Jenner (Edward) An Inquiry into the Causes and Effects of the Variolae Vaccinae, a Disease discovered in some of the Western Counties of England, particularly Gloucestershire, and known by the name of the Cow Pox, first edition, 4 engraved plates by William Skelton, printed in sanguine and enhanced with some hand-colouring, lacking half-title and errata f., ink stamp removed from title, C3&4 (with a repair to outer margin of C3), foot of L1&2 and foot of 1 plate, F1 verso a few small ink stains, 1 within text, slightly obscuring a few letters, F4 a few small ink spots, occasional spotting or light staining, contemporary calf, rebacked, preserving original gilt backstrip with red morocco label, rubbed, corners repaired, covers marked, [Dibner Heralds of Science 127; Garrison-Morton 5423; Grolier Medicine 53; Heirs of Hippocrates 1086; Grolier/Horblit 56; William Lefanu A bibliography of Edward Jenner, 8 (2nd ed., 1985); Norman 1162; PMM 250; Wellcome III, p. 351], 4to, Printed for the Author, by Sampson Low, 1798.

⁂ 'One of the greatest triumphs in the history of medicine' (Garrison-Morton), which is 'the basis of the modern science of immunology' (PMM). Jenner trained under the the great surgeon and experimental scientist John Hunter, and 'was the first to test experimentally the folk belief that cowpox conferred immunity to its deadly relative smallpox, and the first to transmit the cowpox virus from person to person in order to build a population immune to smallpox' (Norman). As a result of his initial ground-breaking work 'today there are innoculations ... against scarlet fever, typhoid fever, diptheria, whooping-cough and tetanus, as well as ... bubonic plague, cholera and yellow fever.' (PMM).