[GEMINUS, THOMAS. fl. 1510-1562.]


[Compendiosa totius anatomie delineatio, aere exarta, per Thomam Geminum.] London: [J. Kingston for] Thomas Gemini, September 1559. Folio (362 x 252 mm). Lacking engraved title and 2 preliminary leaves. Double-page woodcut depicting the Anatomy of a naked man and woman with 9 (of 10) flaps to reveal the interior organs by "RS," and 34 (of 40) engraved plates including the double-page plate of Adam and Eve. Later calf-backed boards, upper cover detached, worn. Woodcut plate with horizontal repaired tear and clean tear along center fold, browning and staining to plates and text, some plates trimmed, some margins frayed, last leaf torn with minor loss to text. Second issue of the English edition of Geminus's abridgement of Vesalius, and an early substantial use of engraving in any medical book. "Although by tradition and Vesalius's own comments this work has been considered the first of many plagiarisms of Vesalius's Fabrica and Epitome, Geminus gave full credit to Vesalius in a bold headline on the first leaf of text. He did, however, redraw Vesalius's woodcuts without permission ... The new medium of copperplate engraving used by Geminus allowed a sharpness of line impossible for the wood engravers employed by Vesalius" (Choulant-Frank, pp 193-194). With a facsimile of the first English edition. Cushing, Vesalius, VI.C-4; ESTC (RLIN), S115175; ESTC S128 (woodcut); Garrison-Morton 376.1 (first English edition); Russell 833; STC 11718; Wellcome I, p 2733.