Nouvelle Mécanique des Mouvements de l’Homme et des Animaux
Carcassonne: De l’Imprimerie de Pierre Polère, 1798. First edition.
An important late-Enlightenment study on biomechanics and physiology by Paul-Joseph Barthez (1734–1806), the French physician, philosopher, and leading vitalist of the Montpellier school. In this work, Barthez explores the mechanical principles governing human and animal motion, extending his physiological theories beyond vitalism to the physics of movement. He examines locomotion, posture, muscular function, and the comparative anatomy of quadrupeds and bipeds — integrating Aristotelian ideas with experimental physiology. Rich with footnotes and references to Aristotle, Galen, Borelli, and Monboddo, the treatise represents an early attempt to fuse biomechanics, anatomy, and metaphysical physiology, anticipating 19th-century concepts of motor science and kinematics.
This copy also includes additional contemporary medical pamphlets bound together, notably Henri Fouquet’s Discours sur la Clinique (Montpellier, An XI / 1802-3) and other brief academic reports of the Montpellier School of Medicine — suggesting provenance from an early 19th-century physician’s library or teaching collection. These bound-in supplements reflect the intellectual vitality of the Montpellier medical faculty, to which both Barthez and Fouquet belonged.
Condition & Binding: Bound in early gray paper-covered boards, likely original or early 19th-century, protected with a later clear wrapper (now partly torn and yellowed). Hand-lettered title to spine beneath the wrapper; marbled endpapers typical of the era. Boards show surface wear and toning; corners rubbed. Text block tight and clean, with only mild foxing and light toning; wide margins and crisp type. Overall- very good. Item #696
Price: $450.00