CARSWELL, ROBERT. 1793-1857.


Pathological Anatomy. Illustrations of the Elementary Forms of Disease. London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green and Longman for the author, 1838. Folio (370 x 267 mm). 48 hand-colored lithograph plates by and after Carswell. 19th-century half leather, some rubbing to joints and corners. Provenance: London, Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (ink stamp on title and a few other leaves). FIRST EDITION IN BOOK FORM. "One of the finest pathological atlases ever produced." Sir William Osler, who began his career as a pathologist, wrote: "Carswell ... studied morbid anatomy in Paris under Louis. He was commissioned by University College, London, to prepare a collection of pathological drawings, and in about three years (1828-31) he completed a series of 2,000 water-colour drawings of diseased structures, which is still preserved at the College, where he was appointed professor of anatomy. The plates for his great work on pathological anatomy were furnished from his own drawings and put upon the stone by himself. These illustrations have, for artistic merit and for fidelity, never been surpassed, while the matter represents the highest point which the science of morbid anatomy had reached before the introduction of the microscope" (Osler). Garrison-Morton 2291; Heirs of Hippocrates 1501; Norman 408; Osler 2250.