LAREY DOMINIQUE-JEAN (1766-1842) Mémoires de chirurgie militaire, et campagnes. [Memoirs of Military Surgery and Campaigns] Paris: J. Smith, 1812–1817.

[[Supplemented by] Recueil de mémoires de chirurgie. [Collection of memoirs on surgery] Paris: Compère jeune, 1821. 5 volumes in-8 (20 × 12.4 cm). Vol. 1. XXVIII, 382 pp., 8 plates, (2 ff.); Vol. 2. 512 pp., 2 plates, (2 ff.); Vol. 3. 497 pp. numbered 499, 1 plate, (2 ff.); Vol. 4. 498 pp. numbered 500, 1 plan, 5 plates; Vol. 5. XVI, 319 pp., (4 ff.), 4 plates. Blond half calf with corners, gilt fillets, smooth decorated spine, yellow speckled edges. First edition of the important memoirs of Dominique-Jean Larey (1766–1842), the most renowned surgeon of the Grande Armée, whom Napoleon called ‘the most virtuous man I have ever known’ in his will. These memoirs combine first-hand historical accounts of the Napoleonic campaigns with detailed, practical insights into the practice of military surgery. Larey’s primary goal was to educate young military surgeons. To that end, he offered a vivid and unflinching depiction of their work: ‘the dangers to which army surgeons were exposed, their successes, and the encouragement they received’ (Vol. 1, p. VI) This is not only a key medical work of the early 19th century, but also an essential resource on the Napoleonic Wars, written by a man who witnessed and shaped the development of modern battlefield medicine, including the creation of the ambulance volante (flying ambulance).