Classic work on animal generation, 'the most important study of the subject to appear during the 17th century' (Garrison}

HARVEY, William. Exercitationes de generatione animalium.

Published by [Amsterdam, Elzevier] for London, Octavian Pulleyn,, 1651

About this Item

Harvey, William. Exercitationes de generatione animalium. Quibus accedunt quaedam De Partu:de Membranis ac humoribus Uteri & de Conceptione. [Amsterdam, Lowjis Elzevier] 1651 (printed for Octavian Pulleyn, London, 1651. 8vo. 568 + [5]p. With engraved title; printed title with printer s device. Contemporary vellum. First continental edition of this classic work on animal generation, the most important study of the subject to appear during the 17th century . The chapter on midwifery is the first work on that subject to be written by an Englishman (Garrison & Morton). The original London edition of 1651 proved so popular that it was reprinted three times in the same year. The present copy is one of a number of the 2nd edition, printed by Elzevier, which were taken by Octavius Pulleyn and issued in London with his own imprint on the engraved title. The De generatione represents the most significant development in embryology since Aristotle and is the first to challenge the prevalent theory of preformation of the foetus. Harvey maintained that all animals develop from eggs, basing his belief on his own observations of all aspects of reproduction in a large number of ovipara and vivipara, with particular reference to domestic fowls and deer. Although subsequent research has undermined many of his claims, his views nonetheless constituted a considerable advance over his contemporaries, and his emphasis on the egg instigated the long search which eventually led in 1827 to Baer s discovery of the mammalian ovum. Furthermore, the chapter on midwifery included in the present work was the first treatise on that subject by an Englishman. Harvey (1578-1657), physician, anatomist, physiologist and embryologist, studied at Cambridge before gaining his doctorate at the University of Padua. He was appointed physician to James I, and later to Charles I who presented him with deer from the royal parks for use in his researches. The engraved title shows Jove opening an egg inscribed with the motto Ex ovo omnia from which emerge a variety of creatures (deer, snake, fish, insect, spider and a child). Cushing H158. Keynes H36. Krivatsy 5344. Osler 712. Russell, British Anatomy 1525-1800, 376. Wellcome III, 220. Willems 1129.

Seller Inventory # ABE-1413422693

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Classic work on animal generation, 'the most important study of the subject to appear during the 17th century' (Garrison}
• Publisher: [Amsterdam, Elzevier] for London, Octavian Pulleyn,
• Publication Date: 1651
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 2nd Edition
• Condition: Very Good