DIONIS, PIERRE.

L'Anatomie de L'Homme, suivant la Circulation du Sang, & les dernieres découvertes, démosnstrée au Jardin Royal.

Paris, Laurent d'Houry, 1690. Contemp. full mottled calf. Richly gilt spine in 6 compartments, raised bands. Titlelabel with gilt lettering. Wear to top of spine. A small nick in leather in middle of front hinge. Fronthinge weakening, but still holding. Engraved portrait. (24),550,(14) pp. and 19 engraved anatomical plates. A few brownspots. Some scattered inkspots. A faint dampstain on foot of portrait. A dampstain to lower right corners of the last 5 leaves. Last leaf and errata-leaf repaired in right margin, no loss of letters.

Scarce first edition of this surgical textbook that opened a new era in which French surgical teaching dominated Europe.
"A native of Paris, Dionis studied surgery at the Confraternity of St. Côme and was first surgeon to Queen Maria Theresa until her death in 1684. When Louis XIV established a demonstratorship in operative surgery at the Jardin Royal in the early 1670s, he appointed Dionis to the position. Dionis remained there until 1680 when he returned to serve as surgeon to the entire royal house. The present work was first published in French in 1690 and soon became a standard work and popular textbook on the subject. It remained in print for over half a century and was even translated into Chinese. The illustrations, limited in number, are rather unimpressive copperplates." (Heirs of Hippocrates, 649 (Latin edition of 1696)). - Wellcome II, 471.

Order-nr.: 51445