B A U M A N R A R E B O O K S S U M M E R 2 0 2 3 21 "A MAJOR INNOVATION… AN INSTITUTION IN ITS OWN RIGHT": SCARCE 1862 SECOND AMERICAN EDITION OF GRAY'S ANATOMY, IN CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN BINDING 21. GRAY, Henry. Anatomy, Descriptive and Surgical. Philadelphia: Blanchard and Lea, 1862. Tall thick octavo, contemporary full sheep, black morocco spine label. $5000 Second American edition of this classic anatomical textbook by Henry Gray, richly illustrated with 395 woodengravings after drawings by Henry Vandyke Carter, published during the American Civil War, which resulted in 620,000 killed in combat or by disease, with untold thousands grievously wounded—this edition of Gray's Anatomy would have been an indispensable tool for American doctors, surgeons, and medical students at this crucial period in our history, on and o# the battle"eld. "Remains today a standard work on the subject" (Garrison & Morton). A desirable copy in a contemporary American binding. Gray was only 33 when he published this pivotal work that established a breakthrough in the art of teaching medical students, thereby producing "a major innovation" in the !eld. "No medical text has ever been so widely used by successive generations of medical students and doctors… It is a measure of Gray's single-minded devotion to anatomy and authorship that 'Gray's Anatomy' remains even today, not only an important book of reference but as virtually a household phrase" (DNB). "The [London] !rst edition of 1858 was found to have a good many errors, most of which were corrected in the 1859 edition" (Heirs of Hippocrates 1915). According to a contemporary report of the Surgeon-General, the number of wounded treated in hospitals in the Civil War was 246,712. However, this !gure included only records of engagements for which statistics were known; the !gure also excluded the number of wounded soldiers who were not treated in hospitals. (See William Fox, Regimental Losses in the American Civil War 1861-65, Albany, 1889.). Bound without half title. According to their respective title pages, the !rst American edition of 1859 contained 363 wood-engraved illustrations, while this second American edition contains 395. Garrison & Morton 418. Lilly, 211. Norman 939. Contemporary pencil ownership inscriptions to front free endpaper and front "yleaf, including that of "N.F. Welsh, M.D." Later owner inkstamp to front free endpaper and dedication leaf. Early ink quotation from Shakespeare (from Othello) on rear free endpaper ("Then let them use us well; else let them know. The ills we do, their ills instruct us so."). Text generally clean, light shelf-wear and rubbing to sound contemporary sheep binding. An extremely good copy of this Civil War-era edition, scarce and desirable in well-preserved contemporary American binding.
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