Medical sketches: In two parts

Moore, John (1729-1802). Medical sketches: In two parts. [iii]-xii, 537, [3]pp. Half-title lacking. London: A. Strahan and T. Cadell, 1786. 234 x 134 mm. (uncut). Modern cloth. First 3 leaves detached, some foxing and toning, edges a bit frayed. Library stamp on title and last leaf. Good copy. Library bookplate.

First Edition. Moore, a Scottish physician, studied under William Cullen, William Hunter and William Smellie, and practiced medicine in Glasgow for nearly twenty years. In 1769 Moore was appointed personal physician to the 15-year-old James George, 7th Duke of Hamilton, who died of tuberculosis a few months afterward; three years later Moore accompanied the duke's younger brother, Douglas, on a four-year-long tour of the Continent. Upon returning from Europe Moore settled in London and gave up medicine for authorship; he published several successful travel books and novels and become acquainted with Samuel Johnson and his circle. Although he considered himself retired from medicine, Moore wrote Medical Sketches at the behest of his son John, an officer in the British Army and the future hero of the Battle of Corunna (1809). Intending his work for a general rather than a professional audience, Moore eschewed medical systematics in favor of practical advice, stressing "what is often called the ‘art of medicine,' carefully observing the symptoms and course of each illness and prescribing accordingly without regard to textbook, school or untried notion" (Fulton, Dr. John Moore, 1729-1802, p. 412).