De imperio solis ac lunae in corpora humana et morbis inde oriundis. (bound with) A treatise concerning the influence of the sun and moon upon human bodies, and the diseases thereby produced

London: Joannem Brindley;, 1748. SECOND REVISED EDITION; FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH. Woodcut head- and tailpieces. An excellent copy bound in contemporary half-morocco and marbled boards, marbled endpapers. From the library of Charles W. Pilgrim (1855-1934), once chairman of the New York State Commission on Mental Health. with his small bookplate on the paste-down. Second revised edition together with the first edition in English, translated by Thomas Stack. Mead here attempts to show the influence of gravitational forces on human health. “During Mead’s day it was widely believed that celestial bodies had a direct influence on health; Mead attempts to explain this by employing the principles of Newtonian mechanics. Mead believed that atmospheric pressure was affected by the sun, moon, and stars, which produced changes similar to those of the oceanic tides. He also postulated that atmospheric variations in elasticity and pressure had a direct effect on the nervous fluid. Epilepsy, hysteria, menstrual disorders, nephritis, ulcers, and asthma were among the diseases that followed lunar cycles”( Heirs).

Mead (1673-1754), inheritor of the “gold-headed cane,” was physician to George II, Newton, and other notable figures. Mesmer was strongly inspired by this book to write his doctoral thesis in 1766 (On the influence of the planets on the human body); indeed some say it was largely a plagiarism of this book.

Heirs of Hippocrates, 768.