Neurographia universalis - photo 1

Neurographia universalis

Lot 52
02.02.2024 10:00UTC -05:00
Classic
Starting price
$ 4 000
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUSA, New York
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The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 1129669
Lot 52 | Neurographia universalis
Estimate value
$ 5 000 – 8 000
VIEUSSENS, Raymond (1641-1715). Neurographia universalis: Hoc est, omnium corporis humani nervorum, simul & cerebri, medullæque spinalis descriptio anatomica. Lyons: Jean Certe, 1685.

First edition of the first detailed anatomy of the brain and nervous system, title in second state. Vieussens’ research on the nervous system is of great importance. In the present work, he sought to continue the work of Thomas Willis, which he greatly admired. “The first to make good use of Steno’s suggestion that the white substance in the brain should be studied by tracing the path of its fibers, Vieussens described the olivary nucleus and the centrum semiovale: the latter still bears his name. Moreover, his description of the fine structure of the cerebellum, including the discovery of the dentate nuclei, surpassed all previous publications on the subject. The most original part of the work concerns the paths of the peripheral nerves” (DSB). Vieussens presented a “detailed study of the nervous system that was regarded as the best account written in the seventeenth century … [he] was an untiring dissector, and his work revealed the structure and arrangement of the nervous system better than that of any predecessor, in addition to recording new and correct observations. For example, he showed that the spinal cord was an independent structure, not merely an appendage of the brain, and he first defined the centrum ovale. The book [Neurographia universalis], which is divided into three parts, discusses the brain, the spinal cord, and the nerves. It was based on 500 dissections of post-mortem material. The words ‘Editio nova’ on the title page indicate a new and original publication rather than a ‘new edition’ in the modern sense” (Le Fanu).

There are two states of the title-page for this work, one dated 1684 and the other 1685. The latter is not a cancel title but an on-press change of date with the typography otherwise unchanged except slight shifts in lockup, and the sheet is continuous with its conjugate a3. This probably reflects a publishing decision to have copies available with the approaching current year date. Plates XXVIII and XXIX are large engravings, each on six joined sheets. One half of each plate (on the vertical axis) is a counterproof second strike, creating a mirror image of the first strike. The images (and hence the letters and numbers keyed to the text) are reversed, but together give a complete bilaterally symmetrical depiction of the nerves on either side of the spine. The counterproof plates were, because of their nature, printed on a softer paper that could take the impression. Heirs of Hippocrates 641; Norman 2153; Le Fanu, Notable Medical Books p. 95. See Vergani et al., ‘Raymond de Vieussens and his contribution to the study of white matter anatomy,’ Journal of Neurosurgery 117 (2012), pp 1070-1075.

Folio (334 x 225mm). Half title, title printed in red and black. Title with engraved vignette, engraved author portrait by Martin Boulanger, engraved armorial of the dedicatee Pierre de Bonsy, 22 engraved plates, 16 of which folding; engravings in text (toning to some leaves). Contemporary Dutch blindstamped vellum with central cartouche, edges speckled red.
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