"On the Antibacterial Action of Cultures of a Penicillium with Special Reference to their use in the Isolation of B. Influenzae." OFFPRINT,

London:: Privately printed, 1944., 1944. Reprinted from The British Journal of Experimental Pathology, 1929. Vol. X, p. 226. Sm. 4to (250 x 186 mm). 12 pp. 4figures, 4 tables. Caption title. Stapled as issued; small chip to upper margin of first leaf, toning to edges, creased. Laid into blind-stamped red calf, black gilt-stamped leather spine label, forming a drop-back folding case. BOOK SIGNED BY ALEXANDER FLEMING. Very good. LIMITED REISSUE OF 250 COPIES OF FLEMING'S LANDMARK ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE DISCOVERY OF PENICILLIN. "In 1929, while working at St. Mary's Hospital in London, Fleming discovered the antibacterial properties of Penicillium mould. He published his findings in this present essay and suggested that the brown liquid substance produced by the mould would be an "efficient antiseptic for application to, or injection into, areas infected with penicillin-sensitive microbes." However, the substance proved to be unstable and chemically complex, and attempts to create a pure and stable drug by Fleming proved unsuccessful. In 1940, Ernst Chain and Howard Florey were able to stabilize the drug and work out suitable dosages for treatment." - Christie's. / First published in a very small edition (150) of which very few have survived, Fleming's 1929 paper did not have an immediate impact as he could not stabilize the drug to make it useful. With the announcement of Chain and Florey's successful tests of Penicillin in mice in 1940, Fleming received an outpouring of interest in his 1929 work and ordered an additional 250 copies printed (offered here). The first offprint is nearly unobtainable, and this 2nd issue scarce in its own right. / The original offprint issued by the British Journal of Experimental Pathology, was printed in 150 copies and issued in orange wrappers, with the pages numbered 226-236. That offprint, is rarely seen at auction, one copy sold for $ 126,750 in 2001 at Sotheby's. / Fleming shared the Nobel Prize for medicine in 1945 with Howard Florey (1898-1968) and Sir Ernst Chain (1906-1979), who extracted penicillin from the mould and were responsible for its commercial production. REFERENCES: Garrison and Morton, Norman 1933; Heirs of Hippocrates 2320; Norman 798; Printing and the Mind of Man, 420a. / ACCOMPANIED BY: FLEMING, Alexander, (editor.). Penicillin: Its Practical Application. Philadelphia: Blakiston, 1946.

American issue. 8vo. x, 380 pp. Navy blue-stamped blue cloth; spine foot sticker residue. Very good. The book was prepared under the editorship of Sir Alexander Fleming, with 28 contributors, is a comprehensive and authoritative compendium of our present knowledge of penicillin in all its aspects. SIGNED by the author-editor, Alexander Fleming, on the title-page. / ACCOMPANIED BY THREE FLEMING OFFPRINTS OR REPRINTS: [With]: Lysozyme: President's Address. By Alexander Fleming. Reprinted from the Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine, December, 1932, Vol. XXVI. London: John Bale, etc., 1932.

14 pp. 2 figs. Publisher's gray-green printed wrappers. Fleming discovered lysozyme in 1922, described as a substance that "has potent antibacterial properties." / [With]: Streptococcal Meningitis Treated with Penicillin. . . [By] Alexander Fleming. Reprinted from The Lancet, Oct. 9, 1934.

12 pp. Caption title. Self-wraps; staining to outer margin. PRESENTATION COPY, stamped "WITH THE AUTHOR'S COMPLIMENTS." / [With]: Louis Pasteur. By Alexander Fleming. British Medical Journal, London Saturday, April 19, 1947.

pp. 517-522. Caption title. Self-wraps, stapled at upper corner; creased. PROVENANCE: James Tait Goodrich. REFERENCES: See: Lax, Eric. The Mold in Dr. Florey's Coat: The Story of the Penicillin Miracle. 2015. (Inventory #: M14724)