author
M. (Charles Gabriel) Le Clerc
b. 1644
A French surgeon and medical writer from the late 17th century, he is best remembered for practical books that aimed to make surgery and everyday medicine easier to learn and use. His works were widely printed and translated, helping them travel well beyond France.
1 Audiobook
The Compleat Surgeon or, the whole Art of Surgery explain'd in a most familiar Method.
by M. (Charles Gabriel) Le Clerc
About the author
Born in 1644, Charles Gabriel Le Clerc was a French surgeon and medical author. Catalog records identify him as a surgeon, and one of his books describes him as medecin ordinaire du roy, suggesting he held a court medical appointment.
Le Clerc wrote practical guides on surgery and treatment, including La chirurgie complette, L'Appareil commode en faveur des jeunes chirurgiens, and La Médecine aisée. The surviving editions and later English versions of The Compleat Surgeon show that his work was meant to be useful and accessible, with step-by-step attention to bones, wounds, ulcers, fractures, operations, and medicinal preparation.
Sources disagree a little in how fully they sketch his life, so much of his reputation now comes through his books rather than detailed personal biography. Still, library and authority records consistently place him in 17th-century French medicine, with a birth year of 1644 and a death year of 1700.