Dermato-Pathologia; or Practical Observations, from some New Thoughts on the Pathology and Proximate Cause of Diseases of the True Skin...
London: H. Reynell, Piccadilly, 1792. First edition.
Dermato-Pathologia is a scarce late eighteenth-century treatise on dermatology by Seguin Henry Jackson, M.D., physician to the Westminster General Dispensary and to the Infirmary of Saint George's, Hanover-Square. Published in 1792, the work sets out Jackson's own theories on the pathology and proximate cause of diseases affecting the true skin, the rete mucosum, and the cuticle, at a time when systematic dermatological classification in English medical literature was still in its infancy. The book stands as an interesting example of pre-Willan British dermatology — written a few years before Robert Willan's more famous classificatory system began to dominate the field — and offers insight into contemporary thinking on skin disease as a branch of general pathology rather than a distinct specialty.
Beyond the core text on skin disease, the volume includes a substantial appendix of related physiological interest: further observations on the influence of perspirable fluid (insensible perspiration) in the production of animal heat, and remarks on the then-current theories of scurvy, in which Jackson specifically advocates for oak bark as a novel marine antiscorbutic and as a possible antiseptic in other putrescent disorders — a notable footnote to the broader eighteenth-century medical debate on scurvy prevention that predates more widely known citrus-based remedies gaining full acceptance
Condition & Binding: This copy is bound in a later (likely mid-to-late 19th century) half-binding of black leather or roan over marbled paper boards, with the spine lettered in gilt "DISEASES OF THE SKIN." The front board is almost completely detached, hanging on only by the front hinge/cloth remnants, and will need rebacking or a full rebind to be handled safely going forward. The spine leather is heavily worn, cracked, and chipped throughout, with loss at the head and tail and a long vertical split visible where the front joint has failed. Internally, the text block itself is sound and complete, with the expected age-toning and some scattered foxing/spotting to the leaves, but no major tears or loss to the text pages. Overall- poor to fair. Item #928
Price: $350.00