Four milestone papers by Koch

KOCH, Robert.

Zur Untersuchung von pathogenen Organismen / Zur Aetiologie des Milzbrandes / Ueber Desinfection / Die Aetiologie d. Tuberkulose.

Berlin: Druck und Verlag der Norddeutschen Buchdruckerei und Verlagsanstalt / August Hirschwald, 1881.

1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. Item #003532

[Four milestone papers by Koch]. I. Zur Untersuchung von pathogenen Organismen, vol. 1, pp. 1-48. II. Zur Aetiologie des Milzbrandes, vol. 1, pp. 49-79. III. Ueber Desinfection, vol. I, pp. 234-82. IV: Die Aetiologie d. Tuberkulose, vol. 2, pp. 1-88, 10 plates. In: Mittheilungen aus dem Kaiserlichen Gesundheitsamte, Vol. 1-2. Berlin: Druck und Verlag der Norddeutschen Buchdruckerei und Verlagsanstalt / August Hirschwald, 1881-1884. 4to (302 x 221 mm). Entire volumes: I. [6], 399 [1] pp., 14 mounted photolithographed plates. II. [6], 499 [1] pp., 13 chromolithographic plates (last 3 double page) and 13 text illustrations. 20th century cloth with original printed front wrappers laid down on boards, original rear wrapper laid down on vol. I only, gilt-lettered spines, new endpapers (minor soiling of covers, some chipping of front wrapper of vol. II not affecting letters). Crisp and clean internally with only very little mostly marginal browning. Provenance: Universitäts-Augenklinik Giessen (ink stamps to general titles); Collection of Peter and Margarethe Braune. -----

I. Horblit 60; Garrison-Morton 2495.1; Norman 1230 (offprint issue). "Koch's description of his methods of growing bacterial cultures in gelatine solutions, making films of bacteria on cover slips and fixing them by gentle heat, and staining slides differentially by aniline. These methods are the bases on which bacteriology largely rests." (Garrison-Morton).
II. Garrison-Morton 5167 (for first edition); DSB VII, p. 424. With his work on the etiology of anthrax, published in 1876, Robert Koch succeeded for the first time, without gaps and contradictions, in demonstrating that a disease is caused by a special kind of microorganism. In the years that followed, numerous follow-up examinations were carried out which, according to Robert Koch, led to considerable errors. In this publication, Koch deals with two authors (Pasteur and Buchner) whose work received general attention. "In 1876 Koch first obtained pure cultures of B. anthracis and described its complete life history. With Davaine ... he did much to prove that infectious diseases are caused by living reproductive microorganisms." (Garrison-Morton).
III. Norman 1231 (offprint issue); Garrison-Morton 5636.1. "Koch showed that mercuric chloride was superior to carbolic acid, and that live steam surpassed hot air in sterilizing power" (Garrison-Morton 5636.1).
IV. Garrison-Morton 2331. FIRST EDITION of the expanded version of Koch's account, published two years earlier, of his discovery of the tuberculosis bacillus.
Also included in the second volume on pp. 147-81 is a paper co-written with Gaffky and Löffler on artificial attenuation of the anthrax bacillus (Experimentelle Studien über die künstliche Abschwächung der Milzbrandzeiten und Milzbrandinfection durch Fütterung). Also contained are papers by Gaffky on typhoid bacillus (Zur Aetiologie des Abdominaltyphus) on pp. 372-420 (Garrison-Morton 5032), and Löffler on diphtheria bacillus (Untersuchung über die Bedeutung der Mikroorganismen für die Entstehung der Diphtherie beim Menschen) on pp. 421-99 (Garrison-Morton 5056). - Visit our website to see more images!

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