NEANDER Michael. Traicté du Tabac, ou Nicotiane, Panacee, Petun : autrement Herbe a la Reyne, avec sa preparation & son usage, pour la plus part des indispositions du corps humain, ensemble les diverses façons de le falsifier, & les marques pour le recognoistre [traduit par Jacques Veyras].

Arents, 148-b ; NLM, 8279 ; Leclerc (1878), 407 ; Alden, 626/89.

First edition of the French translation. Second issue, with the new title page dated 1625; the original Latin edition was published in Leyde in 1622 under the title Tabacologia.

The Dutch medical doctor Johann Neander (ca. 1596- ca. 1630) effected important research on the properties of plants and had already recognized the influence of tobacco on appetite and thirst. The 9 engravings depict plants, harvest and preparation of the tobacco leaves, smoking pipes and other smoking utensils.

“The little that is new in this treatise is of very definite value in the history of tobacco, and that little is rendered more impressive by the novel and accurate illustrations which decorate the work. Among them are the earliest representations known to us of American natives engaged in cultivating and curing tobacco, of curious pipes, and of the kalian of Persia” (Arents).

Good copy, some occasional toning.