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[MEDICINE]. TENON, Jacques René (1724-1816). Mémoires sur les Hôpitaux de Paris. Paris: Ph. -D. Pierres, 1788. 4to. Illustrated with 15 folding diagrams of hospitals. 472, [2, blank] pp. Bound in modern half tan calf over burgundy boards, burgundy gilt morocco lettering label on spine (some wear, soiling to binding, some foxing to modern endleaves, some toning, foxing, minor soiling to text, all edges uncut). Fine. FIRST EDITION OF TENON'S SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF EUROPEAN HOSPITALS. Tenon traveled for 18 months in France, England and Germany, after which he prepared and published his report, which revealed the appalling conditions prevailing in Parisian hospitals. This was particularly true of the Hotel-Dieu. With great foresight, he proposed a series of reforms. He believed particularly that “there must be rooms in which to prepare for operations, for the operations themselves, and for those who have undergone operations; these rooms must be removed from noise and from infection…" Tenon's work had a prodigious effect and profoundly influenced the King and the public. His proposed reforms were upset by the French Revolution, but nevertheless served during the 19th century as the conceptual guide for the majority of European hospitals.