Advice to Mothers, on the Subject of their own Health;

and on the means of promoting the Health, Strength, and Beauty, of their Offspring

by William Buchan, M.D. 

First American edition.  Philadelphia:  John Bioren, 1804 

Hardback is overall in VERY GOOD- condition.

• Contemporary leatherbound covers have gilt ruling and green label on spine. 
• Boards show some wear, scuffing, warping, cracking at shoulders, edgewear.  Corners are bumped, worn, with exposed board.  See photos.
• Spine has green label with gilt text and is worn with chipped ends.  See photos.
• Binding is secure. 
• Pastedowns and feps have some light foxing, staining. 
• Interior is gently age-toned, exhibits some smudges, stains. 
• Inside pages are free of writing and intentional marks.
• Text block edges have a few marks. 
• PS2025.0122

344 pages. 5 x 7 7/8 inches

An overall very good minus copy of a book rare in any condition.  The First American edition, following publication in London in 1803.  Contemporary leather, showing cracks at the shoulders and with heavy wear to the spine.  Interior is toned, with some staining, but very legible with a generous typeface. 

William Buchan (1729-1805) was a Scottish physician who made a name for himself early in his career with Domestic Medicine (1769).  This volume, aimed at a lay readership and dedicated to the prevention as well as treatment of disease, went through nineteen editions in Buchan's lifetime, was translated into numerous languages, and sold widely in the American colonies.  With Advice to Mothers, Buchan produced a remarkably sensible, no-nonsense guide to the health of women and children -- a subject he had focused his career upon.  Favoring an approach which avoided medicines and invasive treatments wherever possible, Buchan was a staunch advocate of breast-feeding.  He despised in particular the use of corsets and cosmetics, concluding in his introduction:  "The woman, therefore, who feels a laudable wish to look well, and to be so in reality, must place no confidence in the silly doctrines, or the deceitful arts, of fashion.  She must consult nature and reason, and seek for beauty in the temple of health."  

First American Edition, printed and sold by John Bioren, No. 88 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia.  In 1807 an edition was issued in South Carolina.  

Please see photos. More photos available upon request.

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