The History of the Absorbent System, Part the First [all published]. Containing the Chylography, or Description of the Human Lacteal Vessels, with the Different Methods of Discovering, Injecting, and Preparing Them, and the Instruments Used for These Purposes. LARGE-PAPER COPY. INSCRIBED BY SHELDON.

SHELDON, John

Published by London: Printed for the Author, 1784., 1784

About this Item

6 leaves, vi, 52 pp, 1 leaf [errata]; 6 folding plates, each with explanatory text leaf. Folio. Recent 1/4-leather and marbled boards (I can send a photo of the binding, upon request). PLATES ARE FOXED (see photos of plates II, IV, and V). A large, untrimmed copy. Very Good. First Edition. INSCRIBED BY JOHN SHELDON: "Mr. Relhan/ with the author's/ respectful compliments" (see photo). "The plates are magnificent" (Russell, British Anatomy 748). "William Hunter and his pupils, Hewson, Sheldon, and Cruikshank . . . were busily engaged, during the years 1768 to 1786, in a series of elaborate dissections to show the anatomy of the lymphatic system, and their researches led them to some interesting experiments in embalming. Sheldon proved himself a master in this gruesome art, and in some respects was superior, I think, to William Hunter, his master, and to Cruikshank, his fellow-worker. . . . Sheldon was engaged in the experimental embalming of dead bodies. . . . When his mistress . . . died of phthisis, he embalmed her and kept her in his bedroom until the lady he afterwards married turned her out. She is now stowed away in a back room of the Royal College of Surgeons, where I often visit her" (Power, Selected Writings, pp. 239 and 274). Plate VI illustrates Sheldon's injecting tube, with a description of its use. Seller Inventory # 13780

Bibliographic Details

Title: The History of the Absorbent System, Part ...

Publisher: London: Printed for the Author, 1784.

Publication Date: 1784

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Very Good

Signed: Signed by Author(s)

Edition: 1st Edition