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[7], 396 pp. Title page in black and red, engraved vignette. (4to) period full vellum. First Edition in French.

The uncommon first edition of the French translation of Helmont's collected works. "Although Helmont's Ortus medicinae was published posthumously, it reached a wide audience, and translations into English, French, German, and Flemish soon followed. The French translation published in 1671 is frequently described as the first edition because copies of this first issue of 1670 are so extremely rare. The work brings together Helmont's doctrine and concepts and clearly reveals how heavily mysticism influenced his thinking about scientific matters. Denounced by the Inquisition in 1624, Helmont was imprisoned for two years starting in 1634. His name was finally cleared in 1646, two years after his death." Heirs of Hippocrates 410.