Willis - Cerebri Anatome - 1664

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THE BIRTH OF NEUROLOGY: WILLIS’S REVOLUTIONARY ANATOMY OF THE BRAIN, 1664
One of the absolute milestones in the history of medicine and neuroscience. Thomas Willis systematically describes the anatomy and function of the brain and nerves, introducing a new way of studying the nervous system through dissection, comparative observation, and correlation between structure and function. This is the famous first octavo edition of 1664, published in London a few weeks after the first quarto edition of the same year. The work is linked to the very birth of modern neurology and to the description of the cerebral arterial system still known today as the “Circle of Willis.” A copy unfortunately lacking the 15 etched plates, but preserved in its old parchment binding and complete with the text up to page 240.

WHY TO BUY
FOUNDATION OF MODERN NEUROLOGY – A fundamental work in the history of brain and nervous system study, regarded by Garrison-Morton as the most complete and accurate neurological study published up to that time.
FIRST OCTAVO EDITION – First octavo edition, London 1664, appearing in the same year and a few weeks after the first quarto edition.
THE “CIRCLE OF WILLIS” – Willis recognized the physiological importance of the arterial ring at the base of the brain that still bears his name today.
CHRISTOPHER WREN AND EARLY SCIENTIFIC COLLABORATION – The work arose from Willis’s collaboration with Richard Lower, Thomas Millington, and Christopher Wren; the latter produced numerous anatomical drawings destined for the famous plates of the work.

MARKET VALUE
For this specimen, first octavo edition of 1664, with text preserved but lacking the plates and with a time-worn parchment binding, I would prudently estimate a commercial value in the region of €400–600.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Ancient full parchment binding, worn with signs of use, abrasions, stains, and yellowing; plain spine with traces of old handwritten indications. Sewing visible in some spots and internal joints weakened, but the volume is still structurally legible. In this copy the text ends regularly at p. 240 with FINIS. Present are the Imprimatur leaf dated “Jan. 20. 1663,” the title page, the dedication, and the text of Cerebri anatome followed by Nervorum descriptio & usus. Headpieces, typographic ornaments, and decorated initials are visible. THE 15 ETCHED ANATOMICAL PLATES ARE MISSING from the edition. The defect must be considered substantial from bibliographic and collecting standpoints. However, the references to the plates remain in the text, such as “Tabula Nona” on p. 223. The paper is generally well preserved, with browning, some stains and foxing, small holes and signs of use. The later leaves show more pronounced stains and oxidation. There are ancient handwritten provenance notes on the initial pages, one dated 1813. In old books with a centuries-long history, a few imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. This listing contains AI Visualizations. Refer to the original photographs to verify the object’s actual condition. The images are an integral part of the description. Pp. (2); 32nn; 240; (2).

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Cerebri anatome.
London, Typis Tho. Roycroft, Impensis Jo. Martyn & Ja. Allestry apud insigne Campanæ in Cœmeterio D. Pauli, 1664.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
Cerebri anatome represents one of the foundational moments of modern neurology. Before Willis, the anatomical description of the brain was still heavily dependent on Galenic tradition and fragmentary observations. Willis instead organized a systematic program of dissections of the brain in humans and animals, seeking to relate anatomy, physiology, and nerve functions. His Oxford group included Richard Lower, Thomas Millington, and Christopher Wren, in what has been called one of the earliest examples of English collaborative scientific research. Willis studied the cranial nerves, the cerebellum, the striatum, and the deep structures of the brain in detail. He is also credited with one of the first correct descriptions of the arterial anastomotic circuit at the brain’s base, subsequently universally known as the Circle of Willis. The functional distinction between brain and cerebellum was particularly innovative: Willis linked the former to higher functions and the latter to involuntary and automatic processes. The work is also traditionally associated with the introduction of the term “neurology” into the medical lexicon. Christie's, citing Garrison-Morton, defines it as “the most complete and accurate account of the nervous system which had hitherto appeared.”

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Thomas Willis was born in 1621 and died in 1675. An English physician, he studied at Christ Church, Oxford, and became Sedleian Professor of Natural Philosophy. He was a central figure in 17th-century English medicine and belonged to the Oxford scientific circle from which the Royal Society would emerge. His activities encompassed anatomy, physiology, pathology, and clinical medicine. Willis sought to explain neurological phenomena primarily through the physical structure of the brain and nerves, progressively freeing himself from traditional speculative interpretations. Among his major works are Diatribae duo medico-philosophicae, Cerebri anatome, Pathologiae cerebri, and De anima brutorum.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
Cerebri anatome appeared in London in 1664 in two distinct typographic forms.
The first quarto edition, printed by James Flesher, comprises [40], 456 pages and the anatomical plates and is identified as Wing W2824 and ESTC R217172. A few weeks later the present first octavo edition was published, printed by Thomas Roycroft for John Martyn and James Allestry. Christie's explicitly notes that the quarto edition preceded the octavo by only a few weeks. The octavo edition features a new typographic composition, with 240 pages instead of the 456 of the quarto edition. The 15 plates, however, were cut from the same matrices and retain numerical references to the quarto edition’s pagination, a bibliographically particularly interesting circumstance. The complete edition comprises 15 folded plates. Wellcome also notes that an unnumbered leaf relating to a plate is inserted between pp. 56–57 and a second unnumbered plate between pp. 158–159. The work quickly achieved wide European distribution and was reprinted and incorporated into later collections of Willis’s works.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
Garrison-Morton, Medical Bibliography, 1378.
Wing, Short-Title Catalogue, W2823 – first edition in octavo.
ESTC, R24571 – first edition in octavo.
Russell, K. F., British Anatomy, 867.
Krivatsy, National Library of Medicine, 13010.
Waller, Bibliotheca Walleriana, 10314.
Osler, Bibliotheca Osleriana, 4249.
Norman Library of Science and Medicine, 2243, for the first edition in quarto and the editorial history of the two 1664 printings.
Grolier Club, One Hundred Books Famous in Medicine, n. 32A, for the original quarto edition.
Wellcome Collection, Cerebri anatome, London: Tho. Roycroft, 1664, 8vo: [30], 56, [2], 57–240 pp., 15 plates.
Swann Galleries, Early Printed, Medical & Scientific Books, May 1, 2014, lot 286: first octavo edition complete with the 15 plates, sold for $3,750.
Christie’s, Highlights from the Royal Society of Medicine: first octavo edition of 1664, described as foundational in the history of neurology and as an early example of scientific collaboration.