Peter Bichsel   Fine Books

Palfin (Palfyn or Palfijn), J(an). Anatomie chirurgicale ou description exacte des parties du corps humain, avec des remarques utiles aux chirurgiens dans la pratique de leur art. Nouvelle édition, revue, corrigée et augmentée de notes ... par B. Boudon. On y a joint les „Observations Anatomiques et Chirurgicales“ de (Frederik) Ruysch, tradtuites du Latin, et celles de (Michel) Brisseau. 4 parts in 2 vols.

With 56 engr. plates, several folding. SSIV, 514. Large 8vo. Contemp. full calf with gilt stamped armorial supralibros on all boards. – Paris, Guillaume Cavelier, 1734.

One of the most popular anatomcal books of the 18th century, present here in the second French edition, revised, corrected and considerably augmented compared to the first edition of 1726. Copy from the estate of the Kinsky family with their armorial supralibros on all boards and with later ms. inscription by Joachim Ramschissl „Munificentia Kynskyana“ (gift of Kinsky) on flyleaf. Jan Palfjin (1650–1730), on friendly terms with van Leeuwenhoek and Boerhaave, pupil of Ruysch, Bidloo and Albinus, professor of anatomy and surgery at Ghent, was known as an excellent teacher and as one of the most prominent obstetricians on the continent. He was the first proper surgeon in Belgium and the first to recognize the connections between anatomy and surgery (Hirsch). His anatomical work first appeared in 1718 as „Heelkonstige ontleeding van’s menschen lighaam“.Nearly all the plates depict anatomical details of the human body. – Spine ends chipped. Extremities rubbed. Light browing or occasional foxing. Clean in all. – Blake 336: Quérard, La France littéraire VI, 563; Hirsch IV, 467; cf. Waller 7061 and Lesky 488 (both quoting the 1753 ed.). – Best.-Nr. 24510