Elliotson, Surgical Operations in the Mesmeric State, Presentation & Norman copy

Numerous Cases of Surgical Operations without Pain in the Mesmeric State; with Remarks upon the Opposition of Many Members of the Medical and Chirurgical Society and Others to the Reception of the Inestimable Blessings of Mesmerism. By John Elliotson, M.D. Cantab. F.R.S. London: H. Bailliere, 219, Regent Street 1843. 
 
Original brown paper wraps, with restorations. Inscribed by the author in blue ink at the top of the title page (to the Hinckley Mechanic’s Institute). Several creases and scratches, and one ink notation (“xxxiii”) on front wrap. First few leaves a bit toned. Otherwise, clean, bright, and tight throughout, with well retained margins. Housed in a cloth brown clamshell with Haskell Norman’s bookplate inside. 
223 x 143 mm. Pagination: 93 (3). Errata and ads at rear. 
 
This copy was part lot 1005 (along with the first American edition) in part III for Haskell F. Norman’s sale at Christie’s in New York, on Oct 29, 1998. 
 
G-M 565.2: “Elliotson was one of the first in England to perform surgical operations with the aid of hypnotism. He was a great friend of Dickens and Thackeray, but his views on hypnotism were bitterly opposed by Thomas Wakley, editor of the Lancet, whose onslaughts eventually led to his downfall.”