Pharmacologia anti-empirica: Or a rational discourse of remedies both chymical and Galenical
Publisher Information: London: Richard Chiswell, 1683.
Harris, Walter (1647-1732). Pharmacologia anti-empirica: Or a rational discourse of remedies both chymical and Galenical . . . 8vo. [32], 1-332, [12] pp. London: Richard Chiswell, 1683. 175 x 116 mm. Full sheep ca. 1683, worn and rubbed, skillfully rebacked. Light browning & soiling, but very good. Early ownership signatures of John Cooper (dated 1798) and Francis Cooper.
First Edition. Harris, physician to Charles II and to William and Mary, devoted his first medical book to an account of the six great remedies—mercury, antimony, vitriol, iron, quinine and opium—along with explanations of several superstitious remedies. “In his very readable book on pharmacy, Harris opposed belief in transmutation and the use of chemical remedies such as potable gold, and thought the virtues of mercury, antimony, vitriol, steel, Jesuit’s bark and opium were exaggerated . . . He favoured complicated remedies such as the Theriac Andromache or Venice treacle (with over 60 ingredients) and Mithradate” (Partington II, p. 311). Harris also included in this work a treatise on the causes of gout, “with no discoverable reason but that the Duke of Beaufort, to whom the whole work is dedicated, was threatened with attacks of that disorder” (Dictionary of National Biography). Norman 993. Wing H-885.
Book Id: 50266Price: $1,000.00