SMELLIE, William (1697-1763). A Sett of Anatomical Tables, with explanations and an abridgement, of the practice of midwifery, London: 1754, 2°, FIRST EDITION, 39 engraved plates by Grignion after drawings by Jan van Rymsdyk and Pieter Camper (ink stamp on recto of plates discreetly placed on lower margin, perforation stamp on title, accession no. on following leaf, title soiled, outer margin of one plate thumb-soiled), modern cloth. [Blake p.420; Choulant/Frank p.75; GM 6154; Grolier Medicine 43b; Norman 1955; Russell 753] Provenance: Mortimer Frank (bookplate)

Details

SMELLIE, William (1697-1763). A Sett of Anatomical Tables, with explanations and an abridgement, of the practice of midwifery, London: 1754, 2°, FIRST EDITION, 39 engraved plates by Grignion after drawings by Jan van Rymsdyk and Pieter Camper (ink stamp on recto of plates discreetly placed on lower margin, perforation stamp on title, accession no. on following leaf, title soiled, outer margin of one plate thumb-soiled), modern cloth. [Blake p.420; Choulant/Frank p.75; GM 6154; Grolier Medicine 43b; Norman 1955; Russell 753] Provenance: Mortimer Frank (bookplate)

Lot Essay

RARE, only 100 copies are believed to have been printed of this first edition. Intended as the atlas to Smellie's A Treatise on the Theory and Practice of Midwifery, it is accepted as a complete work in its own right, the first obstetrics atlas with the first accurate anatomical illustrations of the fetus in the uterus. Smellie was the leading forceps practioner in London and some of the plates include details of forceps in use.

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