VALLISNIERI, Antonio.

Considerazioni, ed Esperienze Intorno al creduto Cervello di Bue impietrito, vivente ancor l’animale… In Padoa [Padua]: nella Stamperia del Seminario, 1710. [Bound with:] Considerazioni, ed Esperienze Intorno alla Generazione de’ Vermi ordinarj del corpo umano…
In Padoa: nella Stamperia del Seminario, .1710
2 works in 1 volume, 4to, 8 leaves, 51 pages, and 10 folding plates (all engraved except the first which is woodcut); 6 leaves, 160 pages, 4 folding engraved plates. Half-title to the first work. Contemporary vellum over boards, fine copies.
FIRST EDITIONS of Vallisnieri’s first two books; the first discusses some curious stones found in the brains of cattle; the second is on parasitic worms of the human body, and is an important essay in parasitology. Vallisnieri proved that these worms were not due to spontaneous generation, but grew from eggs. He was the leading researcher in the field of parasitology at the beginning of the eighteenth century, and played a fundamental role in the field of helminthology and entomology (Penso, La conquête du monde invisible, pp. 191–199, in translation, illustrating several of the figures from Plate 3 of this book).
£1,200.00
In stock
Unsure of some of these terms? Click here to download a copy of Carter & Barker, ABC for Book Collectors (2006), which has full explanations.