[VARIOLA / SMALLPOX] Dissertatio medica inauguralis de variolis, [.] opt. max. ex auctoritate rectoris magnifici, Hermanni Scholten, S.S. Theologiæ doctoris hujusque facultatis in Acad. Lugd. Batav. [i.e., Inaugural medical dissertation on smallpox...]

Complete title: Dissertatio medica inauguralis de variolis, quam, favente Deo ter opt. max. ex auctoritate rectoris magnifici, Hermanni Scholten, S.S. Theologiæ doctoris hujusque facultatis in Acad. Lugd. Batav. Professoris Ordinarii, nec non amplissimi Senatus academici consensu, & nobilissimae Facultatis medicae decreto, pro gradu doctoratus, summisque in Medicina honoribus ac privilegiis, rite ac legitime consequendi, eruditorum examini submittit Ludovicus Levade, Lausanna-Helvetus. Ad diem XVII. julii MDCCLXXII. H.L.Q.S. [i.e., Inaugural medical dissertation on smallpox, which, with the favour of God, thrice good and great, and by the authority of the most distinguished rector, Hermann Scholten, Doctor of Sacred Theology and Ordinary Professor of that faculty at the University of Leiden, as well as with the consent of the most eminent Academic Senate and by decree of the most noble Faculty of Medicine, is submitted to the examination of scholars by Ludovicus Levade of Lausanne, Switzerland, to duly and lawfully obtain the doctoral degree and the highest honours and privileges in Medicine, on the 17th day of July, 1772].

LEVADE, LUDWIG (18^th century).

Lugduni Batavorum (Leiden), Apud Theodorum Haak, 1772.

Contemporary boards with a brown cloth spine. Small 4to. (24 x 19 cm). In Latin. [iv], 30, [2] p. Heavy water staining to the first three and last two leaves; margins trimmed. Overall, a good copy.

A scarce doctoral thesis written by the physician Ludovicus Levade at the Faculty of Medicine of Leiden University to obtain the degree of Doctor of Medicine, focusing on the definition, classification, course, and clinical symptoms of smallpox (variola), a disease that in the 18th century caused especially high mortality among infants and children in Europe.

The thesis is one of the classic medical doctoral dissertations of the 18th century, written during the rectorship of Hermann Scholten (1726-1783), in years considered to be close to the peak of Leiden University’s scientific authority.

As of January 2026, OCLC identifies a sole copy at the Université de Strasbourg Library, with none held in the US (834762294).