Boursier du Coudray on obstetrics

LE BOURSIER DU COUDRAY, ANGÉLIQUE-MARGUERITE. Abbrégé de l'art des accouchemens dans lequel on donne les préceptes nécessaires pour le mettre heureusement en pratique & auquel on a joint plusieurs observations intéressantes sur des cas singuliers... Nouvelle edition. Saintes (chez Pierre Toussaint) 1769.

8:o. (5), vi-x, (1)-184, (6) pp. Engraved frontispiece portrait, 26 engraved plates, of which 25 coloured (all, partly dampstained, mostly visible verso, some foxing, one harder, text with some dampstaining and foxing). Contemporary brown full leather, worn, upper cover damaged in outer margin and lower outer corner, gilt spine in six compertments, damages at head and foot. Title with small stamp "Prest-Lacuzon" in lower margin. Old annotation on first endpaper.

First illustrated edition (the first edition published in 1759). The plates illustrating this book were engraved on copper by J. Robert, a student of J. C. Leblon (1667-1741), who developed a technique of engraving in colour mezzotint requiring three or four plates with the primary colours, foreshadowing the modern colour printing.This technique was developed from Newton's theory of decomposition of the colour.