Remmelin, Johann

folio (494 x 365mm.), engraved title with engraved portrait of author on verso, 3 full-page engraved plates with c.140 engraved flaps and anatomical details (some loose), some double-sided, one text leaf with folded extension, later calf-backed boards, title repaired, some marginal restorations; due to uncertainty of collation, sold not subject to return

Choulant-Frank, pp.232-4; Eimas 456; Krivatsy 9551 (imperfect, lacking the first plate and text); Roberts and Tomlinson 14; Russell, Bibliography of Johann Remmelin the Anatomist, pp.60-62; VD17 12:177320S

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

First authorised edition, and the first edition to contain the text, of the greatest of anatomical "flap" books; this copy contains more flaps than are normally called for. The plates had been issued in 1613 without text and without the author’s consent, whereas the text was published on its own in quarto format in 1614, again without the author’s consent. The authorised, 1619 edition is the earliest recorded in Wellcome. The work went through numerous editions and plagiarisms, up to 1754.

With dozens of highly detailed anatomical engravings superimposed as a series of opening flaps, this work is the first anatomical atlas fully to use this method of illustration. Previously a few flaps had been used on fugitive sheets from the beginning of the sixteenth century; Vesalius’ De humani corporis fabrica, 1542, contained one leaf with anatomical details intended to be cut out and mounted on an adjoining woodcut, but this has rarely been done in copies (the same for his Epitome of 1543); and Bartisch in his Augendienst, 1583, uses flaps on two woodcuts of the eye. Remmelin's was the first full-scale anatomy to attempt to show all the significant internal structures as they would appear in dissection through the medium of lifting engraved flaps. It was the most complex attempt at this technique in the engraved medium. Based on Vesalius’ work, the three plates were designed by Remmelin himself, and engraved by Lukas Kilian, the leading Augsburg graphic artist of the time. Altogether eight plates were used to print the illustrations, before the flaps were cut out and pasted together. The first plate depicts a man and woman surrounded by figures of the sense organs, the heart, uterus, and Divinity, all with flaps, with the male and female figures having flaps to a depth of 15 layers. The second plate depicts the internal organs of a man, and the third that of a woman, to a depth of more than 25 superimposed flaps.