MEAD, De Imperio Solis ac Lunae, 1704
MEAD, Richard.
De Imperio Solis ac Lunae in corpora Humana et Morbis inde oriundis.
Londres, Raphael Smith, 1704.
8vo (192x117 mm), (2)-xxx-96 pages. binding : Contemporary full calf, gilt spine in six compartments. Cambridge style binding, covers blind stamped. Little lacks of leather. First blank flyleaf is missing.
First edition.
Richard Mead (1673-1754), a physician and friend of Isaac Newton, attempts in this book to demonstrate the influence of gravitational forces on human health. Mesmer drew heavily on this book to write his doctoral thesis in 1766 (On the Influence of the Planets on the Human Body). The term "animal gravitation," taken from Mead, was later changed by Mesmer to "animal magnetism.".
references: Garrison-Morton [10160 : "Mead formulated the position that periodic atmospheric tides arising from planetary forces produced alterations of gravity, elasticity, and air pressure; these changes, he argued, affected the human body in health and disease. Mesmer’s dissertation, which originated animal magnetism, was largely a plagiarism of Mead’s work.], Heirs of Hippocrates [768, (ed. 1739) : "On the influence of the sun and moon upon human bodies and the diseases thereby produced is Mead’s second book and was first published at London in 1704. During Mead’s day it was widely believed that celestial bodies had a direct influence on health; Mead attempts to explain this by employing the principles of Newtonian mechanics. Mead believed that atmospheric pressure was affected by the sun, moon, and stars, which produced changes similar to those of the oceanic tides. He also postulated that atmospheric variations in elasticity and pressure had a direct effect on the nervous fluid. Epilepsy, hysteria, menstrual disorders, nephritis, ulcers, and asthma were among the diseases that followed lunar cycles."].
Price : 1500 €
