Two medical notebooks: 289 pp. and 4 pp. index; 364 pp. with some illustrations and 13 pp. index

[Noyers?, France], ca1810. Contemporary half leather.. Very good, some wear to the bindings.. Two French language notebooks in different hands.

Two notebooks, one signed Challan the other with a bookplate imprinted: Challan de Belval. The first notebook appears to be in a secretarial hand. It is a record of a course in materia medica that is divided into 12 classes. Each is covered in turn, providing purpose, context, and scientific background. The second volume is a small 4to. of 364 pp. Here the text is exclusively devoted to specific diseases, cures, and observations; appended to the text is a 30 pp. listing of the formulae for various cures (primarily taken from Lobstein - and so identified). The text is lengthy and highly detailed throughout. References are made back and forth to other entries and to a book the author refers to only as the 'grande livre'. Nonetheless, the record assembled here is one based on his experience. It covers a wide range of ailments - including atypical items like insomnia (p. 216). One tantalizing clue to the author is that in 2007 Swann sold a first edition of Pare that had the Challan de Belval bookplate in it. But no individual record of a collection sale is known.