Cartesio - Tractatus de Homine et de Formation Foetus - 1686

Cartesius (René Descartes). Tractatus de Homine et de Formation Foetus. Amsterdam Ex Typographia Blaviana 1686. Seventeenth-century edition of the fundamental work on the physiology of the human body by the famous French scientist and philosopher. The work represents the first systematic treatise on human physiology and developmental biology, describing the human body as a complex biological machine that enables the functioning of the organs, the circulation of blood, the movement of the heart and the nervous system, and explaining the development and birth of the fetus based on physical laws and mechanical movements. Unbound but well stitched. Frontispiece in red and black. Printer's mark engraved on the frontispiece. Illustrated by numerous engravings in the text and full-page. Dimensions 20x16, pag. 76nn, 239. Excellent condition.