pdf - Roger Gaskell Rare Books

nearest way to physick and chyrurgery... being an anatomical description
of the whole body of man (1657) translated from the present edition
but with the plates used by Culpeper in his translation of Vesling
published in 1653 (Russell, British Anatomy, 2nd edition, 1987, p.
168.) Krivatsy 9667; Waller 7997; Wellcome IV, p. 530.
This is the Wrst illustrated edition of Riolan’s compendium of anatomy, in
which he expressed his opposition to Harvey’s view of the circulation of the
blood. Riolan only believed in a partial circulation, through the lungs and
through the supposed septum of the heart. Despite many critics Harvey had
remained silent for 21 years since the publication of De motu cordis in 1628,
but it was the Wrst edition of this work (1648) of Riolan’s that Wnally provoked
him to reply to his critics, in Exercitatio anatomica de circulatione sanguinis
(Cambridge, 1649). ‘Riolan was one of the most famous anatomists of his
time, and so was perhaps regarded by Harvey as specially worthy of an answer,
although by no means all his earlier opponents had been lesser lights’ (Keynes,
Bibliography of the writings of Dr William Harvey, 3rd ed. 1898, p. 72).
The Wne engraved titlepage by Reinier van Persijn (c. 1614–1668) incorporates
a dissection scene with portraits of Vesling, Riolan, A. Valcob, Guy
Patin and Albert Kijper. Behind them stand the Wgures of Medicina and
Asklepios, on either side of a cupboard containing surgical instruments.
Plates III and XXIV are signed by Persijn, and the rest are clearly by the
same hand.
An interesting insight into the expected distribution of this book, and
the international nature of Dutch publishing at this period, is revealed by
the directions to the binder which are given in Latin, French, German and
Dutch.
The plates are constructed in an unusual way, each having a conjugate leaf
of letterpress captions (thus there are 24 letterpress leaves, printed on versos
only). They were apparently printed on larger sheets, but as the instruction
to the binder indicates, these were cut up (using a template supplied by
the publisher) and stitched as 2 leaf sections, with the plate larger than its
accompanying text and folded in. The binder was instructed to make the
folds so that they were not in exactly the same place on adjacent plates and
then to trim the book as little as possible.
Wellcome and STCN describe a blank leaf 2C6, but in this copy the sewing
is between 2C2 and 3, so 2C seems to be a 4 leaf section plus a biofolium,
the second leaf of which is blank (and in this copy folded back so that the
stub is between sigs 2B and 2C).
163
RuDBECK, Olof (1630–1702)
Insidiae structae Olai Rudbeckii Sveci ductibus hepaticis
aquosis & vasis glandularum serosis, Arosiae editis, a Thoma
Bartholino.
Leiden: Ex oYcina Adriani Wingaerden, 1654.
8vo: p 2 A–I 8 K 6 L 4 (blank p2), 84 leaves, pp. [4] 164 (second leaf
blank), printer’s device on title, woodcut diagram on H8v.