[Sixteenth-century book]. HOUEL (Nicolas). Traité de la pest - Lot 112

[Sixteenth-century book]. HOUEL (Nicolas). Traité de la peste auquel est amplement discouru de l'origine, cause, signes, preservation & curation d'icelle. Paris, Galiot du Pré, 1573. In-8, [8] f. (title, table, epistle, sonnets, last blank), 62 p. [1] f. (colophon), 19th c. bottle-green morocco, 5-rib spine decorated with gilt stippling, gilt author, title and date, double gilt fillet framing the boards, gilt fillet to the boards, inner lace, untrimmed (small wormholes at top edge of qq f., minor soiling to title). Rare first edition. Nicolas Houel (1524?-1587), awarded the title of Master Apothecary in 1548, was a key figure in the history of pharmacy in 16th-century Paris. An artist, collector and philanthropist, he was behind the founding of an institution to help the destitute sick and orphans, located near the Temple, in the "Maison des Enfants-Rouges" founded in 1536 by King François I. In 1578, Houel moved his institution to the faubourg Saint Marcel, and by royal decree and parliamentary order, was appointed intendant general of the institution, which took the name "Maison de la Charité chrétienne". The institution housed a chapel, an orphanage, a hospital, an apothecary and a medicinal plant garden created by Nicolas Houel, known as the "Jardin des apothicaires" on the site of the future Jardin des plantes, home to today's Muséum d'Histoire naturelle. A philanthropic writer, Houel was the author of numerous cultural, artistic and scientific works. These include his Traité de la thériaque et mithridate, containing recipes, remedies and medicines, and his Traité de la peste, both published in Paris in 1573, the first by Jean de Bordeaux, the second by Galiot du Pré. Provenance: E. Frick, médecin, XVIIIs. (ex-libris gravé) Handwritten mention "Vente Luzarches, février 165, n° 182". (USTC 24441; Brunet III, 349; Graesse III, 378; Durling 2479).