MEDICINE. – Whitelaw AINSLIE. Materia Indica; or, Some Account of Those Articles Which Are Emp

MEDICINE. – Whitelaw AINSLIE. Materia Indica; or, Some Account of Those Articles Which Are Employed by the Hindoos, and Other Eastern Nations, in their Medicine, Arts, and Agriculture. London: Longman, Rees, Orme, et al., 1826. 2 vols., first edition, 8vo (220 x 133mm.) Half-title to vol. 1. (Toning, occasional scattered spotting.) Original cloth-backed boards, paper labels mounted to spines (discoloured and stained, fading, extremities rubbed). Note: Ainslie was a British surgeon who joined the East India Company in 1788 and spent 27 years in India studying local medical practices. He was one of the first Europeans to study Ayurveda and he was greatly impressed by the efficacy of India’s materia medica. Provenance: Edward Braxton Reynolds (bookplates to front pastedown) (2).