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GEORGE STUBBS (1724-1806).
The Anatomy of the Horse. Including A particular Description of the Bones, Cartilages, Muscles, Fascias, Ligaments, Nerves, Arteries, Veins, and Glands. London: J. Purser for the Author, 1766. Oblong broadsheet (468 x 574mm). Errata leaf pasted on verso of 'To the Reader' leaf. 24 etched plates by Stubbs. (Some general light browning and spotting, old vertical creases to title and two text leaves [a and R], marginal tears to title and five other text leaves. Modern old-style half diced russia, titled in gilt on the spine.
FIRST EDITION, EARLY ISSUE. A LANDMARK WORK IN THE STUDY OF EQUINE ANATOMY, and one of a number of books which can be said to have "revolutionised men's understanding of the natural world" (Lennox-Boyd). Ray describes the etchings as having a "fine exactness and austere beauty" that "give them a timeless beauty". Stubbs executed the drawings over the course of 18 months, keeping each carcass in his studio for as long as six or seven weeks. He taught himself to etch in order to finish the work, as he had been unable to find an engraver.
'The work appeared in 1766, and remained the standard authority on the subject for nearly a century... In 1771, ...Camper... whose work on the relationship of art to anatomy had won international recognition, wrote to Stubbs comparing his work with that of the great Albinus, whose Tabulae Sceleti et Musculorum Corporis Humani had appeared in 1749. It is entirely appropriate to rank The Anatomy of the Horse with Thomas Pennant's British Zoology (1770) and Gilbert White's Natural History of Selbourne (1789), among the most important of the several works of this time which, by emphasising the importance of precise systematic observation, revolutionised men's understanding of the natural world" (Lennox-Boyd). Dingley 600; Eales (Cole) 1840; Huth p.42; Lennox-Boyd pp.165-188; Mellon Books on Horse and Horsemanship 57; Nissen ZBI 4027; Ray p.6; Sparrow pp.165-188.
The Anatomy of the Horse. Including A particular Description of the Bones, Cartilages, Muscles, Fascias, Ligaments, Nerves, Arteries, Veins, and Glands. London: J. Purser for the Author, 1766. Oblong broadsheet (468 x 574mm). Errata leaf pasted on verso of 'To the Reader' leaf. 24 etched plates by Stubbs. (Some general light browning and spotting, old vertical creases to title and two text leaves [a and R], marginal tears to title and five other text leaves. Modern old-style half diced russia, titled in gilt on the spine.
FIRST EDITION, EARLY ISSUE. A LANDMARK WORK IN THE STUDY OF EQUINE ANATOMY, and one of a number of books which can be said to have "revolutionised men's understanding of the natural world" (Lennox-Boyd). Ray describes the etchings as having a "fine exactness and austere beauty" that "give them a timeless beauty". Stubbs executed the drawings over the course of 18 months, keeping each carcass in his studio for as long as six or seven weeks. He taught himself to etch in order to finish the work, as he had been unable to find an engraver.
'The work appeared in 1766, and remained the standard authority on the subject for nearly a century... In 1771, ...Camper... whose work on the relationship of art to anatomy had won international recognition, wrote to Stubbs comparing his work with that of the great Albinus, whose Tabulae Sceleti et Musculorum Corporis Humani had appeared in 1749. It is entirely appropriate to rank The Anatomy of the Horse with Thomas Pennant's British Zoology (1770) and Gilbert White's Natural History of Selbourne (1789), among the most important of the several works of this time which, by emphasising the importance of precise systematic observation, revolutionised men's understanding of the natural world" (Lennox-Boyd). Dingley 600; Eales (Cole) 1840; Huth p.42; Lennox-Boyd pp.165-188; Mellon Books on Horse and Horsemanship 57; Nissen ZBI 4027; Ray p.6; Sparrow pp.165-188.