Recueil d'Édits, Dà clarations, Arrests et Ordonnances Concernant lâ Hà pital Gà nà ral, les Enfans-Trouvez, le Saint-Esprit, et Autres Maisons y Unies History,Medicine,Science

A significant and scarce mid-18th century legal compendium collecting royal edicts, declarations, and decrees concerning the administration, funding, and regulation of Franceâ s charitable and medical institutions, most notably the Hà pital Gà nà ral de Paris, the Enfants-Trouvà s (Foundling Hospital), and the Hà pital du Saint-Esprit. This recueil provides an invaluable record of Louis XIVâ "Louis XVâ "era healthcare, welfare, and social control policy, documenting how the French crown centralized charity and confinement in hospitals and almshouses as a means to manage poverty, mendicancy, and public health. It includes the foundational 1666 à dit du Roy establishing the Hà pital Gà nà ral for the â renfermement des pauvres mendiants,â as well as numerous subsequent royal decrees (notably from 1704, 1709, and others) revising its statutes, finances, and governance. Printed in clear Roman type with engraved head- and tailpieces and woodcut ornaments, the text captures the legal machinery of ancien rà gime bureaucracy. Each decree begins with a large Edit du Roy heading and signature phrase â LOUIS, par la grâce de Dieu, Roy de France et de Navarre.â This volume thus provides both a fascinating legal chronicle and an essential primary source for historians of medicine, charity, and social institutions in pre-Revolutionary France. Condition & Binding:ÂBound in contemporary full mottled calf, gilt-tooled spine in six compartments with raised bands and gilt floral devices; red morocco title label reading â EDITS. P. LES HOPITAU.â Marbled endpapers in bold swirl design of red, blue, yellow, and white typical of mid-18th-century French bindings. Binding shows heavy wear, with rubbing, scratches, chipping to corners and spine ends, and splitting at joints, though boards remain attached. Interior with expected toning and scattered foxing, dampstaining visible to final leaves (as shown), but text remains legible and crisp throughout. Endpapers lightly soiled. Overall- good.