Rare medical book is up for auction

A rare medical book dating back almost 300 years is set to go under the hammer in Lichfield.

The pocket-sized book, which was printed in 1712, was unearthed at an antiques valuation day in Kings Bromley, and is expected to attract international interest at auction next month.

Antiques expert Charles Hanson said the guide provided a "fascinating insight" into how to treat wounds and conduct surgical operations back when Queen Anne was on the throne.

Today's patients will be thankful for the advances in medicine over the past three centuries after reading author Joseph Charriere's chapter on leg amputation, which reads: "Place the patient on the side of a bed leaning backwards. "The surgeon must then place himself between the legs of the patient and with a crooked knife in his right hand cut quick."

Mr Hanson, of Hansons Auctioneers, said: "The book is in its original Morocco tooled binding, and would have proved invaluable in its day.

"We can only wonder what surgeons back in 1712 would have thought about our current healthcare and hospital wards," he added.

The book will be sold by Hansons Auctioneers in Lichfield on February 19.

It has a guide price of £200 to £300, but Mr Hanson said he expected the book to attract in excess of that figure. "With the interest in such medical collectables we hope this pocket guide will appeal to the more forward-thinking collectors of today," he said.

In November a dentist paid £2,000 for an 18th century book of tips on teeth, also discovered at a Kings Bromley valuation day.

Hansons had set a guide price of £200 to £300 for Thomas Berdmore's Treatise on the Disorders and Deformities of the Teeth and Gums.

But bidding went through the roof at the auction, with a total of six dentists among those vying to take the book home.

To find out more about the upcoming auction at Lichfield Rugby Club contact Hansons on 01283 733988 or e-mail service@hansonsauctioneers.co.uk