DESCARTES, RENÉ. 1596-1650.


De homine figuris et latinitate donatus a Florentio Schuyl. Leiden: Franciscus Moyardus and Petrus Leffen, 1662. WITH: SWAMMERDAM, JAN. 1637-1680. Miraculum naturae sive uteri muliebris fabrica. Leiden: Matthaei, 1672. Bound before the first work.2 works in one volume. 4to (197 x 150 mm). Woodcut devices on both title pages, 10 engraved plates (one with overlays, 5 folding), engraved and woodcut illustrations in text on first work; 2 folding plates in second work (plus 1 in facsimile, loosely inserted). Contemporary vellum. Dampstaining to title page of second work, staining to binding, mild spotting.FIRST EDITION of Descarte's textbook on physiology, the first published in Europe. Based on his concept of the human body as a machine, Descartes explains the body's function in purely mechanistic terms. He described for the first time involuntary movements brought on by external stimuli, closely approximating what would be described today as reflex actions. Garrison-Morton 574; Krivatsy 3120; Norman 627; Waller 2376.