THE FIRST TEXTBOOK ON PEDIATRICS
ROSÉN VON ROSENSTEIN, NILS.
Underrättelser om barn=sjukdomar och deras bote-medel: Tilförene styckewis utgifne uti de sma Allmanachorna, nu samlade, tilökte och förbättrade.
Stockholm, Lars Salvius, 1764.
8vo. In recent half calf with gilt lettering, endpapers renewed. Marginal repairs throughout (primarily to title-page), no loss of text. (2), 363, (11) pp.
First edition in book form of this seminal treatise on paediatrics. “Sir Frederic Still considered this work ‘the most progressive which had yet been written;’ it gave an impetus to research which influenced the future course of paediatrics. Rosen was particularly interested in infant feeding. The Underrattelser were originally published in the calendars of the Academy and were later collected and issued in book form in 1764” (Garrison-Morton). It is widely recognized as the inaugural textbook of pediatrics. "In 1764 a very important work on the diseases of children and their treatment was published in Stockholm by a physician who had already become famous” (Still). The book addresses various subjects such as smallpox, smallpox inoculation, teething, measles, breastfeeding frequency, and the impact of breastfeeding on infant health. It displayed foresight as it recommended feeding young children diluted cow's milk through a sucking bottle, and advocated for covering children's food to prevent insect contact, emphasizing other hygienic precautions. Nils Rosén's insights extended to accurate descriptions and prescriptions for scarlet fever, whooping cough, diarrhea, and other illnesses. Nils Rosén lived and worked during a period when Sweden struggled with poverty, a low average life span, and a child mortality rate exceeding fifty percent. In 1753 Rosén initiated the publication of articles in small almanacs by the Royal Academy of Sciences. These articles covered children's diseases, breastfeeding, nursing, and preventive medical treatments, presenting novel findings from empirical research. Eventually compiled and edited, these articles formed the basis of the present book. An improved and expanded edition followed in 1771. The book achieved widespread influence, translated into numerous European languages and becoming the most widely disseminated Swedish textbook globally. Over the 18th and 19th centuries, it underwent twenty-six editions in ten different languages. Anders Sparrman, one of Linné's 'apostles,' translated it into English during a circumnavigation with Captain James Cook on The Resolution (1772-75). Garrison-Morton 6323
Norman 1849
Waller 8215
Order-nr.: 60677
DKK 10.000,00