Physiologische und anatomische Abhandlungen von einer ungewohnlichen Erweiterung des Herzens und denen Spannadern des Angesichts aus den Nachrichten der Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin

Berlin: Bey Ambros. Haude und Johann Carl Spener, 1755. FIRST GERMAN EDITION, previously published in French (see below). Hardcover. Fine. With 3 folding plates engraved by Nikolaus Friedrich Sauerbrey of the Prussian Academy of Sciences: Plate 1 illustrates the veins on the right side of the face, head, and neck, accompanied by over 310 annotations (inscribed: '[...] sculp. Mem: de l'Acad Tom vii'); Plates 2 and 3 show both sides of the human heart, including the superior vena cava, aorta and pulmonary artery (both images inscribed: 'Fig. I. Ad pag 182. Sperling ad Nat delin. Memoires de l'Acad. Tom VI, Sauerbrey Sculps'). Woodcut initials, head and tailpieces. Pasteboards, title label to spine; mild chipping to outer joints, minor restorations to binding, corners bumped. All edges sprinkled in red. A particularly fresh, clean and crisp copy in its contemporary binding. This work was first published in two parts, both in French (translated from Meckel's Latin original) in the journal of the Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, "Histoire de l'Académie royale des sciences et des belles lettres", Vol. VI (1752), p. 63 ff., and Vol. II (1753), p. 19 ff.

This 'Physiological and anatomical treatise' describing a particular cardiovascular condition, that is, the unusual enlargement of the heart and its link with blood pressure in the face, is the second published work of Johann Friedrich Meckel the Elder. The book is illustrated with three superb folding engravings.

J. F. Meckel, the elder, born in Wetzlar, Germany, studied medicine at Göttingen and later at the University of Berlin. His dissertation on the fifth cranial nerve included the first description of the arachnoid space investing the trigeminal nerve into the middle fossa. After qualifying in 1748 for the degree of MD, he returned to Berlin, became prosector in anatomy, and taught obstetrics at the Charité. In 1751, he obtained the rank of professor of anatomy, botany, and obstetrics but devoted most of his time to anatomical studies. His mentors included the eminent Albrecht von Haller (1708- 1777) and August Buddaeus (1695-1753). Meckel influenced the work of Giovanni Morgagni (1682-1771) and the Scottish anatomist Alexander Monro II (1733-1817).

7 copies located in North America: NLM, Harvard, New York Academy of Medicine, Kentucky, Northwestern, Thomas Jefferson University, and University of Chicago.