THE FIRST SCIENTIFIC TREATMENT OF ALCOHOLISM
HUSS, MAGNUS.
Alcoholismus Cronicus eller Chronisk Alkoholssjukdom. Ett Bidrag till Dyskrasiernes Kännedom: enligt egen och andres Erfarenhet. 2 Afdelingar (i.e. Two Parts).
Stockholm, 1849-52.
Bound with the original blue back wrapper (for the second part?) in a very nice recent greenish moiré-like half cloth with marbled paper over boads. Gilt lettering to spine. First and last leaf of the first part evenly browned. A vague, marginal damp stain to the second part. Overall very nice and clean. Possibly washed when bound. (6), VIII, (2), 194 pp. + (4), II, (IV), 215, (1), (, -errata) pp.
Exceedingly scarce first edition of this pioneering classic in alcohol-literature, the first work systematically classifying the physical and mental damages attributed to alcohol, thus for the first time treating alcoholism scientifically, and the work in which the word "alcoholism" is coined. “Magnus Huss… was a pioneer in alcohol research, and his most famous work “Alcoholismus Chronicus” in two parts is an international classic.” (Ars Medica Svecana – own translation from Swedish). As leading physician at the “Serafimerlasarettet”, Huss had ample opportunity of studying the physical, mental, moral, and social effects of alcohol abuse. These are the consequences that he scientifically both describe, analyze, and classify in the present treatise. “Alcoholismus Cronicus” provides the first scientific classification of the damage done by alcohol and constitutes a pioneering breakthrough that turned the field of alcohol research into a scientific one. Magnus Huss (1807-1890) occupies the same pioneering status within alcohol-research as Pasteur in bacteriology. Huss was professor of medicine at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm (Sweden) and physician to the Swedish king. In 1853, he received the Monthya Price from the French Academy for his research in alcoholism. Andral, who was one of the people who had awarded Huss with this prestigious prize, said on the occasion: "Magnus Huss has collected a great deal of material relating to chronic alcoholism, a condition rarely seen in France", a quotation well describing the lack of scientific research of the field before Huss' work. With his thorough research, Huss succeeded in placing the treatment of alcohol addiction within the medical field and completely altered the way we view and treat the illness. Waller 5011. - Ars Medica Svecana pp. 156-57
The second part of the work begins with a bibliography of more than 100 works related to alcoholism , the first being from 1531. This clearly shows that Huss is not the first to describe physical and mental symptoms connected to alcohol abuse; but these earlier treatises are not systematic, and none of them provide the actual causes for the symptoms. Huss’ “Alcoholismus Chronicus”, however, for the first time systematically classifies the various kinds of damage done by alcohol, coins the term “alcoholism, and is the single most important treatise in the history of alcohol research.
Order-nr.: 60920
DKK 50.000,00