Primitiae anatomicae de humani corporis ossibus. BOUND WITH: Succenturiatus anatomicus continens commentaria in Hippocratem de capitis vulneribus. ISSUED WITH: A. Cornelii Celsi de re medica liber octavus by Paaw, Petrus - 1616

Leiden: Justus van Colster, 1616. First Editions. Very good. Small 4to. 3 works in one vol. I: [16], 188 pp. + 1 (of 2) ff., lacking final leaf with dedicatory verse, but with the Errata leaf (neither of which are present in copies at Countway and elsewhere). Title-page woodcut after Durer's Dance of Death series. II: [22] (of 24, lacking title-page with author's portrait on verso), 270 pp. III: [2], 128 pp. Some plates with old repairs. Bound in contemporary polished Dutch vellum, yapp edges (textblock detached from vellum casing at end), spine lettered in early MS. All first editions. Our copy, while not perfect, is distinguished by having the spectacular folding Theatrum Anatomicum plate, engraved by Andries Jacobsz Stock after a painting by Jacob de Ghein, not present in all copies. This celebrated illustration depicts an anatomical demonstration by Paaw surrounded by two dogs and ca. 50 men: knights, savants, peasants, and burghers, who can be differentiated by their clothes. Above all stands a skeleton holding a banner which bears this inscription: Mors ultima linea rerum. The illustration was based on that which appears in Vesalius' Fabrica (Paaw was a great champion of Vesalius and published his own edition of the Epitome in 1616). Ad 1: "First fruits of the anatomy of human bones," Paaw's principle work, ILLUSTRATED WITH 25 FINE ENGRAVINGS in the text. In this work appear several important discoveries in Craniology and Osteology. Ad 2: The cranium / wounds of the head, containing Paaw's commentaries on the books of Hippocrates (De capitis vulneribus) and Celsus (De re medicina) concerning wounds of the head, ILLUSTRATED WITH 58 FINE ENGRAVINGS in the text, some of the most remarkable being instruments of trepanation. The first is in Greek and Latin, the second in Latin only.

This Sammelband contains 5 folding plates (including the Anatomical Theatre) which are for the most part bound in surprising places throughout the Sammelband. While it is lacking the child skeleton plate (opposite p. 40 in the first work), it contains a duplicate of the dissected cranium plate (bound opposite p. 48 in the Primitiae and p. 48 in the Succenturiatus). In themselves the two publications themselves are bibliographically complex, particularly when bound together at an early date, as here: the number of plates seems to vary from copy to copy, causing problems for 20th- and 21st-century bibliographers. We have examined our copy alongside several others: it seems to contain the requisite plates that were issued by the publisher for the two works, save the aforementioned duplicate plate, and the plate which is lacking. It is not clear why the final leaf of the Primitiae and the title-page for the Succenturiatus are no longer present.

In completely unrestored state. With faults, and priced accordingly.

Heirs of Hippocrates 401. Krivatsy 8697.