispiece, with portraits of the father and son, engraved on copper. Van Helmont was one of the founders of biochemistry. "He was the first to realize the physiological importance of ferments and gases, and indeed invented the word "gas". He introduced the gravimetric idea in the analysis of urine. " (Garrison). Beautiful two-column printing. Very slight foxing. Willems, 1141. Garrison-Morton, 665. Krivatsy, 5432. Wellcome, III, 241.