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 the neurosciences. 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 birth of modern neurology itself and to the description of the cerebral arterial system still known today as the “Circle of Willis.” A copy unfortunately lacking the 15 engraved plates expected, but preserved in its ancient parchment binding and complete with the text up to p. 240.

WHY TO BUY
FOUNDATION OF MODERN NEUROLOGY – A fundamental work in the history of brain and nervous system study, considered by Garrison-Morton as the most complete and accurate neurological study published up to that time.
FIRST OCTAVO EDITION – First octavo edition, London 1664, issued in the same year and a few weeks after the first quarto edition.
THE “CIRCLE OF WILLIS” – Willis understood the physiological importance of the arterial ring at the base of the brain, which 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 intended for the famous plates of the work.

MARKET VALUE
For this exemplar, first octavo edition of 1664, with preserved text but lacking the plates and with an era parchment binding marked by time, I would prudently estimate a commercial value in the range of €400–600.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Old full parchment binding, soft, with signs of use, abrasions, stains and yellowing; smooth spine with traces of ancient handwritten annotations. Visible sewing in some places and internal hinges weakened, but the volume remains structurally legible. In this exemplar the text terminates regularly at p. 240 with FINIS. Present are the Imprimatur leaf dated “Jan. 20. 1663,” the title page, the dedication and the Cerebri anatome text followed by Nervorum descriptio & usus. Headpieces, typographic ornaments and decorative initials are visible. THE 15 ANATOMICAL ENGRAVINGS ARE MISSING as provided by the edition. This defect must be considered substantial from bibliographic and collecting perspectives. Nonetheless 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 last leaves show more pronounced stains and oxidation. There are ancient provenance notes on the initial pages, one dated 1813. In ancient books with a multi-century history, some 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. Images are an integral part of the description. Pp. (2); 32nn; 240; (2).

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Cerebri anatome.
Londini, 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 nervous functions. His Oxford group included Richard Lower, Thomas Millington and Christopher Wren, in what has been defined as one of the earliest English examples of collaborative scientific research. Willis studied in detail the cranial nerves, the cerebellum, the striatum and the deep structures of the brain. He is also credited with one of the first accurate descriptions of the anastomotic arterial circuit at the base of the encephalon, later universally known as the Circle of Willis. Particularly innovative was also the functional distinction between brain and cerebellum: Willis linked the former to higher functions and the latter to involuntary and automatic processes. The work is traditionally associated with the introduction of the term “neurology” into 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 of English medicine in the 17th century and belonged to the Oxford scientific milieu from which the Royal Society would emerge. His work encompassed anatomy, physiology, pathology and clinical medicine. Willis sought to explain neurological phenomena primarily through the physical structure of the brain and nerves, gradually freeing himself from traditional speculative interpretations. Among his major works are Diatriab duae 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 presents a new typographic composition, with 240 pages instead of the 456 of the quarto edition. However, the 15 plates were cut from the same matrices and retain the numeric references to the quarto pagination, a bibliographically particularly interesting circumstance. The complete edition includes 15 folded plates. Wellcome furthermore notes that an unnumbered sheet related to a plate is inserted between pp. 56–57 and a second unnumbered plate between pp. 158–159. The work rapidly achieved wide continental diffusion and was reprinted and incorporated into later collected works of Willis.

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 quarto edition and the editorial history of the two 1664 issues.
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, 1 May 2014, lot 286: first octavo edition complete with 15 plates, sold for $3,750.
Christie’s, Highlights from the Royal Society of Medicine: first octavo edition of 1664, described as fundamental in the history of neurology and as an early example of scientific collaboration.