Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 861

ANDRE LEVRET (1703-1780) Observations sur la cure radicale de plusieurs polypes de la matrice, de la gorge et du nez. Chez Delaguette 1749 500 (misnumbered 520) [3] pp., 6 fold. plates. 19.6 cm.

Along with Jean Louis Baudelocque (see No. 1061 ff.), Levret was one of the two outstanding French obstetricians and gynecologists of the eighteenth century. He wrote on nearly every phase of obstetrics and gynecology, was active in championing the cause of male midwifery, and devised many obstetrical and gynecological instruments. He invented a special obstetrical forceps which he presented to the French Academy in 1747. In the present work, Levret describes the surgical techniques used to remove uterine and vaginal polyps and records his experiences in more than thirty cases. Some of the instruments he devised for this type of surgery were prototypes for instruments later used to remove polyps from the nose and throat. The six fine copperplates depict a variety of the ingenious instruments he developed.

See Related Record(s): 1061

Cited references: Wellcome III, p. 509

Gift of John Martin, M.D.