Very rare early pharmacological book for physicians owned and carried with him as part of his medical library by one of most fascinating medical figures of the 19th century, Charles Guillou [1813-1899] of the United States Navy.
Guillou was an active military physician and participated across a span of decades in important military, expeditionary, and diplomatic missions around the world. He served from 1838 on the U.S.S. Porpoise as part of the United States Exploring Expedition under Charles Wilkes, was onboard to report the first ever sighting of Antarctica [1840] by a U.S. Navy ship and sketched the moment. They then traveled to Hawaii.
Wilkes was apparently a horrifying disciplinarian. Guillou often was needed to treat the sailors from the wounds received during official floggings. He loathed Wilkes. When the expedition was over, Wilkes commandeered all diaries and journals to read them and return them if favorable. Guillou refused and was arrested. While awaiting trial, he helped create the Navy's Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. And was promptly rewarded with a Court Marshall in 1843, related to the Wilkes charges two years earlier.
Guillou then pressed charges against Wilkes himself . . . a gutsy move. He was found guilty of the charge of illegal punishment of navy soldiers. He was reinstated afterward and assigned under Commodore James Biddle en route to China, etc,.
From this point forward, his medical and diplomatic duties mingled. He helped establish hospitals in Hawaii, was brought in to help save Prince Kaleiopapa's life, etc.,
One of the most storied men of the era, and certainly in the medical profession.
Beck, Lewis C. Adulterations of Various Substances Used in Medicine and the Arts, with the Means of Detecting them: Intended as a Manual for the Physician, the Apothecary, and the Artisan. New-York. Samuel S. and William Wood. 1846. 333pp.
A good copy, bound in cloth that is rubbed with some light chipping. Very solid, with moderate foxing. Having Charles Guillou's bookplate.
