A Doctor’s Musings
Sometimes when a book is added to a library, a record of the book's history already exists. Librarians can explore databases like WorldCat or the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) to find an existing record, or a previous owner might have put together a complete provenance before it arrived at its current home.
The latter is the case for this book, a common French surgeon's handbook published in 1757. Addi McDowell purchased this text from Patrick Olson, a professional bookseller and researcher, but the book itself is not all she paid for. With the book came a remarkably detailed description outlining all its currently known history.
The provided history, though limited, is incredibly helpful in identifying several previous owners through the inscriptions near the front of the book. Beside the title page, someone has written a handwritten treatment for cancerous tumors (salt of tartar dissolved in water). With the assistance of Olson's research, more about this solution can be discovered; the provenance description says, "The handwritten recipe does...resemble a remedy reported in the August 1744 issue of the Mercure de France and attributed to one Levret (presumably the acclaimed obstetrician André Levret)." Could this book have belonged to one of Levret's students? Perhaps Levret himself? Did the writer of this inscription, whoever they were, read the Mercure de France? Though the answers are likely lost to time forever, these questions cement this owner's identity in this book's history all because Olson was curious enough to ask them.
Luckily, Olson was able to uncover the identity of the next inscription's author. Beneath the medical writing is an ownership inscription of one Francois Bioche, maréchal (or "Marshal") at Fougerolles. His signature can be seen at the very bottom of the page.
Though very little is known about this man other than his name, he left behind a drawing in the front endpages of this book, along with a note that most likely reads "This present book is mine as it is the king's." The drawing depicts a rigid, black-eyed soldier, hoisting two severed heads aloft a sword. Bioche, having identified himself as a "Marshal," might have been a soldier, or perhaps a field surgeon. Is this drawing meant to be a self-portrait? Whose are the severed heads? Is this just a silly little doodle or a powerful memory of a man long dead?
The search for information on Francois Bioche is far from over. In preparing for this exhibition, we reached out to a potential descendent of Bioche. According to this person's family tree, Francois Pierre Noel Bioche was born February 25, 1789 and died March 25, 1858. The record identifies him as a "Maréchal/Laboureur" and the husband of Marie Anne Theriau ou Teriot, who bore him a daughter. Though we have not received a reply from Bioche's potential ancestor, we strongly believe this to be the man who wrote in this book.
Online Genealogy Record: https://gw.geneanet.org/jean14760?lang=en&iz=2&p=francois+pierre+noel&n=bioche