Examen Physique du Magnétisme Animal
Jean-Louis CARRA (Journaliste et Révolutionnaire)
Analyse des éloges et des critiques qu’on en a fait jusqu’à présent; Et Développement des véritables Rapports, sous lesquels on doit en considérer le Principe, le Théorie, la Pratique et le Secret.
À Londres, et se trouve à Paris chez Eugène Onfroy, Librairie 1785.
Small octavo (127x197mm). 98pp. Modern binding, dark brown half Moroccan, flat spine with gilt title, marbled paper cover, blank endpapers in non-original vellum.
Autograph bookplate of Gabriel DEPERET, physician and deputy to the Legislative Assembly in 1791-1792.
Very rare original edition on animal magnetism and its secrets written by a journalist, close to Voltaire and future famous revolutionary.
Published under a fictitious London address, this book bears witness to the medical debates at the end of the Ancien Régime. Particularly and primarily, it revolves around "Mesmerism," a movement created by the German Franz Anton Mesmer around the idea of "animal magnetism." The theory according to which the world is governed by a kind of universal magnetic fluid, which, if harnessed, can control and cure diseases.
It is important to emphasize that this book, unlike many others of the time, does not seek to denounce animal magnetism as quackery, but rather, more subtly, to find a physical reality for it.
In 1785, the Faculty of Medicine and the Academy of Sciences having publicly denounced Mesmer's theories, Carra cautiously expressed his attraction to animal magnetism.
"He who proves too much proves nothing. He who does not prove enough proves nothing. Therefore, one must find the right balance in order to make a definitive and irrevocable decision on any given issue." Carra.
He also makes no secret of his admiration for Mesmer, calling him the greatest physicist who ever lived, and who ever will, and concludes his argument thus:
Thus, Mr. Mesmer's only remaining merit is that of having awakened the attention of scholars to the Doctrine of Animal Magnetism, and no other advantage than that of having forced us to teach him enough physics to calm his pretensions and the enthusiasm of his supporters. Carra.
Condition: Modern binding in perfect condition, good condition for the book, title page and Interior stains and moisture.
To read :
Carra, le premier « bibliothécaire national ». Stefan Lemny. 2010 https://shs.cairn.info/revue-de-la-bibliotheque-nationale-de-france-2009-2-page-50?lang=fr
Biography of Jean-Louis Carra on Wikipedia: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Louis_Carra
