A fine association copy

TYSON, Edward.

Orang-Outang, sive Homo Sylvestris: or, the Anatomy of a Pygmie Compared with a Monkey, an Ape, and a Man... [ISSUED WITH:] A Philological Essay Concerning Pygmies.

London: Thomas Bennet, Daniel Brown, Mr. Hunt, 1699.

1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. Item #002375

Two parts in one. 4to (288 x 213 mm). [12] 1-108, [2] 1-58 [2] pp. Signatures: π⁴ A² B-O⁴ π² χ² 2B-2H⁴ 2I1, 91 leaves. Imprimatur leaf before title, separate title to second part, publisher's advertisement leaf at end, 8 folding engraved plates after William Cowper by Michael Vander Gucht (small tears at folds without loss). Modern blind-stamped calf, gilt red morocco spine label, red-dyed edges, new endpapers. Little browning, minor dust- and finger-soiling, scattered spotting mostly to outer margins of text, sewing holes at gutter from a former interim binding. Provenance: Joshua Brookes* (2 different bookplates of which one loosely inserted). A very good, wide-margined copy. ----

PMM 169; Norman 2120; Wing T-3598; Garrison-M. 153; NLM/Krivatsy 12028; Nissen ZBI 4194. - FIRST EDITION of the first anatomical study of a great ape and to identify the chimpanzee as the link directly below mankind in the 'Great Chain of Being': "'Tis a true Remark, which we cannot make without Admiration; That from Minerals, to Plants; from Plants, to Animals; and from Animals, to Men; the Transition is so gradual, that there appears a very great Similitude, as well between the meanest Plant, and some Minerals; as between the lowest Rank of men, and the highest kind of Animals. The Animal of which I have given the Anatomy, coming nearest to mankind; seems the Nexus of the Animal and Rational" (Tyson, from The Epistle Dedicatory). This represents the first formulation of the idea of the 'missing link', which was more fully explored by the works of Huxley and Darwin in the 19th century. The 'typical pygmy' which Tyson placed between man and monkey was in fact an African chimpanzee.
"The earliest important study in comparative morphology ... he established a new family of anthropoid apes standing between monkey and man ... Tyson did not foresee the theory of evolution; but his work contributed substantially to its formulation and in that sense he was a forerunner of Blumenbach, Buffon, Huxley and Darwin" (PMM).
*Joshua Brookes (1761-1833). "Brookes taught anatomy to approximately 7000 students over a forty-year period... [and was] generally esteemed to be among the best teachers of practical anatomy in London, having the benefit of original specimens rather than pictures" (ODNB). He assembled a vast collection of specimens of human and comparative anatomy, which he displayed in the two upper floors of his house in Blenheim Street. The collection, dispersed in sales in 1828 and 1830, was considered as second only to that of John Hunter.

Price: 12,000 €  *  convert currency