Bonet, Mercurius Compitalitius Sive Index Medico-Practicus, 1682
MERCURIUS COMPITALITIUS SIVE INDEX MEDICO-PRACTICUS Per Decisiones, Cautiones, Animadversiones; Castigationes & Observationes IN SINGULIS AFFECTIBUS Praeter Naturam ET PRAESIDIIS MEDICIS, Diaeteticis, Cheirurgicis & Pharmaceuticis Ex Probatisimis Practicis, Priscis & Neotericis depromptas VERAM ET TUTAM MEDENDI VIAM OSTENDENS Accessit Appendix DE MEDICI MUNERE. OPERA THEOPHILI BONETI D. M. GENEVAE, Sumptibus LEONARDI CHOVET, & SOCIJ. 1682.
First edition. Folio in full brown leather with title label, gilt, and raised bands on spine. ¾ inch leather repair at head of spine. ¼ inch tear in middle of tail of spine. Small cracks at tops of exterior hinges. Scattered scuffs and stains on boards. Corners split and bumped. Red speckled page edges. Marbled end papers. Red and black title page with engraved vignette. Early ink owner’s name on title page. Mild foxing and a few faint marginal smudges. Otherwise, clean, bright, and tight throughout.
Theophile Bonet (Boneti), 1620 -1689, was an early pioneer in the study of pathological anatomy He was the third generation in a series of Bonet physicians. His brother Jean also was a physician. He grew up affluent and cultured. He acquired his medical degree in 1643 from the University of Valence, then returned to Geneva. In 1657 he became ordinary physician to Henri II in Neuchatel. In 1666 he returned again to Geneva, and lost his hearing in 1670, whereupon he retired from practice. From 1670 to 1689 he published at least 16 medical books. In this work “Bonet proposed a general guide to medical practice for the physician, organized by disease. He also espoused general ethical rules that the physician should observe, both in regard to medical knowledge and in his attitude toward patients. Those recommendations included many professional tactics designed to enhance the image of the physician who must, for example, always offer some remedy in order to answer the patient’s expectations, avoid voicing a negative prognosis, and never call on a patient without being invited. Beyond social rules, Bonet listed numerous precaution to be taken for the patient’s own good, among them to observe the patient’s bad habits; to instruct, rather than to give orders; and never to disclose the nature of remedies give. Overall, his counseling invited physicians to be critical of ancient therapies and certain superstitious practices that experience had proven unsuccessful. Bonet ultimately championed prudence and a critical approach based on learning, experience, and reason.” (Dictionary of Medical Biography).
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