DUNCAN (Daniel). A new and mechanical explanation of animal - Lot 305

DUNCAN (Daniel). A new and mechanical explanation of animal actions. Where the Functions of the Soul are treated. With an easy Method to demonstrate exactly all the parts of the Brain, without cutting its own substance. Et un Discours sur sa formation. Paris, Jean d'Houry, 1678. In-12 of [8] ff. 447-[1] pp. brown calf, ornate ribbed spine (contemporary binding). Covers and corners worn, worm work at tail. Several old marginalia in ink. Rare first edition. Daniel DUNCAN (1649-1735) came from a family of Scottish Protestant physicians who had settled in Montauban. He studied medicine in Montpellier and settled as a doctor in Paris in 1673. In 1678, he left his post as army physician-general, which had been assigned to him by Colbert, to spend 2 years in London, where he gathered information on the great plague of 1666. After his forced return to Paris in 1681, he returned to his native Montauban after Colbert's death in 1683. The revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 forced him to leave France to practice in various European cities: Geneva, Berne, Berlin, The Hague, and finally London in 1711, where he ended his life. Expert : Madame Elvire POULAIN-MARQUIS