BORELLI, GIOVANNI ALFONSO. 1608-1679.


De motu animalium. Rome: Angeli Bernabo, 1680-1681. 2 volumes. 4to (212 x 153 mm). Woodcut ornament on titles, 18 folding engraved plates. Contemporary vellum. Some light rubbing and staining. Occasionally some light browning. Provenance: Ippoliti di Hencini, Pistoia (each volume inscribed by the author "Ippoliri di Heneinis Pistoriensis" on front free endpaper); Lister Holte of Afton in Warwickshire (armorial bookplate). FIRST EDITION, PRESENTATION COPY OF A FOUNDATIONAL WORK OF BIOMECHANICS. "Borelli originated the neurogenic theory of the heart's action and first suggested that the circulation resembled a simple hydraulic system. He was the first to insist that the heart beat was a simple muscular contraction. One of the founders of biomechanics, Borelli was a representative of the Iatro-Mathematical School, which treated all physiological happenings as rigid consequences of the laws of physics and mechanics" (Garrison-Morton). Heirs of Hippocrates 496; Garrison-Morton 762; Norman 270; Osler 2087.