Intersex History: Early Surgical Treatment of Genitalia "Memoires de Chirurgie" 1768, Volume II, First Edition

Memoires de Chirurgie

First Edition

De Ronsil, Georges Arnaud. Memoires de Chirurgie… Seconde Partie, 1768, stands as an important eighteenth-century surgical treatise addressing hernia, genital deformities, and the anatomical foundations of operative medicine in France and England. This is the second volume of the earliest medical studies discussing the physical and personality traits of intersex and gender queer individuals. The contents of this volume mainly focuses on surgical procedures and instrumentation produced at a moment when Enlightenment medicine increasingly categorized bodily difference within anatomical science, the work contributes to early medical discourse surrounding intersex variation and genital malformation. Arnaud de Ronsil, trained at the École de Saint-Côme in Paris and later practicing in London, grounds his surgical authority in anatomical rigor, declaring in his concluding discourse, “The foundation of surgery is laid on ANATOMY; for it is from hence that the true principles are drawn… Thus let us never be tired of learning.” His inclusion of comparative historical commentary on “the great Masters of Anatomy” situates surgical intervention within a broader European intellectual lineage.

De Ronsil, Georges Arnaud. Memoires de Chirurgie avec quelques remarques historiques sur l'etat de la médecine & de la chirurgie en France & en Angleterre. Seconde Partie. London: Chez J. Nourse; Paris: Chez Desaint, 1768. First edition, Volume II. 426 pages. Illustrated with 10 plates. 4to. Pale green boards with marbled spine. The volume contains detailed discussions of surgical instrumentation, including “MEMOIRE. Description d'une CHAISE chirurgicale,” accompanied by five plates illustrating the construction and use of a surgical chair. Additional sections document operative observations relating to hernias, tumors, and deformities of the genital and reproductive organs.

Published in the decades preceding the professional consolidation of modern surgery, this work reflects the transition from barber-surgical craft to anatomically grounded medical specialization. Its treatment of genital difference is of interest to historians of medicine, gender studies, and the medicalization of bodily variance. Binding tight with moderate rubbing to covers; interior text and plates clean and well preserved. Overall very good condition. A substantive Enlightenment surgical text documenting evolving medical approaches to anatomy and gendered bodies.

Item #22242

Price: $2,200.00