Details
KERCKRING, Thomas Theodor (1640-1693). Spicilegium anatomicum, continens observationum anatomicarum rariorum centuriam unam, nec non osteogeniam foetuum. Amsterdam: Andreas Fris, 1670. 4o (227 x 188 mm). 3 parts in one, continuously paginated, general engraved title, 3 divisional titles with engraved vignettes, title and vignetttes by Abraham Bloteling, 39 numbered engravings including 9 folding plates and 30 illustrations in text of which 11 full-page. (Some marginal discoloration, occasional marginal dampstaining and softening, the folding plates with short marginal tears at gutters, plates XXX and XXXIX with a 2-inch and 6-inch repaired tear respectively.) Later vellum over pasteboard (rebacked, soiled). Provenance: Gabriel Gustav Velentin (1810-1833), physiologist, professor of anatomy at the University of Bern, author of numerous textbooks and manuals of physiology (oval stamp on title). Garrison-Morton 383; Heirs of Hippocrates 632; NLM/Krivatsy 6346; Waller 5270; Wellcome III, p. 386; Norman 1209.
[Bound with:]
KERCKRING, Thomas Theodor. Anthropogeniae ichnographi sive conformatio foetus ab ovu usque ad officationis principia, in supplementum osteogeniae foetum. Amsterdam: A. Fris, 1671. 4o, 12 leaves, the last blank. Engraved title vignette by Bloteling, 1 full-page engraving, woodcut initials. NLM/Krivatsy 6345; Waller 5268; Wellcome III, p. 387; Norman 1210.
FIRST EDITIONS of Kerckring's investigations into fetal development. Kerckring's most important and far-reaching contribution, presented in part two of the Spicilegium anatomicum, was his discovery that the fetal skeleton develops through the transformation of membrane and cartilage into bone. He "was the first to describe 'Kerckring's ossicle,' an occasional center of ossification in the occipital bone" (Norman); his name is also preserved in the valvulae conniventes, or valves of Kerckring, a part of the small intestine, previously described by Falloppio, and studied in part I of the Spicilegium. The second work is a continuation of his study of fetal osteology; in it Kerckring sets forth his mistaken theory that the younger fetal skeleton is a mere miniature of the older fetus.
[Bound with:]
KERCKRING, Thomas Theodor. Anthropogeniae ichnographi sive conformatio foetus ab ovu usque ad officationis principia, in supplementum osteogeniae foetum. Amsterdam: A. Fris, 1671. 4o, 12 leaves, the last blank. Engraved title vignette by Bloteling, 1 full-page engraving, woodcut initials. NLM/Krivatsy 6345; Waller 5268; Wellcome III, p. 387; Norman 1210.
FIRST EDITIONS of Kerckring's investigations into fetal development. Kerckring's most important and far-reaching contribution, presented in part two of the Spicilegium anatomicum, was his discovery that the fetal skeleton develops through the transformation of membrane and cartilage into bone. He "was the first to describe 'Kerckring's ossicle,' an occasional center of ossification in the occipital bone" (Norman); his name is also preserved in the valvulae conniventes, or valves of Kerckring, a part of the small intestine, previously described by Falloppio, and studied in part I of the Spicilegium. The second work is a continuation of his study of fetal osteology; in it Kerckring sets forth his mistaken theory that the younger fetal skeleton is a mere miniature of the older fetus.