1877. 8vo, pp. 31, [1]; paper lightly browned throughout due to paper quality, small vertical tear at head of first couple of leaves without loss, with some further minor edgewear, and some light creasing in places; stitched as issued in the original printed wrappers, small tear at upper margin of upper cover, with some staining affecting the lower margin, further light soiling, and extremities very lightly nicked and worn. Uncommon first edition of this short historical treatise highlighting the life and work of some famous women, both ancient and modern, in the fields of medicine and science. Franceso Scalzi (1821-1889), described as ‘Ispettore Medico nel mosocomio di santo spirito in Roma’, dedicates his work to Contessa Elena Borghese, and presents a brief A-Z, beginning with Abella of Salerno, concluding with Vittorio, and including the Scottish herbalist Elizabeth Blackwell, the French midwife Louise Bourgeois, the sixteenth-century alchemist Isabella Cortese and ‘Miss Nightingale’. The most detailed biography is given over to Anna Manzolini, who held the Chair of Anatomy at the University of Bologna in the eighteenth century.
The brief entry for ‘Nightingale (miss)’ reads: ‘She dedicated her whole life and her vast wealth to the benefit of the poor. She distinguished herself as a nurse during the Crimean war. She later founded the Barak Hospital [sic] in London, a vast institution capable of accommodating over three thousand patients’ (online translation).