Carpue, Restoring a Lost Nose, 1816

An Account of Two Successful Operations for Restoring a Lost Nose from the Integuments of the Forehead, in the Cases of Two Officers of His Majesty’s Army: To which are Prefixed, Historical and Physiological Remarks on the Nasal Operation; Including Descriptions of the Indian and Italian Methods. By J. C. Carpue, with Engravings, by Charles Turner, Illustrating the Different Stages of the Cure. London, 1816. Slim quarto volume rebound in full brown calf with gold detailing on boards and spine. Red leather title plate on spine. Interiors clean, bright, and tight, with ample margins. Black and white as well as colored plates. A few small marginal tears of ffep. Corners of text block a bit bumped. Small amount of transfer from Plate 2 (Tagliacozzi method) onto opposing verso. Complete in every regard, including plates, half title, fly leaves, and errata/advertisement leaf at rear (small amount of discoloration along bottom margin of verso of this final leaf). New end papers added when rebound in 21st century by Vernon Wiering. Overall a very good copy in attractive, period correct, full leather rebind. Measures approximately 11 3/8 x 9 x ¾ inches. Joseph Constantine Carpue (1764 – 1846) revived the Indian method of rhinoplasty over and above the Tagliacozzi Italian method. This work is a high point in the history of medical publications and may be reasonably regarded as a landmark in the history of plastic surgery. In this work he reviews the Tagliacozzi method and also discusses ligating the carotid artery. Gaspare Tagliacozzi (1546-1599) was an Italian surgeon who developed a rhinoplasty procedure by taking a pedicle flap from the arm. He reported his work in 1587 and 1597. (see Schmidt, J. E. Medical Discoveries; Who and When, 1959, pg 418) “Unlike many previous writers, Carpue distinguished clearly between the principles that might govern the re-attachment of a severed nose and those governing the Taliacotian procedure.... Carpue considered the Indian method superior to the Italian because of its greater simplicity, although in lectures to his students he had constantly recommended the operation for restoring a lost nose, whether by the Tagliacotian or the Indian method, for fifteen years prior to his first opportunity to perform it himself. He prepared carefully for the first operation by experiments on cadavers, on which he made eleven practice operations, in addition to one such operation performed publicly before students and a group of colleagues.” (Gnudi and Webster, The Life and Times of Gaspare Tagliacozzi, 1976, pg 315-317) Garrison-Morton 5737 Sallander, Bibliotheca Walleriana, vol 1, 1781