BAILLIE, Matthew.. - Morbid anatomy... - 1803

BAILLIE, Matthew. A series of engravings, accompanied with explanations, which are intended to illustrate the morbid anatomy of some of the most important parts of the human body. London: W. Bulmer & Co. for J. Johnson, and G. and W. Nicol, 1803.

Folio (34 x 26 cm): ii, 228 pages, 73 unnumbered leaves of plates after watercolour drawings by William Clift (1775-1849).

FIRST COLLECTED EDITION. Although technically an atlas for Baillie's Morbid Anatomy, the work contains extensive descriptive text for each plate and may be appreciated separately. Baillie's A Series of Engravings... was the first atlas of pathological illustrations. The work was originally published in ten parts from 1799-1802. The complete work, with additional half-title, dedication, and index, was issued in 1803; for this edition, the first part was reprinted in slightly larger type, so that some lines have fewer words and some paragraphs more lines than in the first printing. The plates were prepared from watercolors by William Clift, John Hunter's amanuensis and artist-in-residence, who became the first curator of the Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons. Clift's personal copy, containing many of the original watercolors, is preserved at the University of Melbourne.

The work is widely regarded as the first systematic atlas of pathological anatomy, illustrating diseased organs and tissues at a time when pathology was emerging as a scientific discipline. It was intended to accompany Baillie's earlier work, Morbid Anatomy (1793), but contains substantial explanatory text of its own.

The remaining watercolors are at the Royal College of Physicians. Garrison-Morton 2282; Goldschmid, pp. 87-88; Grolier Medicine 51B; NLM/Blake p. 27; Norman 109; Wellcome II, p. 87.

A copy sold at Christie's for USD 8,050. Another for 4200 GBP. Some general toning to text sheets but a very good copy.