Spicilegium anatomicum - photo 1
Spicilegium anatomicum - photo 2
Spicilegium anatomicum - photo 3

Spicilegium anatomicum

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$ 1 512
Auction dateClassic
19.10.2023 10:00UTC -04:00
Auctioneer
CHRISTIE'S
Event location
USA, New York
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ID 1032719
Lot 67 | Spicilegium anatomicum
Theodor KERCKRING (1638-1693). Spicilegium anatomicum, continens observationum anatomicarum rariorum centuriam unam: nec non osteogeniam foetuum. Amsterdam: Andreas Frisius, 1670 [bound with:] Anthropogeniae ichnographia sive conformatio foetus ab ovo usque ossificationis principia. Amsterdam: Andreas Frisius, 1671.

Fresh and tall first edition of Kerckring's innovative illustrated works on fetal anatomy, bones, and development. Kerckring’s most important and far-reaching contribution, presented in part two of the Spicilegium anatomicum, was his discovery that the fetal skeleton develops through the transformation of membrane and cartilage into bone. He "was the first to describe ‘Kerckring’s ossicle,’ an occasional center of ossification in the occipital bone'" (Norman); his name is also preserved in the "valves of Kerckring," a part of the small intestine previously described by Falloppio. Published with a separate title page, but continuing the pagination of the Spicilegium, Osteogenia foetuum contains his "important investigations on the development of the foetal bones" (Garrison and Morton).

The illustrations of fetal skeletons clearly show the influence of his friend of colleague Frederik Ruysch—indeed, some of them are of specimens from Ruysch's own collection. The striking engraved title by Abraham Bloteling depicts a woman personifying Anatomia flaying a suspended cadaver. Children at her feet offer her ears of grain, a reference to the title of the publication: "An Anatomical Gleaning." Garrison and Morton 383; Heirs of Hippocrates 632; Krivatsy 6326; Norman 1209 and 1210; Waller 5270; Wellcome III p 386; Krivatsy 6345; Norman 1210; Waller 5268; Wellcome III p. 387.

Two works bound in one, quarto (229 x 185mm). I: Engraved additional title, title page and part title to Osteogenia foetuum with engraved vignette, 9 folding engraved plates, engraved illustrations of various sizes in text (one folding plate with small repair to blank area). II: Title with engraved vignette and full-page engraved illustration on verso of text leaf (some light marginal toning). Contemporary vellum, title in ink on spine (a little stained, one corner showing). Provenance: "ex libris Joannis" (inscription dated 6 May 1725) – "Baptista Peeters, med" (inscription dated 1779) – Louis Dubacq, "Pharmacien de 1er classe" (stamp on flyleaf).
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