Marcello Malpighi - Opera Omnia or All the Works - 1687

RARE ILLUSTRATED SECOND EDITION 1687, about medicine, botany, anatomy and natural history by Marcello Malpighi (1628-1694). The book "Opera Omnia or All the Works" by Malpighi is richly illustrated with 110 full page plates height 247 x width 205mm and 8 fold-out plates height 247 x width 330mm, the detailed illustrations are drawn with great skill by the best Dutch illustrators of the time. Two books/parts in one volume, each with its own title and date, and as per index contain 24 treatises and 549 pages; 23 treatises by Marcello Malpighi and 1 the "De Pulmonum Substantia" by Thomas Bartholin (1616-1680), in which there is the exchange of letters between the two doctors in which the definitive proof of the validity of Harvey's theories on the circulation of the blood is provided. Marcello Malpighi was an Italian biologist and physician, who is referred to as the "Founder of microscopical anatomy, histology & Father of physiology and embryology". Malpighi's name is borne by several physiological features related to the biological excretory system, such as the Malpighian corpuscles and Malpighian pyramids of the kidneys and the Malpighian tubule system of insects. The splenic lymphoid nodules are often called the "Malpighian bodies of the spleen" or Malpighian corpuscles. As a result of his famous research, Malpighi was made a member of the Royal Society in London, in 1669, and becomes personal physician of Pope Innocent XII. Old binding of the time, solid, text and illustrations in excellent condition well engraved and intact, rare stains or imperfections. Second edition, just one year after the first edition in London, 1686.

The book opens with a beautiful allegorical frontispiece featuring people offering gifts to the goddess of science, engraved by Adriaan Schoonebeek (1661-1705), a Dutch engraver from Rotterdam who later opened studios in Amsterdam and Moscow at the invitation of Peter I the Great. Marcello Malpighi was the founder of microscopic anatomy and a pioneer in the study of plant development. The botanical family Malpighiaceae is also named after him. He approached the subject through the study of plant tissues, he was the first person to see capillaries in animals, and he discovered the link between arteries and veins that had eluded William Harvey (1578-1657). Malpighi was one of the earliest people to observe red blood cells under a microscope, after Jan Swammerdam (1637-1680). His treatise De "Polypo Cordis" was important for understanding blood composition, as well as how blood clots. In it, Malpighi described how the form of a blood clot differed in the right against the left sides of the heart. The book shows also the first accurate description, from the microscopical point of view, of the chick embryo. Malpighi's work on the silkworm represents the first monograph on an invertebrate and records one of the most striking pieces of research work on his part. He dissected the silkworm under the microscope with great skill and observed its intricate structure; before the appearance of this work the silkworm was believed to have no internal organs. The treatise "De Ovo Incubato" placed the study of embryology on a sound basis, surpassing in accuracy all other contemporary work on the subject and foreshadowing some of the more important general lines of research in embryology. Malpighi's study of the development of the chicken in the egg went far beyond the work of Harvey and Fabrici, dealing with the internal structures to an unprecedented extent and shown through very detailed illustrations. Malpighi's second book/part, which is composed of letters addressed to his colleagues Carlo Fracassati or Fracassatus (1630-1672) and Giovanni Alfonso Borelli (1608-1679), followed by Fracassati's commentary. In "De Lingua", Malpighi reported peeling two layers from the surface of the tongue and thereby exposing the papillary body, in which he distinguished three orders of papillae (or sensory receptors), and speculated that these could be stimulated by "sapid" particles dissolved in the saliva. His treatise entitled "De Cerebro" deals with the white substance of the central nervous system, which Malpighi discovered to be composed of the same fibers that form the nerves. In his "De Externo Tactus Organo" Malpighi "presented the first accurate description of the structure of mammalian skin, and in doing so recognized a mucous sheath, which he called the rete mucosum, separating the dermis from the epidermis. This is one of the earliest scientific descriptions of dermatoglyphics. "De Hepate", "De Cerebri Cortice", "De Renibus", De Liene", Malpighi described the uriniferous tubules and the "Malpighian bodies". The great detail and clarity of Malpighi's description was unsurpassed for many years. The book also includes the first description of Hodgkin's disease. His "De Pulmonibus" includes his demonstration of the capillary anastomosis between arteries and veins. All 24 treatises present are accompanied by hundreds of extremely detailed illustrations.

Description: in 4to size height 247 x width 205mm or 9.8 by 8.1 inches. Books/Parts I and II in 1 volume. 7 pp., 170 pp., 11 pp.; 379 pp., 18 pp. With copper title by Adriaan Schoonebeek and a total of 118 copper plates, some of them fold-out. Rigid parchment of the period, partly rubbed, bumped and somewhat stained, with small leaks at the edges of the back, spine label with traces of titles, but overall everything is solid and functional. Text and illustrations in excellent condition well engraved with great contrast and definition, rare stains or imperfections.

Title: Opera Omnia, seu Thesaurus Locupletissimus Botanico-medico-anatomicus: Viginti Quator Tractatus Complectens et in Duos Tomos Distributus, quorum Tractatum Seriem Videre est Dedicatione Absolutâ (All The Works, or the Most Rich Botanic Medical Anatomical Treasure, Twenty-Four Completing Treatises and Distributed in Two Volumes, the Treatise Series of Which is to Be Seen with Absolute Dedication). Published by Peter Vander Aa in Leiden, MDCLXXXVII (1687), one year after the first English edition. Text in Latin.

References: Garrisson-Morton 66 (cites first edition, London 1686). Hirsch IV, 111, Nissen 2656, Pritzel 5763, Waller 6202 and 6201a; Howard. B. Adelmann, Marcelo Malpighi and the Evolution of Embryology, I (1966), pp.664-665; Wing M342a and M347a; Frati 2, 3, 4, 36; Arber, Agnes (1942). "Nehemiah Grew (1641–1712) and Marcello Malpighi (1628–1694): an essay in comparison". Isis. 34 (1): 7–16; Lorraine Daston (2011). Histories of Scientific Observation. Chicago, USA: University of Chicago Press. p. 440; Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Malpighi, Marcello". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 497; Domenico Bertoloni Meli (2011). Mechanism, Experiment, Disease: Marcello Malpighi and Seventeenth-Century Anatomy. Baltimore, USA: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 456.

Shipping: via UPS, protected, INSURED and fully tracked package. Estimated time for Europe 3-5 working days. Shipping within one working day. You can combine shipping if you purchases several items from us, saving money and time.