




Lot 19•
ANATOMY ALBINUS (BERNARD SIEGFRIED) Tables of the Skeleton and Muscles of the Human Body, 1749; Explanation, 1754 (2)
29 March 2023, 13:00 BST
London, KnightsbridgeSold for £4,845 inc. premium
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ANATOMY
ALBINUS (BERNARD SIEGFRIED) Tables of the Skeleton and Muscles of the Human Body; A Compleat System of the Blood-Vessels and Nerves, 2 works bound in 1 vol., first edition in English, one vignette title-page only (of 3), 49 engraved plates after Jan Wandelaar (of 51, lacks 2 from "Nerves"), near contemporary calf-backed boards, worn with some loss to spine [Russell 6; cf. Garrison-Morton 399, first edition], large folio (680 x 500mm.), Printed by H. Woodfall, for John and Paul Knapton, 1749; The Explanation of Albinus's Anatomical Figures of the Human Skeleton and Muscles; A Compleat System of the Blood-Vessels and Nerves, 2 parts in 1 vol., lacks "explanation" leaf (supplied at end in early manuscript facsimile) and advertisement at end, occasional light spotting, contemporary non-uniform half calf over marbled boards, worn with some losses to spine and corners [Russell 8], 4to, John and Paul Knapton, 1754 (2)
Footnotes
First edition in English of one of "the most artistically perfect of anatomical atlases.. Wandelaar placed his skeletons and musclemen against lush ornamental backgrounds to give them the illusion of vitality, using contrasts of mass and light to produce a three-dimensional effect. The most famous plate in the atlas depicts a skeletal figure standing in front of an enormous grazing rhinoceros, sketched by Wandelaar from the specimen which had arrived at Amsterdam zoo in 1741" (Norman).