(Sexual Health) (Religious Orders) Sammelband of Five French Medical Theses

(Sexual Health) (Religious Orders) Sammelband of Five French Medical Theses, 1792-1793. Unbound pamphlets, stitched, 21 x 14 cm, untrimmed. Engraved headpieces, wide margins, some general darkening and light staining or foxing; dampstain affecting gutter of final two pamphlets, else good, sound copies.

A group of First Republic-era medical pamphlets published at the Faculté de médecine de Montpellier, under the direction of some of the era’s most famous vitalist physicians and chemists, i.e. Paul-Joseph Bartez and Henri Fouquet.

The final pamphlet, by Lion, is a rare thesis on sexual diseases caused by excessive or insufficient sexual activity. The epigraph by Voltaire sets the tone with the warning “L’abstinence ou l’excès ne fit jamais d’heureux.” [“Abstinence or excess never made anyone happy.”] Lion speculates on the effects of abstinence in the health of priests and nuns, at risk for “erotic deliriums,” visions, and hysteria. He discusses masturbation and admonishes against marriage between a young woman and an older man. Particularly interesting in the context of the French Revolutionary “reorganization” of the Church.

Only no. 4 is noted in OCLC, with one holding, in Wales. The rest, including Lion, are not recorded institutionally.

$500

1. Durand, Joanne-Antonio-Guillelmo. De atmosphaera quatenus physicum, chemicum et medicum spectat, selecta quaedam [...]. Monsepelii: J.G. Tournel, et primo Reipublicae [1792]. 51 pp.
2. Duhult, Francisco. Dissertatio anatomico-physiologica de systemate lymphatico seu absorbenti [...]. Monsepelii: J.G. Tournel, 1793. 41 pp.
3. Magistel, Gabriel. Collecta quaedam circa naturae morborum cognoscendae necessitatem [...]. Monsepelii: J.G. Tournel, 1793. 29 pp.; closed tear beginning at fore edge, p. 3.
4. Vidal, Joannes-Baptista. Quaedam circa naturae vires, et circa perturbationem virium vitalium [...]. Monsepelii: J.G. Tournel, 1793. 29 pp. Some footnotes in French. Partially a vitalist assessment of epilepsy, just over ten years after its first classification in French.
5. Lion, Laurentius-Basilius. Pensum academicum circa tum continentiae, tum lubricitatis morbos [...]. Monsepelii: Tournel Patris & Filli, 1792. 16 pp. Some footnotes in French.

Seven leaves of hand-painted wallpaper designs

(Decorative Art) (Spain) Seven leaves of hand-painted wallpaper designs. [Catalonia]: n.p., n.d. [late 18th century, ca. 1787].

Ink, gouache, and graphite on laid paper with Honig and Van der Ley watermarks, each leaf trimmed to approx. 10-1/2 x 8-1/2 in. or sl. larger; all signed or graded either recto or verso, most by the same hand in ink, two with additional graphite signatures; one with minor water stain at edge, otherwise very good.

The leaves appear to be prize-winning examples or tests submitted for competition, perhaps by students at a professional arts school in Catalonia. They are all attributed to or signed by one of five artists: Francisco Coromina, Joseph Coromina, Joseph Fontanelles, Gaspar Ribó, and Jayme Trens. The floral and pictorial designs are expertly executed with fine detail, suggesting professional craftsmanship. Beautiful and unique examples of the rich decorative arts tradition in Catalonia.

Dated examples by Fontanelles in another collection allow us to tentatively establish a date circa 1787.

$1750