Beschreibung:

Title: De conceptu et generatione hominis... Author: Rueff, Jacob Place: Frankfurt Publisher: [Petrus Fabricus] Date: 1587 Description: [5], [1] blank, 92 ff. Numerous woodcut illustrations by Jost Amman Third Edition, the second edition with Amman's illustrations. Bound with: Scheibium, Simonem. Quaestiones cum Conclusionibus ac Problematis, Philosphiae Magistris, Medicae Artis. 44 ff. [Leipzig: Johannis Beyeri], 1592. First Edition. The two titles bound together in one quarto volume, 7½x5¼, contemporary full blindstamped vellum, binding dated 1594. Heavily annotated on endpapers, blank leaves, and in margins throughout in an early hand. First published in German and Latin editions in 1554, Rueffs celebrated work provides a comprehensive and detailed treatment of all matters obstetrical. The six sections of De Conceptu discuss, inter alia, the physiology of impregnation and conception, fetal development, precepts for pregnant women, rules and medicaments for alleviating difficult births, the use of forceps for removing a dead fetus, the management of unnatural births, abortion and its treatment, the causes of sterility and diseases of the uterus along with prescribed remedies. In the final section, a guide to the interpretation of monstrous births, the vestiges of religious mythology are clearly apparent in a work otherwise representative of its independent and forward-looking Swiss mileu. In 1580, Jost Amman was employed to re-illustrate the second edition of De Conceptu. One of the most prolific illustrators of the 16th century, notable for his attention to the nuances of detail, Ammans woodcuts add a new dimension to the first obstetrical work to employ true anatomical pictures. Garrison-Morton 6141 (for 1554 edition). The second title, also a medical work, is of great rarity with OCLC Worldcat locating no copies. Lot Amendments Condition: Vellum darkened, extremities rubbed; else very good. Item number: 186648