Bartholomeo Eustachius - Tabulae anatomicae - 1722

[MEDICINE, ANATOMY, HUMAN BODY]

Bartholomaeus Eustachius

Tabulae Anatomicae clarissimi viri Bartholomaei Eustachii, quas è tenebris tandem vindicatas et Clementis XI Pont. Max. munificentia dono acceptas praefatione notisque illustravit ac ipso suae Bibliothecae dedicationis die publici juris fecit Jo. Maria Lancisius.

With 46 full-page engraved plates and the rare dedication page to Boerhaave and Albinus!

37 cm x 23 cm

Amsterdam, R. & G. Wetstein, MDCCXXII (1722).

Rare Amsterdam 1722 edition of the celebrated Tabulae anatomicae by Bartholomaeus Eustachius, one of the most important anatomical atlases of the Renaissance. This edition follows the Roman editio princeps of 1714, but was printed in Amsterdam by the renowned publishers R. & G. Wetstein for the Northern European market and is among the most desirable early reissues.

Edited by Giovanni Maria Lancisi (physician to Pope Clement XI), who rediscovered the long‑lost plates in the papers of Eustachius and his pupil Pier Matteo Pini and supplied the work with an extensive preface and notes.

The famous copperplates are by Giulio de’ Musi after the original anatomical drawings of Bartholomaeus Eustachius and Pier Matteo Pini. They show in exceptional detail the kidneys, vascular and nervous systems, heart, ear (with the Eustachian tube), teeth, spine and musculature. The characteristic coordinate grids of the plates are regarded as an early precursor of modern anatomical reference systems.

The first page after the title is an impressive dedicatory page to Herman Boerhaave and Bernhard Siegfried Albinus, the leading anatomists and teachers of the Leiden school, praising Eustachius as an “incomparabilem sane virum” – a fine contemporary witness to the reception of this work in the early 18th century.

Condition
Good antiquarian condition. Paper age‑toned as usual, with occasional small foxing spots and light marginal browning. Title with library stamps (Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland), as visible in the photos. Text and plates generally clean, the plates are in very good condition. This book contains 46 (of 47; plate 9 is missing) full-page engraved plates. New full leather binding.

A complete and highly desirable copy of the Wetstein 1722 edition, with attractive provenance and the rare dedication page to Boerhaave and Albinus – a landmark in the history of anatomy and a highlight for any collection of the history of medicine.