Details
RAYNALDE, Thomas (fl. 1540-1551). The byrth of mankynd, otherwyse named the womans boke. [London]: T. Raynalde, 1552.
4° (168 x 122mm). Woodcut title border, tailpiece, and criblé initials. (Lacking first leaf of woodcut and 4 leaves of engraved figures, title a little frayed and strengthened at sides, browning at top margins, occasional spotting.) 18th-century tree calf (rebacked). Provenance: a few contemporary annotations -- G.H. Haslop (presentation inscription dated April 4th, 1836, presumably to:) -- Aylesbury General Infirmary Medical Library (stamps) -- purchased from Bernard Quaritch, London, 2 August 1949, $120.
Third edition of the first book on midwifery printed in England, which 'profoundly influenced the practice of the art of midwifery in these [British] isles for more than three centuries' (Ballantyne). The first edition (1540) was principally a translation of Rösslin's De partu hominis, but the second and subsequent editions are a thorough reworking of the text by the British physician Thomas Raynalde, possibly related but not identical to the eponymous printer of this edition. A midwife with outstretched index fingers is depicted in the title border. The illustrations, although referred to in the text, are often wanting, as here; they are also missing from the Edinburgh, Royal College of Physicians and the Wellcome Library copies. D'Arcy, '"The Birth of Mankind" ... a bibliographical study', The Library, 1927, pp.1-37; J.W. Ballantyne, The Byrth of Mankynde, London: 1907; STC 21155 (6 copies only); Luborsky & Ingram, English Illustrated Books, p.657; K.F. Russell, British Anatomy, no. 711; Wellcome 5511.
4° (168 x 122mm). Woodcut title border, tailpiece, and criblé initials. (Lacking first leaf of woodcut and 4 leaves of engraved figures, title a little frayed and strengthened at sides, browning at top margins, occasional spotting.) 18th-century tree calf (rebacked). Provenance: a few contemporary annotations -- G.H. Haslop (presentation inscription dated April 4th, 1836, presumably to:) -- Aylesbury General Infirmary Medical Library (stamps) -- purchased from Bernard Quaritch, London, 2 August 1949, $120.
Third edition of the first book on midwifery printed in England, which 'profoundly influenced the practice of the art of midwifery in these [British] isles for more than three centuries' (Ballantyne). The first edition (1540) was principally a translation of Rösslin's De partu hominis, but the second and subsequent editions are a thorough reworking of the text by the British physician Thomas Raynalde, possibly related but not identical to the eponymous printer of this edition. A midwife with outstretched index fingers is depicted in the title border. The illustrations, although referred to in the text, are often wanting, as here; they are also missing from the Edinburgh, Royal College of Physicians and the Wellcome Library copies. D'Arcy, '"The Birth of Mankind" ... a bibliographical study', The Library, 1927, pp.1-37; J.W. Ballantyne, The Byrth of Mankynde, London: 1907; STC 21155 (6 copies only); Luborsky & Ingram, English Illustrated Books, p.657; K.F. Russell, British Anatomy, no. 711; Wellcome 5511.
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