Zootomia democritaea: id est, Anatome Generalis totius animantium Opificii, libris quinque....
Eur 5,000 / USD 5,500
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Noribergae, Literis Endterianis, 1645. 4to (185 x 140mm). pp. (24), including an engraved frontispiece and 2 engraved portraits, 408, (34), and many woodcuts in the text. Contemporary calf, a bit rubbed.
The earliest comprehensive treatise on comparative anatomy
"The earliest comprehensive treatise on comparative anatomy" (Cole p. 132). "It is the first printed book to deal exclusively with Zootomy. It is exceedingly rare" (Wood p. 564). The beautifully engraved frontispiece illustrates the meeting of Democritus and Hippocrates. "The first crude attempt at comparative anatomy was made by Marco Aurelio Severino (1580-1656), whose 'Zootomia Democritae' (1645), antedates Malpighi, Leeuwenhoek, and Swammerdam. The woodcuts show the viscera of birds, fishes, and mammals, with some phases of their development, and slight as are the comparative features, the book is the only thing of its kind before the 18th century" (Garsison p. 252). Severino corresponded with many important physicians and scientists such as William Harvey, John Houghton, Thomas Bartholin, Ole Worms, Volckamer and J.Vesling.
The second portrait is a beautifully engraved portrait of Severino, the first portrait shows Giulio Iasolino, a professor of Napels. Some browning.
Provenance: Bookplate of South Library (1860), and small blind stamp on first 3 leaves.
Wood p. 564; Nissen ZBI,