Descartes, René (1596-1650)

L'Homme et la Formation du Foetus. Paris: Theodore Girard, 1677. Second edition, large quarto, printer's woodcut vignette to title, illustrated with anatomical text woodcuts and other diagrams, bound in full contemporary French speckled sheepskin, gilt-tooled spine, worn, but structurally sound, contents with some spotting, 9 1/2 x 7 in.Descartes's L'Homme is "the first attempt to cover the whole field of animal physiology," according to Garrison-Morton. The distinctive illustrations sprang from the mind and pen of the author himself. Especially notable are those illustrating the human brain as it connects with the eyes, and the position of the pineal gland, Descartes' seat of the soul, buried deep in the human machine.Garrison & Morton 574; Wellcome II 452.Provenance: from the Stephen White Collection.