HARVEY, WILLIAM. 1578-1657. AND ZACHARIAH SYLVIUS. 1608-1664.


HARVEY, WILLIAM. The anatomical exercises of Dr. William Harvey ... concerning the motion of the heart and blood. ZACHARIAH SYLVIUS. The preface ... upon the anatomical exercises of Doctor William Harvey. JACOBUS DE BACK. The Discourse. WILLIAM HARVEY. Two anatomical exercitations concerning the circulation of the blood. London: Francis Leach, for Richard Lowndes, 1653. 8vo (156 x 100 mm). 191 leaves. With the cancel title leaf. Ornamental woodcut initials, woodcut or typographical headpieces. Contemporary English calf, ruled in blind, worn; folding case. Provenance: John Crewe (1598-1679) of Steane, Northants ("Jo: Crewe" ownership inscription, manuscript index and notes, initials on fore-edge and lower edge). FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH of Harvey's De motu cordis presenting his discovery of the circulation of the blood. John Stuart White's 1999 study reveals how this English translation is of much greater significance than previously recognized. He explains, "From a comparative study of the first Latin edition of William Harvey's De motu cordis published in 1628, and the first English edition published in 1653, it is argued that the latter is the printed copy of Harvey's original manuscript written in the vernacular ... Harvey's surviving manuscripts show that between 1616 and 1653 he consistently wrote in both Latin and English, often in the same sentence. It will be shown that Harvey's use of analogies with contemporary technology, for which there were no equivalent Latin terms, are the occasions when his use of the vernacular can be clearly shown." Also included in this edition are a translation of James De Back's treatise on the blood in which he offers a "defence of Harvey's circulation," and Harvey's essays ("Two anatomical exercitations") written in response to Jean Riolan's criticisms. Heirs of Hippocrates 422; Keynes Harvey 19; Osler 7698; Krivatsy 5338 (with the cancel title); Russell 368; Waller 4105; Wellcome III, p 219; Wing H-1083; Norman 1008. [WITH:] White, "The 1653 English edition of De motu cordis, shown to be Harvey's vernacular original and revealing crucial aspects of his pre-circulation theory and its connection to the discovery of the circulation of the blood," in History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences 21 (1999) pp 65-91.