Scare early work on Tuberculosis - Timothy Byfield 1685 - "Two Discourses: One of Consumptions, with their Cure by a New Method. The other Contains some Rules of Health"

“Two Discourses: One of Consumptions, with their Cure by a New Method. The other Contains some Rules of Health” By Timothy Byfield M.D. London: Printed for Dorman Newman at the King’s Arms in the Poultry, 1685 First and only edition, small 4to, [6], 31, [1]pp., complete. Very good condition. Bound in full modern sheep. Slightly trimmed with minor loss of text to the margin of the third leaf (second page of preface). Occasional foxing and spotting. This is the first and only edition of this scarce work on the treatment of consumption (now largely identified as tuberculosis). In Two Discourses, Timothy Byfield rejected traditional medical explanations for consumption and promoted his “new method” of cure. Byfield argued that consumption arose from the corruption and depletion of the blood and bodily fluids, gradually producing foul matter in the lungs leading to cough, fever, and weight loss. Claiming to have developed a novel treatment, he proposed his own “refined medicines,” dietary regulation, fresh air, and moderate exercise. He also warned against excesses such as overwork, alcohol, sexual excess, and melancholy. Interestingly, Byfield deliberately withheld the exact composition of his remedies, presenting them as the result of costly experimentation in his laboratory. He further advertised the sale of his bottled waters at his address in Farringdon, “New Street by Fetter-Lane near Five Bells,” promoting his own proprietary remedies and medical practice. Timothy Byfield (1651–1723) was an Irish physician educated at Cambridge who later practiced in both Ireland and London. He is best known for being regarded as one of the earliest physicians to patent a medicine: “Sal Volatile,” a preparation of ammonium compounds used as smelling salts. Wing B6401. WorldCat records 11 institutional copies only (10 in the UK and 1 in the USA at Harvard). Rare in the trade; this copy appears to be the only example traced at auction during the past seventy years.