“THE MOST IMPORTANT SINGLE MEDICAL WORK EVER PUBLISHED”: SCARCE FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH OF HARVEY’S REVOLUTIONARY WORK ON BLOOD CIRCULATION, FROM THE LIBRARY OF THE 8TH EARL OF PEMBROKE

HARVEY, William. The Anatomical Exercises of Dr. William Harvey, Professor of Physick, and Physician to the Kings Majesty, Concerning the motion of the Heart and Blood, With The Preface of Zachariah Wood… To which is added, Dr. James De Back, his Discourse of the Heart. London: Printed by Francis Leach, for Richard Lowndes, 1653. Small octavo, 18th-century full paneled brown calf rebacked with original spine laid down, raised bands, marbled endpapers: [38] 1-111; [20], 1-123; [2] 1-86. Housed in a custom clamshell box.

First edition in English of Harvey’s revolutionary treatise on the circulation of the blood, exerting “a profounder influence upon modern medicine than that of any other man save Vesalius,” providing the first clear record of the value of the experimental method and laying the foundation for modern science, from the library of 17th century British statesman Thomas Herbert, the 8th Earl of Pembroke. Handsomely bound in paneled calf.

“Of all the books in the history of medicine, none has interested scholars more than William Harvey’s Exercitatio anatomica de motu cordis [Anatomical Exercises]. Fielding Garrison claimed that Harvey’s ‘work has exerted a profounder influence upon modern medicine than that of any other man save Vesalius… Harvey’s revolutionary theory of the circulation of the blood” possessed, as well, “a broader significance as an influential example of the value of the experimental method. It was, in the opinion of the historian H.P. Bayon, ‘the first record of a complete biological investigation’ in which a problem was defined, methods to solve it expounded, and the results supported” (Norman, One Hundred Books 27). “Before the publication of [Harvey’s] small tract there was no understanding of the circulatory movement of the blood; instead it was thought that the blood ‘irrigated’ the tissues in a kind of tidal action. Harvey… demonstrated what his master had failed to observe—the continuous circulation of the blood impelled in a circle by the beat of the heart” (Dibner 123). Anatomical Exercises is “usually considered the most important single medical work ever published… Harvey’s clear reasoning from the observations and precise measurements made during his purposeful experiments supplied the key for advancing knowledge of physiology and was also a model for future scientific procedure” (Lilly 63).

This discovery of the circulation of the blood ensured “Harvey a place of first importance in the history of science and medicine… his work was one of the major triumphs of early modern science, and thus helped to generate the enthusiasm for science that came to dominate European intellectual life during the second half of the 17th century” (DSB). It has been suggested that the reason for the initial publication in Frankfurt in 1628 (in Latin) of “one of England’s greatest books” (PMM 127) is that “Harvey wanted his book published on the Continent so that it would more easily gain international distribution and acceptance” (Norman 1006). Three parts in one volume, with three title pages, as called for. “Title page is a cancel, without the lines to Harvey” on the verso, as in most copies (Krivatsy 5338). With A3 correctly numbered as in Keynes. Without blank leaf before title page. Keynes 19. Krivatsy 5338. Norman 1008. PMM 127. Russell 369. Waller 4105. Wing H1083. See Garrison & Morton 759; Horblit 46. From the library of influential 17th-century British politician Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke, with his inked marginalia in the Preface and Dedication, and Wilton House markings on the spine and verso of the front free endpaper. Owner inscription to corner of title page.

Leaves closely trimmed lightly affecting running titles and pagination.Text quite fresh and bright, mild inoffensive wormholing to margins of some rear leaves, expert restoration to spine ends and corners of handsome paneled calf. An impressive near-fine copy of this major scientific work.