982Jj  Valentini, Michael Bernhard (1657-1729.) 

Amphitheatrum Zootomicum Tabulis Æneis Quamplurimis Exhibens Historiam Animalium Anatomicam è Miscellaneis S.R.I. Academiæ Naturæ Curiosorum, Diariis Societatum Scientiarum Regiarum, Parisiensis, Anglicæ & Prvssiacæ, Actis Hafniensibus & Lipsiensibus, Zootomiis Anatomicorum celeberrimorum aliisque scriptis rarioribus Collectam Accedit Methodus Secandi Cadav. Humana, cum enchiresibus injiciendi ceram, hydrargyrum & stannum in vasa sianguifera & lymphatica ut & Ars Dealbandi Ossa Pro Sceletopœia, cum Osteologia, Tabulis Myologicis Aliisque MSS. Rauianis, hacetnus summoperè expetitis  (pars 1-2 & Appendix) / 

Francofurti ad Moenum : Sumptibus hæredum Zunnerianorum & Joh. Adami Jungii. Gissæ, typis Johannis Mulleri, 1720         Price $4,800

Folio;  33/36 cm x \3 part. In 1 vol. : Signatures:*6 **4 A-Z4 Aa-Ff4, A-Z4Aa-Ff4, A-P4 105 pl. (two folding) dedication piece of the author to Karol Von Hessen-Kassel. First edition.  Bound in Later calf Spine sunned, light rubbing to leather; a few minor worm trails, creases, and modest dampstains, a few plates starting, gift inscription; very good.  

First edition of one of the earliest comprehensive syntheses of comparative vertebrate anatomy, compiled by the German physician, natural philosopher, and professor Michael Bernhard Valentini (1657–1729). The Amphitheatrum Zootomicum assembles the anatomical knowledge of early eighteenth-century Europe, drawing upon the Miscellanea Curiosa of the Leopoldina, the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, the memoirs of the Académie Royale des Sciences in Paris, the Prussian Academy, and the scientific journals of Copenhagen and Leipzig, together with the observations of the foremost anatomists of the seventeenth century. Published at the culmination of Valentini’s career, it represents an ambitious attempt to gather into a single work the dispersed observations of the emerging Republic of Letters, transforming scattered journal literature into a coherent reference for physicians and natural historians.

The work is divided into three distinct parts. The two principal sections (each 231 pages) constitute a vast survey of comparative vertebrate anatomy, proceeding animal by animal through mammals, birds, reptiles, fishes, and other vertebrates, each chapter synthesizing observations drawn from multiple investigators rather than relying upon a single authority. Illustrated with 105 finely engraved copperplates, depicting complete animals, skeletons, organs, dissections, and anatomical details. This work reflects the new empirical methods of the late seventeenth century, in which carefully prepared specimens and accurate illustration had become indispensable instruments of scientific investigation.

The Appendix is, an independent manual of anatomical practice. It contains the Methodus secandi cadaver humana, instructions for the dissection of the human body; detailed methods for injecting wax, mercury, and tin into the vascular and lymphatic systems; the Ars Dealbandi Ossa pro Sceletopœia, describing the preparation, whitening, and articulation of skeletons; together with osteology, myology, and material derived from the highly prized unpublished manuscripts of the Dutch anatomist Johannes Rau. This practical section documents the techniques by which the celebrated anatomical preparations of the late seventeenth century were created, bridging the world of the anatomical theatre and the emerging scientific museum.

Valentini was educated at the University of Giessen, he traveled through England, France, and the Dutch Republic in 1686, where he met Robert Boyle and encountered the experimental methods that were transforming natural philosophy. Upon his appointment as Professor of Physica Naturalis at Giessen in 1687, he introduced experimental demonstrations into the curriculum, acquiring an air pump from the celebrated Musschenbroek workshop at Leiden and helping to make Giessen one of the first German universities to teach experimental physics systematically. His interests ranged from medicine and comparative anatomy to natural history, cabinets of curiosity, and museum collections, culminating in the celebrated Museum Museorum. The Amphitheatrum Zootomicum stands as the anatomical counterpart to that work: a comprehensive synthesis of European anatomical knowledge at the moment when observation, experiment, and collaborative publication had become the defining methods of early Enlightenment science.

OCLC Number 1114793608; Garrison & Morton 303. Nissen, ZBI 4216. Wood, p. 41.

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