Gualtero Needham - Disquisitio anatomica de formato foetu - 1667

Full parchment binding, soft and worn, with light defects to the headcaps and corners. Gold ornament on the front board. On the back: two raised bands, title and author written in an antique hand, gold ornament, and a label from an ancient library. Red speckled edges. 1 blank leaf, [17] of which 7 plates, 234, 2 blank leaves FIRST EDITION of this foundational work on the chemical development of embryos. Needham's work (1631-1691) is the “first book to report chemical experiments on the developing mammalian embryo, and the first to provide practical instructions on embryo dissection” (Garrison-Morton). Needham also provided the first description of solid bodies in amniotic fluid. Garrison-Morton 467.2; Norman 1579. Frontispiece vignette (with a central faded stain). Manuscript note in an antique hand on the first blank leaf and other marginal notes throughout the volume. Some decorative drop caps. Seven fine copper-engraved plates, folded, inserted out of text, repeated several times. Ex libris mounted on the flyleaf. A copy still clean, complete, and highly usable.

Estimate:£292.96

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