ANATOMIE PATHOLOGIQUE DU CORPS HUMAIN

Paris: J. B. Baillière, 1829-42. FIRST EDITION IN BOOK FORM, bound from the original parts. 486 x 337 mm. (19 1/8 x 13 1/4"). Two volumes..
Contemporary marbled boards backed with recent calf, raised bands flanked by gilt fillets, black morocco labels. WITH 231 LITHOGRAPHED PLATES (two folding) OF WHICH 167 ARE IN COLOR (many heightened with gum arabic), later tissue guards. Garrison & Morton 2286; "Heirs of Hippocrates" 863; Norman 538. ◆Corners and edges somewhat rubbed with some loss of paper (as expected with large picture books), text with variable foxing (persistent, but usually light, never severe, and principally confined to margins), a handful of black & white plates with moderate spotting, additional small defects internally, otherwise quite a commendable copy of a book always found foxed, browned, and worse, our volumes solidly restored now, the spines unworn, and the text and remarkable plates with no fatal condition problems.

Garrison & Morton declares that "the fine illustrations of gross anatomy [seen here] make this one of the greatest works of its kind." The inaugural professor of pathological anatomy in Paris, anatomist and pathologist Jean Cruveilhier (1791-1874) provided in the present work the first description of multiple sclerosis and an early identification of Cruveilhier's palsy. Hypertrophic pyloric stenosis and ulceration of the stomach due to hyperacidity were also detailed for the first time here. In "Doctrine of the Nerves," John A. Spillane called Cruveilhier "the prince of physician-pathologists" and this work a "treasure chest of neurology." "Heirs of Hippocrates" notes that "this atlas contains some of the finest illustrations of gross pathology ever made." The plates were done by anatomical illustrator Antoine Chazal (1793-1854), a French painter, engraver, art teacher at Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, and great-uncle of Paul Gauguin. This work was originally issued in 40 parts at nine francs each over a period of 13 years. The parts were ultimately bound together into two volumes, as here, in a print run that, based upon the subscriber's list, was likely just more than 400 copies. While no stranger to auction rooms, the book--a practical reference book heavily used by professionals--is all too often found with missing plates and/or parts, and in condition that leaves much to be desired..