Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 1013

FRANZ ANTON MESMER (1734-1815) Mémoire sur la découverte du magnétisme animal. P. F. Didot le jeune 1779 vi, 85 pp. 17.2 cm.

Mesmer, a German physician, maintained that an "animal magnetism" pervades the universe and exists in every living thing. He believed that its transmission from one person to another could cure various nervous disorders through its healing properties. Mesmer at first used magnets, electrodes, and other devices to effect his cures, but, after arousing suspicion among the Viennese physicians, he preferred to utilize his hands. Arriving in Paris in 1778, he set up a lucrative practice employing elaborate rituals to enhance his effect. His patrons included Louis XVI and members of the royal court. Eventually he was discredited by a committee of the French Academy of Sciences (including A. Lavoisier, J. Guillotin and B. Franklin) and in 1785 was forced to leave the city. Although many of his learned contemporaries regarded Mesmer's practice as quackery, his theory of animal magnetism laid the foundations of modern hypnosis and suggestion therapy. This cheaply printed first edition is Mesmer's definitive work on animal magnetism.

Cited references: Garrison-Morton 4992; Waller 6505

Gift of John Martin, M.D.