MALPIGHI, MARCELLO

Opera Omnia, Figuris Elegantissimis in aes incisis Illustrata. London: Robert Scott and George Wells, 1686. First collected edition, first issue (N.B. this first issue did not receive the seven small supplementary plates that are found in the later two issues). Two volumes in one (these containing numerous parts), period English brown calf, rebacked. 14 3/8 x 8 7/8 inches (36.5 x 22.5 cm); volume I: [6] including title in red and black, 15, [5], 78 [i.e. 82], [2], 35, [1] pp., engraved allegorical frontispiece, 61 engraved plates; [vi] including second title printed in red and black, 72, [4], 65-68, 5-44 [4], 20, [2], 144 pp., 55 engraved plates (i.e. 116 plates in total, correct for this issue). Rebacked retaining original spine, the binding chipped on the upper corner and generally a bit worn, the text browned and a bit spotted as usual, the plates generally clean, the seven inserted small illustrations in the section on the tongue not present here and not called for. The Horticultural Society of New York Copy, with their bookplate, sold Christie's June 5, 1997, lot 494.

This is one of the greatest of the early productions of the Royal Society. It includes Malpighi's careful microscopic research on the silkworm, which comprises the first monograph on an invertebrate; his pioneering work on the embryology of the chick; and his details of the discovery of the capillary system, which provided the keystone to Harvey's theory of the circulation of the blood expressed in De Motu Cordis. This first issue appears to be uncommon, with ESTC recording only six copies in the US. Garrison-Morton 66; NLM/Krivatsy 7319; Waller 6201a; Wing M-342.