DARAN, Jacques (1701–1784) & GAUTIER D'AGOTY, Jacques Fabien (1716–1785)

The second edition of these popular and frequently reissued Observations, and the first and only to include Gautier d'Agoty’s striking four-colour-printed mezzotint plate, depicting a dissection of the bladder, testicle, seminal vesicles, prostate gland, and penis with the full length of the urethra exposed. Daran’s text has considerable significance in urology and Gautier d'Agoty’s plate of the genito-urinary organs, including the penis, is notable in the history of medical illustration. ”Daran was a military surgeon who served with the Austrian army and traveled widely in Italy. He was also affiliated with the Sardinian army at Messina and later practiced in Marseilles. The present work reveals that he had broad experience in the treatment of urogenital diseases. Daran recognized venereal disease as the chief cause of urethal disease and urinary obstruction. He also attributed urinary problems to other conditions such as tumors and post-traumatic scars. He shares his expertise by presenting many detailed case histories” (Eimas, Heirs of Hippocrates). The penis illustrated was dissected and prepared by Jacques Francois Marie Duverney, prosector at the Jardin du Roi in Paris.

Collation: Pp (4), ccxx, 429, (3), with one folding four-colour-printed mezzotint plate.

Binding: Contemporary French mottled calf, rebacked, using the original spine. Red edges, marbled endpapers.

References: Heirs of Hippocrates 858; Choulant, pp 270-74; Murphy, The History of Urology, p 73; Zigrosser, Medicine and the Artist (1970), p. 78; Wellcome II, 431. Waller 2289.