79 1749 Anatomy Ruysch F
- Lacks two plates (from the 1st and 3rd part); sl. browned/ yellowed; library stamp on title; hinges broken but holding well on cords. Paper ticket at foot of spine; binding chafed.
= Provenance: from the collection of G.A. Lindeboom w. his bookplate on upper pastedown. In total 10 parts were published with 42 plates by C. Huijberts, which include three large fold. plates which are striking anatomical still-lifes. BMN II, p.98; Wellcome IV, p.599; Hagelin p.96ff; DSB 12, p.41. "Ruysch' "cabinet" or museum was described as a perfect necropolis, all the inhebitants of which were asleep and ready to speak as soon as they were reawakened", and attracted many visitors. (...) His capacity for keen observation and his fabulous skill in injection made him the founder of eighteenth century anatomy. The illustrations are of a very high artistic merit and could almost be regarded as being precursors of surrealist art (...)" (Hagelin). "He gave private courses in anatomy to foreign students and devoted himself throughout his life to making anatomical preparations. (...) Ruysch drew on his art not only for strict medical science but also for flights of fancy. He often made up preparations in a rather romantic, dramatic way. He prepared the corpse of a child as if it were alive so that Peter the Great was inclined to kiss it. (...) Ruysch displayed these preparations in several small rented houses in Amsterdam and this "cabinet" became a major attraction for foreign visitors. (...) In 1715 he announced the sale of his collection. But no buyers presented themselves before 1717, when Peter the Great bought it for 30.000 guilders. It was carefully packed and transported by boat to Russia. The tale that the collection was destroyed by sailers drinking the embalming fluid seems not to be true, or at least only partly so." (DSB).