Anatomia uteri humani gravidi tabulis illustrata. The anatomy of the human gravid uterus..

Hunter, William (1718-83). Anatomia uteri humani gravidi tabulis illustrata . . . The anatomy of the human gravid uterus. [8], 34pp. 34 copperplates by Jan van Rymsdyk et al., each with facing printed key in Latin and English. Birmingham: John Baskerville, 1774. 610 x 464 mm. Recent quarter calf gilt, marbled boards. Title-leaf soiled and creased, plate VIII folded and margins repaired, minor marginal repairs to several other leaves and plates, but overall a very good copy of a work usually found in poor condition. Title-page inscribed: "Presented to the St. George's Hospital Library by Charles Hawkins House Surgeon 1838."

First Edition. Hunter's Gravid Uterus, on which he labored for thirty years, is one of the great artistic achievements in medicine. "It is indeed a remarkable book, not the least important aspect of which is the large size of the plates, which Hunter took care to defend in the preface. For him, the technical quality of the plates was of great importance; they combine descriptive clarity with beauty. The work contains thirty-four plates of different kinds; some depict several objects, others a life-size section of the human body—the female trunk between the abdomen and the middle of the thighs. Some plates are packed with detail, others are more schematic, showing large parts in outline only. Facing each plate are a short description and a key. . ." (Jordanova, p. 386).

The Gravid Uterus was the largest book, and in many ways the finest, to be printed by John Baskerville, and one of only two medical books issued from his press. It is also among the very few medical books issued by any private press. The original drawings from which the engravings made are preserved in the Hunterian Collections at the University of Glasgow Library. This copy was presented to the St. George's Hospital library by Charles Hawkins (1812-92), a house surgeon at the hospital; see Plarr, (online). Cutter & Viets, A Short History of Midwifery, pp. 33-37, 183-184. Garrison-Morton.com 6157. Jordanova, "Gender, generation and science: William Hunter's obstetrical atlas," William Hunter and the Eighteenth-Century World, ed. Bynum and Porter, pp. 385-412. Norman 1125.