The first modern description of leprosy

DANIELSSEN, Daniel Cornelius & BOECK, Carl Wilhelm.

Atlas colorie de spedalskhed. Udgivet efter Foranstaltning af den Kongelige Norske Regjerings Departement for det Indre. Atlas volume only.

Bergen: [F. D. Beyer], 1847.

1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. Item #002510

Large folio (510 x 348 mm). One lithographic leaf of explanatory text and 24 coloured lithographic plates. Untrimmed and unbound as issued in original publisher's wrappers (spine and lower wrapper re-newed, upper wrapper repaired in margins), plates separated by tissue guards. Little browned throughout, few plateswith brown spotting, plate 16 with partly sticking tissue guard, otherwise clean and bright. ----

Wellcome II, p.430; Waller 2285; Garrison-Morton 2434; Heirs of Hippocrates 1823 (Paris 1848 edition). EXTREMELY RARE FIRST EDITION (atlas only) of the first modern description of leprosy (Danielssen-Boeck disease, also known as elephantitis). The atlas depicts deformities of the face, limbs, and internal organs of leprosy victims. Danielssen was chief of staff at the Lungegaarden Hospital in Bergen which specialised in care for leprosy. The work was published at the expense of the Norwegian government.
"In his quest for the cause of leprosy, [Danielssen] inoculated himself and other staff members with leprous tissue on a number of occasions but was never successful in transmitting the disease. When Hansen ..., his son-in-law, discovered the leprosy bacillus in 1873, Danielssen was firm in his refusal to accept it as the causative agent. Danielssen's coauthor, Boeck, entered the practice of medicine in 1831 and from 1846 served at the University of Christiania where he became professor of dermatology in 1851. Although he is well known for his contributions to syphilology, he studied leprosy in England, Italy, and Greece and, after returning to Norway, worked with Danielssen for several years." (Heirs of Hippocrates).

Sold