CRUMPE, SAMUEL.


An Inquiry into the Nature and Properties of Opium.... London: G.G. and J. Robinson, 1793. 8vo (207 x 131 mm). Rebound in modern linen. Lacking half-title, crease and short tear through leaves R3 and R4, small chip to margin of last page of text.FIRST EDITION. "Crumpe undertook extensive experiments to understand the effects of opium. His book provided the first detailed description of the effects of narcotic withdrawal" (Garrison-Morton). Crumpe was an Irish physician and 1788 Edinburgh medical graduate who wrote on medical and social issues. In this work he describes the consequences of withdrawal: "This can be the most painful experience imaginable, only physical weakness preventing the victims from destroying themselves ... Nothing will relieve the suffering but more opium." Samuel Taylor Coleridge is known to have taken opium shortly after this book was published.