JACQUES GAMELIN (1738-1803) AND LAVALÉE, JACQUES.  Nouveau recueil d’ostéologie et de myologie.  1779

Gamelin,published this atlas of the bones and muscles for artists in an edition of 200 copies, engraved from drawings that Gamelin made at his own dissection facility with the assistance of professors of the College of Surgery of Toulouse. The first part of the work is devoted to bones; the second part concerns muscles. Gamelin personally engraved some plates; others are by Martin and Lavalée. The plates are larger, more artistically varied, and more expressive and fantastic in their conceptions than other works of its type. Allegorical scenes of death and battle appear throughout the book. Gamelin, in the preface to the second book, is critical of what he considered the typically unvaried nature of the figures in anatomical illustrations. His figures are distinguished by their bold and dramatic nature poses, such as the écorché crucifixion in the second book or this remarkable praying skeleton from the first.

JOHN LIZARS (1787?-1860). A system of anatomical plates of the human body. Edinburgh: W. H. Lizars, [1840?].

Lizars developed a great reputation as a teacher and was also a bold and forthright surgeon. He made a number of original contributions, was a pioneer in performing ovariotomies in Europe, and he clearly demonstrated the value of abdominal exploration as a diagnostic procedure. However, he was somewhat ahead of his time and received criticism for exploring new surgical techniques, though later many of his techniques became widely accepted. Lizars was an active writer and prepared many papers on hernia, lithotomy, and hemorrhoids. Although it contains no new discoveries, this superb atlas is certainly one of the most elegant works of the nineteenth century. The 101 lithographs were drawn by the author and his brother, William, from the author’s dissections.

Lizar illustration

CLAUDE NICOLAS LE CAT (1700-1768). Traité des sens. Nouvelle ed. Amsterdam: Chez J. Wetstein, 1744.

Le Cat, a man of many interests, was one of France’s foremost surgeons and researchers. Le Cat was interested in the physiology of the nervous system. He was a contemporary of Haller and incorrectly believed, contrary to Haller, that the dura mater and arachnoid were the seat of sensation.

JAN SWAMMERDAM (1637-1680). Tractatus physico-anatomico-medicus de respiratione usuque pulmonum. Leiden: Apud Danielem, Abraham. & Adrian, à Gaasbeeck, 1667.

Despite his short life and a professional career of only about twelve years, Swammerdam of Amsterdam was one of the outstanding comparative anatomists of the seventeenth century. He was a pioneer in microscopic studies, investigating especially the anatomy of insects.  The present work, a classic on respiration, was his inaugural dissertation at the University of Leipzig and one of only four works published during his lifetime. He first showed that the lungs of a newborn infant would float if the child had ever breathed, and this discovery was put to legal use in cases of infanticide. The engraved title page illustrates his ingenious, if complicated, device for the study of respiration.