LAENNEC (René). Laennec to his father. 8 thermidor year 5 (J - Lot 45

LAENNEC (René). Laennec to his father. 8 thermidor year 5 (July 26, 1797). Autograph letter signed "Rth Laennec" to his father, s.l. [Quimper]. 1 pp. 1/3. In-4 (16 x 20, 8 cm). on bluish paper, broken armorial seal. Moving letter from the young Laennec, the year he was taken in by his uncle Guillaume-François Laennec, physician and director of the École de Médecine in Nantes. That same year, he began his medical studies. "[...] I answer you today in the name of the whole family. Mother [...] has asked me to ask you to inform her in your next letter of the news of the Calan affair, and to let her know the exact moment of your arrival. I join her in begging you to hasten the happy moment of your return. [...] you will find the happiness that eludes you in civil life and political occupations. Quimper is, during your absence, a very narrow desert indeed [...]". René Laennec (1781-1826), French physician. He pioneered medical diagnosis by auscultation (Traité de l'auscultation médiate, 1819), thanks to the invention of the stethoscope. Other contributions to medicine include his description of peritonitis and cirrhosis. Although cirrhosis was already a known disease, it was Laennec who gave it its name. He coined the term melanoma and described the pulmonary metastases of melanoma. In 1804, while still a medical student, he was the first to give a lecture on melanoma, which was subsequently published in 1815. He succumbed to tuberculosis at the age of 45.