Rare first edition. Not held by the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Brunet II, 1236. Title vignette.
Modern full vellum binding with overlapping flaps. Plain spine, ties. Light marginal dampstaining to first few pages. Some foxing.
Auger Ferrier (1513-1588) of Toulouse was simultaneously a renowned astronomer, physician and physicist (he was one of Catherine de Medici's private physicians). The work is a treatise on the Spanish plague or Spanish pox, otherwise called the Neapolitan disease, which is none other than syphilis and which had been wreaking havoc in France for some time (depending on the country it was also called the French disease). Description of the illness and remedies. There follows a chapter intended for barbers and the remedies they could employ not being physicians (falling nails, alopecia); this treatise is followed by its translation, as barbers were not learned and did not speak Latin, yet they often practiced various surgical operations.