• Govard Bidloo (1649–1713). Anatomia humani corporis: centum & quinque tabulis / per artificiosiss. G. de Lairesse ad vivum delineatis, demonstrata, veterum recentiorumque inventis explicata plurimisque, hactenus non detectis, illustrata. Amsterdam: Sumptibus viduae Joannis à Someren, haeredum Joannis à Dyk, Henrici & viduae Theodori Boom, 1685.

Curatorial note:

Govard Bidloo’s innovative Anatomia humani corporis was published relatively early in his career, before he became lecturer in anatomical dissection at The Hague in 1688 and later professor of anatomy and medicine at the University of Leiden. Bidloo and the illustrator Gérard de Lairesse (1640–1711) created naturalistic representations of cadavers mid-dissection. Yet the dramatic compositions recorded by de Lairesse may have been influenced by Bidloo’s other interests; he was also a poet, playwright, and opera librettist. In this plate, the dissected hand and arm, with artfully arranged vessels and enigmatically pointing forefinger, appear to emerge, alarmingly, from the book behind it. Books, ropes, and pins—the devices used to anchor and support the specimens in position—were depicted rather than hidden. Bidloo’s expensive publication did not sell well, so the publisher sold extra printed plates to the English physician William Cowper (ca. 1666–1709), who used them, uncredited, in his own Anatomy of Humane Bodies (1698), sparking a bitter dispute between the anatomists and their supporters.

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Title:
  • Godefridi Bidloo medicinae doctoris & chirurgi, Anatomia humani corporis : centum & quinque tabulis / per artificiosiss. G. de Lairesse ad vivum delineatis, demonstrata, veterum recentiorumque inventis explicata plurimisque, hactenus non detectis, illustrata
Language:
  • Latin
Call number:
  • Oversize QM21 .B54 1685e
  • Electronic Resource
Extent:
  • [136] pages, 105 leaves of plates : illustrations (engravings), portrait ; 53 cm (fol.)
Format:
  • Book
Type:
  • Atlases
  • Early works to 1800
Description:
  • Added engraved title page: Godefridi Bidloo medicinae doctoris et chirurgi Anatomia humani corporis centum et quinque tabulis illustrata.
  • Includes engraved portrait of Bidloo, signed "G. Lairesse pinx. A. Bloteling sculp."
  • Descriptive letterpress facing each plate.
  • Woodcut title vignette, initials, and tail-pieces.
Publisher:
  • Amstelodami : Sumptibus viduae Joannis à Someren, haeredum Joannis à Dyk, Henrici & viduae Theodori Boom, 1685.
Subject:
  • Human anatomy—Atlases
  • Human anatomy—Early works to 1800
Title sort:
  • Godefridi Bidloo medicinae doctoris & chirurgi, Anatomia humani corporis : centum & quinque tabulis / per artificiosiss. G. de Lairesse ad vivum delineatis, demonstrata, veterum recentiorumque inventis explicata plurimisque, hactenus non detectis, illustrata.
Binding note:
  • SAX copy: Calf, red label.
Created:
  • 1685-01-01T00:00:00Z
Date:
  • 1685
Location:
  • SAX Oversize QM21 .B54 1685e
  • SAX Electronic Resource
  • ELF1 Oversize QM21 .B54 1685e
  • ELF1 Electronic Resource
Identifier:
  • ark:/88435/rj430849z
Edm rights:
  • No Known Copyright
Alternative:
  • Anatomia humani corporis, centum & quinque tabulis
Creator:
  • Bidloo, Govard, 1649-1713
Author:
  • Bidloo, Govard, 1649-1713
Illustrator:
  • Lairesse, Gérard de, 1640-1711
References:
  • Garrison-Morton (5th ed.) 385
  • Wellcome cat. of printed books, II, p. 165
Range label:
  • Logical
View in catalog:
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