The Planter's and Mariner's Medical Companion ... to Which are Subjoined a Dispensatory ....

Philadelphia: Printed by John Bioren, 1807. First Edition.. Full contemporary leather and marbled endpapers.. Good, with toning and spotting; first 50 pp, with small marginal tide marks and intermittent damp. The front joint is partially split; joints chafed; leather scuffed.. 8vo, xvi (numbered, with an insertion of 4 unnumbered pages of 'Recommendations' thereby making 20 total), [1] - 328, [2 - advert. for Robert Harris, Druggist] pp. This copy with an interesting autograph note on the title page: Robert Alexander's books purchased of Doctor James Ewell April 7, 1808. James Hayes Bght. at Rob't. Alexander's sale, Doc., the 14th June 1812.

"And to whom am I so bound by the tenderest ties of affection and gratitude as to Mr. Jefferson?" (from the Dedication). The author's father (Jesse) was a school classmate - at William & Mary - and life long friend of Thomas Jefferson. Ewell sent Jefferson a copy of the book (Sowerby Catalog #893) and in response (March 1808) Jefferson wrote: I return you my thanks for the copy of the Medical Companion you have been so kind as to send me, and must particularly express my sense of the favorable sentiments expressed towards me in the beginning of the work; especially too where it recalls to my recollection the memory of your respectable father, who was the friend & companion of my youth, and for whom I retained through life an affectionate attachment. the plan of your work is certainly excellent, and its execution, as far as I am a judge, worthy of the plan. it brings within a moderate compass whatever is useful, levels it to ordinary comprehension, and as a Manual will be a valuable possession to every family . . . . Ewell was the first to: " ... use ice internally in dysentery cases. He established himself in Savannah, Georgia, with the help of Thomas Jefferson, and there introduced vaccination for small-pox (Sowerby)" His book ran to 10 editions in post-colonial America. The first, however, is uncommon in the market. The text is divided into three sections: ship board injuries; common cases; ailments of women and children. The 'Table of Medicines' subjoined to the text likely received the most frequent use. It is laid out in a series of charts with dosages and compositions noted, matched to the recommendations in the body of the text. Being located in the heart of South the planter's companion was a sure sell, encouraging the preservation of valuable assets with minimal cost. As the autograph note illustrates and confirms it was not uncommon in this period for the handful of southern authors to have their books printed "up north" and distributed locally. In this instance recording a copy sold by Ewell himself. The book also manifests signs of hasty "job printing" by Bioren, e.g., the awkward insertion of the 4 unnumbered pages of Recommendations (printing letters of B Barton, N Chapman among others) in the introduction; an overlarge typeface selected to print the dedication. Sowerby #893; Austin #742; see BSA Papers, vol. 43, #3, 321-334 pp. for an article on Bioren.