Nicolai Stenonis - Elementorum Myologiae Specimen [Prima edizione completa di 7 tavole] - 1667

NICOLAI STENONIS – Elementorum Myologiae Specimen – Florence, Stella, 1667. First edition.
A landmark work in the history of science, in which Niels Stensen (Stenone) revolutionizes muscle anatomy and lays the foundations of modern physiology, paleontology, and geology. One of the greatest rarities of the scientific 17th century, sought after by libraries and universal collections.

The volume introduces a new understanding of muscle structure: Stenone demonstrates that muscle does not change volume during contraction, only shape, anticipating the modern idea of the muscle fiber. This study leads him to define for the first time a geometric model of the muscle, illustrated in the famous folded plates, all present and complete here (7 plates), an element extremely rare among surviving specimens.

The work also contains two fundamental treatises:
The dissection of the shark's head (Canis carchariae dissectum caput), in which Stenone recognizes similarities between the shark's teeth and the 'glossopetrae', refuting medieval beliefs.
The study of glossopetrae, considered the text that marks the birth of modern paleontology: Steno was the first to recognize that these specimens are not 'natural' phenomena but fossil remains of real organisms.

Text therefore fundamental for three disciplines: anatomy, physiology, and earth sciences.

Completeness and rarity: the specimen is complete with text and all 7 folded engraved plates, which are often missing and are responsible for the high valuations of the work. Currently, a copy on the market missing one plate is for sale at $5,500; complete copies are also offered for over €10,000. The specimen offered here, although in need of restoration, fully preserves the iconographic apparatus.

Conditions: binding in highly worn marbled cardboard, with a partially missing spine. The body of the book is loose, with cracked sewing supports: the first and last pages are partially detached but present. The plates are well printed, complete, and in good condition; slight browning and moisture marks at the margins. The paper is generally fresh, with wide margins, and no loss of text. Antique handwritten notes on the endpapers and title page. The interior will be solid once restored.

A work of enormous scientific and historical importance, extremely rare on the market in complete sets of plates. Ideal for collectors of the history of medicine, 17th-century science, and fundamental books in the development of modern scientific thought.