Physiologie du fumeur

Paris, 1840. Wood engravings throughout. Later boards. One old paper repair, some light foxing. First edition of this humorous chapbook on the virtues of smoking. The author and illustrator remain anonymous, but they are represented in caricatures on the front wrapper. The text provides a cursory history of tobacco use including famous historical smokers, a statistical account of how much tobacco is consumed across the world in recent years, and a description of the industrial value of tobacco production in the places it is grown: Virginia, Maryland, and Louisiana in America as well as countries in the Caribbean and across Europe.
The author decries that tobacco is poisonous and lists its mitigating qualities that outweigh the potential danger of consumption along with anecdotal evidence about good people in history who were smokers; Voltaire, he asserts, did not smoke, and that was the reason for his disgruntled disposition. An illustrated discussion of the different ways of consuming tobacco follows, including cigarettes, different kinds of pipes, and as snuff powder. One disadvantage to smoking that the author admits is damage to the teeth, but he provides instructions for making a powder that can reverse the effects. The author then lists the virtues of smoking and its importance among artists, writers, politicians, actors, and even doctors, who would not be able to conduct surgery or face the trials of illness without a cigarette.
Bragge, Bibliotheca Nicotiana 112; Arents, Tobacco 1422.