Homeopathy – Organon Der Rationellen Heilkunde

HAHNEMANN, Samuel (1755–1843). Organon der rationellen Heilkunde . Dresden: Arnoldische Buchhandlung, 1810. First edition of the founding text of homeopathy. Composed of 271 aphorisms (the first 70 being theoretical statements and the remainder practical advice), the present work is the result of Hahnemann’s long malcontent with the state of modern medicine. In addition to developing his experimental method of “proving” individual substances, Hahnemann here expounds on his like-for-like method of treating illness (a concept known in Latin as similia similibus curantur which is found in medical texts as early as the 16th-century physician-alchemist Paracelsus’) that is now the core tenet of modern homeopathy. “The idea was to match the patient's symptoms to a homeopathic drug picture, and give that drug in a very dilute, or ‘potentized’ form. Clinically this seemed to work and Hahnemann attracted an increasing number of doctors to his ideas, often because they were disenchanted with blood letting, then in vogue.” (Oxford Companion to Medicine). Garrison-Morton 1966; Norman 964; PMM 265. Octavo (201mm × 120mm). Errata leaf (without first blank) (occasional light spotting). Contemporary buff paper boards, edges red (worn and rubbed, upper joint starting, strain on lower board).

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