BONTIUS, Jacobus

De Medicina Indorum libri IV

      Leiden: Franciscum Hackium, 1642. Hardcover. Near Fine. 12mo (123 x 71mm). [v], 212pp., [iv]. Engraved pictorial title by Cornelis van Dalen depicting Bontius as archiater with the tools of his profession. Modern vellum, gilt title to label to spine; (title repaired at margin, lightly browned with some spots, large horizontal tear on p.27, scattered underlining). Jacobus Bontius is credited for defining tropical medicine as a separate medical specialty. The De Medicina Indorum published 11 years after his death, contains clear accounts of beriberi (from which he suffered himself), nutritional amblyopia and cholera which he had seen during the last four years of his life in Java. Garrison & Morton 2263 & 3736; Waller 1297; Krivatsy 1498.