Science and Medicine

Bailliere, Jean-Baptiste

[ANTIQUARIAN BIBLIOGRAPHY / MEDICAL BOOKS]. Catalogue des livres de fonds qui se trouvent chez J.B. Bailliere, libraire

Paris: J.B. Bailliere, 1824. First Edition. Softcover. 8vo. 14 pp. (of 16? -- see below), final page soiled. Recent plain wrappers. Very good. Item #2384

Early catalogue of medical books belonging to the firm of J.-B. Bailliere (1797-1885) who was to become one of the most important publishers of medical and scientific books in the world. The present catalogue is one of Bailliere's early catalogues, issued when the shop was located at 14, rue de l'Ecole de Medecine in Paris. The catalogue lists a small portion of his stock, principally from the years 1820-1824, but with some earlier imprints (e.g. 1808). Naturally Balliere's first publication, the "Medecine legale" by Lecieux and Renard (Paris, 1819), figures prominently. Bailliere's expansion as a publisher ran parallel to that of the field of French medicine in general, leading the firm to eminence, with subsidiary companies in London and in Madrid. Over the decades the firm of J.B. Bailliere has published more than 4,000 works in medicine and science. ¶ Literature: J. Jacques Dubarry, "Le premier siecle d'une des doyennes des maisons d'edition medicales et scientifiques: J.-B. Bailliere, fondee en 1818" (Paris, 1986). ¶ The present catalogue consists of 14 pages, ending with an announcement of two books currently in the press; we have been unable to discover if 16 pages were originally issued because no other copy dated "Aout 1824" can be located. There is an 1825 Bailliere catalogue at Bibl. Sainte-Genevieve which contains 16 pages. ¶ Our Bailliere stock catalogue predates by 40 years any comparable example held by the Grolier Club, and by 12 years any Bailliere auction catalogue.

Price: $200.00