Natural and Political Observations Mentioned in a Following Index,

£65,000 · Offered by Shapero Rare Books

the origin of demographics epidemiology The very rare first edition of the text that founded demography and medical statistics. Only four copies have appeared at auction since 1998. 'Basing his work primarily on London's Bills of Mortality, which had been published since the end of the sixteenth century, Graunt noted the regularity of certain vital phenomena (such as higher death rates for children under six years of age), constructed the first life expectancy tables, and attempted to use his data to describe various characteristics of populations. Graunt was well aware of the limitations of his data, however, citing such defects as a lack of thoroughness, inadequate disease vocabulary and dishonest reporting of deaths from certain causes such as syphilis' (Hook Norman, The Norman Library of Science and Medicine 933). 'He was the first to recognize the importance of vital statistics and the need for reducing them to order, which he found to be possible by mathematical calculation, leading to important conclusions on the social and economic conditions of the people... The application of critical scientific methods to medical and vital statistics, which underlies so much of modern government and economics, can be traced back to John Graunt's remarkable book' (Printing and the Mind of Man 144). First edition; 4to (18.5 x 14 cm); 2 folding letterpress tables, letterpress tables within the text, woodcut headpieces and initials, small, professionally repaired tear to the title, not

• Binding: Hardcover

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