Lot 297
Cheselden, William
Rare Books, Maps & Manuscripts
Auction: 7 September 2011 at 12:00 BST
Description
Osteographia, or the anatomy of the bones. London: [William Bowyer for the author?], 1733. First edition, folio, title with engraved vignette and royal arms on verso, engraved dedication with deer skeleton on verso, 25 leaves of text illustrated with 44 plates and vignettes, two sets of 56 engraved plates numbered I-LVI, the first with explanatory text on their versos, contemporary half calf, lacking engraved frontispiece and plates XV, XXXIII-XXXVIII of second suite, binding worn, covers detached, library stamps
Footnote
Note: Garrison & Morton 395, Norman 466, Wellcome II p.335.
First edition of "the most famous and among the most artistically interesting osteological atlases ever produced" (Norman 466). As Cheselden's note to the reader suggests, the accuracy of the comparative figures (the work of two Dutch artists, Jacob Schijnvoet and Gerard van der Gucht) owes much not only to Cheselden's intervention in the drawing process but to his innovative use of the camera obscura.