First Edition, With Three Folding Plates
The Anatomy of Vegetables Begun. With a General Account of Vegetation Founded thereon.
London: Printed for Spencer Hickman, printer to the R. Society, 1672.
Full Description:
GREW, Nehemiah. The The Anatomy of Vegetables Begun. With a General Account of Vegetation Founded thereon. London: Printed for Spencer Hickman, printer to the R. Society, 1672.
First edition. Small octavo (5 15/16 x 3 5/8 inches; 152 x 94 mm). [32], 198 [i.e. 186], [22] pp. Illustrated with three folding engraved plates of microscopic views of plant anatomy. Collates complete, including the rare license leaf before the title and blanks N6 and O8. Page 186 misnumbered 198.
Full contemporary calf, rebacked with original spine laid down. Red morocco spine label. Boards ruled in blind. All edges dyed red. Some repairs to leaf A1 (License leaf) affecting a few letters. A bit of toning. With previous owner's bookplate, James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps, Shakespeare collector, on front pastedown. Overall very good.
"Grew's first publication, The anatomy of vegetables begun (1672), was his introduction to the Royal Society, presented to them on 11 May 1671, when it was ordered to be published. After the successful printing of this book, he was admitted to the Royal Society and given his position as curator. Vegetables has three small, illustrated plates with a total of 29 figures... These illustrations, though rough, are notable for their depiction of heavily dissected plants. While the cutting and peering inside of plants is not wholly unheard of at this time, even Grew's earliest studies, as seen here, are a departure from the tradition of herbals in their lack of concern for including identifying characteristics of the plants he is depicting. This level of abstraction from the world of recognizable plants is prefigured only by his predecessor, Robert Hooke, in Micrographia (1665): in this seminal early work on microscopy, Hooke also cut open and heavily magnified plants, such as cork, beyond recognition. In fact, Grew worked with Hooke in order to incorporate microscopic observations into Vegetables subsequent to its initial presentation to the Royal Society. It may be that, with Hooke's guidance at this time, Grew first adapted his technique of showing the degree of magnification of his specimens by placing them alongside a figure that is printed close to the actual size of the unmagnified specimen." (Nehemiah Grew, the illustrator. Pamela Mackenzie)
ESTC R30321. Henrey 163. Hunt. Nissen, BBI,. Norman Library 944. Wing G-1946.
HBS 69438.
$5,000.
Price: $5,000.00
Item #69438