Compendium anatomicum nova methodo institutum : ubi ars ipsa capitibus & divisionibus ita illustratur, ut omnia uno quasi intuitu conspiciantur, & eofirmiùs idcirco retineantur ; figuris æneis illustrata

CASE, John

Published by Amstelodami [Amsterdam] Apud Georgium Gallet 1696

About this Item

A lovely copy of this first edition. Sadly, lacks the additional engraved title page (frontispiece)*. But has all seven of the plates as called for. Full contemporary leather binding with gilt decoration and label to the spine. Attractive binding. A little rubbing but overall in very good condition. The pages and plates are in excellent, good, clean condition. The title (printed in red and black with a vignette) has an ownership signature for Dr Menard dated 1700. There are a small number of neat inked marginalia in the same hand throughout the book. Text in Latin. John Case (c. 1660 1700) was an English astrologer and quack doctor. "Although there is no evidence that Case ever acquired a medical qualification, he nonetheless took up the title of Doctor and set up a practice in Ludgate selling medications to the unsuspecting, unquestioning public. The term quack in the Middle Ages meant "shouting", as these charlatans used to sell their wares at markets by shouting to gain attention. Case advertised profusely his remedies over decades and the elevated price of his elixirs and remedies hints at a steady and affluent clientele, many of whom were seeking a cure for the clap. Despite predicting the end of the world, owning an illusionist apparatus to scare people with images of their departed friends and selling unproven medicines, he rose briefly to fame thanks to his Compendium Anatomicum. In here Case defended the opinion of William Harvey s 1651 De Generatione Animalium (On the generation of animals), where the renowned physician and scientist established several theories that would set the stage for modern embryology and addressed many embryological issues including conception, embryogenesis, and spontaneous generation. Case s work was so superior to his other books that some doubted his authorship." (from Gonville & Caius, Cambs. Online archive). *There seems some confusion about collation, and the lack of the engraved title seems common. The Wellcome foundation copy also lacks this. As do several old auction offerings (eg. Sothebys 1984). However other copies offered at auction have had this engraved title. [Wellcome II, 308; Russell 121 appears to include the frontispiece in the number of plates given] [XII], 192, [ii]. pages. .

Seller Inventory # 4468

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Compendium anatomicum nova methodo institutum : ubi ars ipsa capitibus & divisionibus ita illustratur, ut omnia uno quasi intuitu conspiciantur, & eofirmiùs idcirco retineantur ; figuris æneis illustrata
• Publisher: Amstelodami [Amsterdam] Apud Georgium Gallet 1696
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition