Thomson, Samuel:

$500 · Offered by William Reese Company

THE THOMSONIAN MATERIA MEDICA, OR BOTANIC FAMILY PHYSICIAN: COMPRISING A PHILOSOPHICAL THEORY, THE NATURAL ORGANIZATION AND ASSUMED PRINCIPLES OF ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE LIFE: TO WHICH ARE ADDED THE ... "Thirteenth edition" of a text actually written by Samuel Thomson's son, John. The "twelfth" and "thirteenth" editions of this book were, in fact, the only editions published and are "identical, except for a portrait of Thomson and colored illustrations" (Berman and Flannery, p.231). This is an encyclopedic work, whose various essays and biographical sketches of historical figures were meant to attach greater scientific credibility to Samuel Thomson's botanico-medical system. While widely derided for its obvious contradiction of previous Thomsonian tone and rhetoric, John Thomson's work succeeded at integrating many forms of knowledge into one, well-illustrated volume. A key artifact of American botanico-medical history.

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