Cabanesdocteur

1897 · 35372 — Paris: Charles Carrington 1897. 8vo. x pp. 2 ff. 3–239 vii 1 blank pp. 4 ads ff. <br><br>W.C. Costello's translation of Cabanès' Cabinet secret de l'histoire première série the sole edition in English and an interesting if at times gruesome complication of medical anecdotes medical humor celebrity lore and titillation.<br>    Cabanès 1862–1928 was a medical doctor historian and successful writer of a goodly number of works of fiction and history with a subspecialty of historical medical mysteries. Carrington was a leading British publisher "abroad" of late-Victorian and Edwardian pornography/erotica for "bibliophiles" much of it flagellatory; there have been significant essays on him and his works but Wikipedia provides one irresistible sentence: "Carrington went blind as a result of syphilis and the last few years of his life were spent in poverty as his mistress stole his valuable collection of rare books."<br>    The chapters in this publication are: A youthful indiscretion of Louis XIV The fistula of a great king The maladies of Louis XV The semi-impotency of Louis XVI The first pregnancy of Marie-Antoinette Louis XVI in private life One of the judges of Marie-Antoinette: the surgeon Souberbielle What was Marat's disease Talleyrand and the doctors The accouchement of the empress Marie-Louise The ancestors of Marshal Mac-Mahon and Gambetta's eye.<br>    Nicely printed with title-page in black and red and text block issued untrimmed this is a copy of the trade edition: There was a deluxe issue on Japan vellum limited to 30 copies.<br>    Provenance: "Virginia Pritchard Hilton-Green my father's book. Publisher's blue cloth stamped in blind. Minor rubbing; small tear at base of front joint outside. Inside clean. Charles Carrington hardcover books