Of Balsam of Mecha

Pomet, Pierre. A compleat history of druggs. To which is added, what is further observable on the same subject, from Mess. Lemery and Tournefort, divided into three classes, vegetable, animal and mineral; with their use in Physics, Chymistry, Pharmacy, and several other Arts.

€ 6.500,00

Second edition in English, the first having appeared in two volumes in 1712. William Bowyer printed both this second edition (500 copies) and the 1737 third edition. The original French edition was published in 1694, and drew upon Pomet's own travels, as well as his expertise and business as a practicing pharmacist. Contains many notices of oriental medicinal plants and herbs, including the famous "Balsam of Mecca": "The Turks, who go a pilgrimage every year to Mecha, bring from thence a certain dry white balsam, in figure resembling white copperas calcin'd, especially when it is stale. The person who made me a present of about half an ounce, assur'd me, that he brought the same from Mecha liquid, and that the smell is the same as observ'd before. The same person likewise did testify to me that it was as good as Balm of Gilead" (p. 205).

Pomet (1658-99) was appointed druggist to Louis XIV, and in the introductory notes to the online exhibition at the University of Wales, "The Weird World of Pierre Pomet," the curator observes: "Parisian Pierre Pomet's pharmacopoeia [...] was intended not only as a handbook for the medical trade but also as a rough guide to the exotic for armchair travellers. Much of its appeal, then as now, comes from the illustrations which pepper the book: pictures of weird animals and weird people doing weird things in weird countries." - Early bookplate ("IKJ") and ownership signature ("H. Jones"), occasional dusting or minor offsetting. A very good, crisp copy.