Milestones of Science Books

VIEUSSENS, Raymond de.

Neurographia universalis. Hoc est, omnium corporis humani nervorum, simul & cerebri, medullaeque spinalis descriptio anatomica. Cum ipsorum actione et usu, physico discursu explicatis. Editio nova.

Lyon: Jean Certe, 1685.

1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. Item #003240

Folio (345 x 227 mm). [16], 252, [2] pp., including half-title, title printed in red and black, engraved frontispiece portrait by Mathieu Boulanger, armorial plate, 22 engraved plates (15 folding) and 8 text engravings, numbered I-XXX in a single series. Contemporary sprinkled vellum, spine with 6 raised bands and gilt-lettered red morocco label (extremities slightly rubbed, hinges partially cracked at head and foot, corners bumped and worn, boards bent outwards, first flyleaf removed). Text somewhat browned, occasional minor spotting and dust-soiling, a few short tears at folds of plates, plate facing p.153 with long repaired tear (without loss), occasional short clean tears at margins of text leaves, former bookplate removed from pastedown. Very good copy. ----

Norman 2153; Heirs of Hippocrates 641; DSB XIV, p.25-26; Parkinson-L. 2522; Garrison-M. 1379; NLM/Krivatsy 12403; Waller 9961; Osler 4171. - First edition, second issue (with imprint date 1685) of the most thoroughly illustrated monograph of the nervous system of the 17th-century, and an important contribution to the study of the brain and spinal cord. Vieussens was chief physician of the Hôtel-Dieu de St. Eloi for over 40 years, a post that permitted him to perform a large number of autopsies. His research into the central nervous system was "of great importance. In Neurographia universalis he sought to continue the work of Thomas Willis, which he greatly admired. The first to make good use of Stends suggestion that the white substance in the brain should be studied by tracing the paths of its fibers, Vieussens described the olivary nucleus and the centrum semiovale; the latter still bears his name. Moreover, his description of the fine structure of the cerebellum, including the discovery of the dentate nuclei, surpassed all previous publications on the subject. The most original part of the work concerns the paths of the peripheral nerves" (DSB). The fine engraved illustrations of his neurological treatise include two large folding plates of the nervous system (plates 28-29), printed from two impressions of a single plate, of which one in reverse, presumably printed through an offset technique: the figure's left side (on the viewer's right), is an exact reverse image of the right side, including the captions and key-numbers. Both the scarcer first issue and the second issue, in which the title is dated 1685, are misleadingly described as editio nova on the title. Our copy includes the rare engraved plate of the coat of arms which is missing in the Norman copy. ---- Visit our website to see more images!

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