GAMELIN Jacques. Nouveau Recueil d'ostéologie... Lot 1

GAMELIN Jacques. Nouveau Recueil d'ostéologie et de myologie dessiné d'après nature. Toulouse, Desclassan, 1779; 2 parts in one large folio volume of 2 ff (title and frontispiece), 24 pp, portrait and 40 plates; 2 ff (title and frontispiece), 12 pp, 42 plates, old half basane, faded. Splendid collection, extremely rare, with both anatomical and artistic aims. The draftsman, native of Carcassonne, had tried to represent the human bone structure in the positions of life. The fantastic and macabre aspect of the figures did not please either the artists or the doctors, and the collection, which had cost the engraver a lot of effort, sold very poorly. The illustration consists of a frontispiece, a portrait of the Baron de Puymaurin, Gamelin's protector, 40 plates for the first part; a frontispiece and 42 plates for the second part. Large vignettes on the title pages and in the text complete the set. The engraving work, in the black manner and etching, is due to Lavallée and Martin. The scenes represent skeletons of adults and children playing music, engaged in various activities or meditating in their graves. Volume very faded, foxing, wetness and defects to the paper. The paper of some plates is yellowed.Both parts bound backwards. Garrison Morton, 401 - 1.